How to Figure Shingles

Shingles is known as herpes zoster as well. The chickenpox virus called varicella zoster virus, or VZV, causes shingles, and this virus usually remains in the body long after a person recovers from chicken pox. While the varicella zoster virus is dormant in the body, it creates no problems. It often lingers in the nerve cells in the spine, but later on in life the virus can erupt and bring about a case of the shingles. The symptoms of shingles are usually discomforting and unsightly.

Instructions

• 1

  Notice if you feel itchy or if you have feelings of burning or stinging in the area of your back, the upper half of the front of your torso or in the area of your face. Be suspicious of shingles if any of these areas are painful.

• 2

  Look to see if a rash develops on either side of your body after a couple of days of developing symptoms of itching, burning and stinging, and notice if blisters that resemble chickenpox develop in a concentrated area on your body. See if the rash forms on a nerve path and if it looks like a serious burn. Notice if you have surging and excruciating pain in the area of the rash. Suspect you have shingles if the pain is more than you can handle, but know that the pain can also be less severe.

• 3

  Watch if sores start to scab in seven to 14 days and if they disappear before 28 days. Shingles sores vary in number.

• 4

  Do not rule out the possibility of shingles if symptoms of itching, burning and stinging are present, but there is no rash. Have your doctor examine you to figure out whether you have shingles.

• 5

  Notice additional signs of shingles that include an elevated temperature, head pain, chills and an uneasy stomach.

• 6

  Take your history of chickenpox into consideration, and consider the possibility of shingles if you had chicken pox. Although the symptoms of chickenpox disappeared, the virus did not and is in your body, waiting for your immune system to break down so shingles can manifest. People with weakened immune systems are at an increased risk for shingles. Shingles has a habit of appearing after a person's 40th birthday, and the risk of getting shingles increases as a person gets older.