Thinking you might have a second round of chickenpox – you may be having a shingles outbreak. Ever wonder how this might happen? Well the medical condition known as shingles is caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus, otherwise known as the varicella-zoster virus. Normally after getting the chickenpox virus once, this virus stays dormant in the nerve cells in your spinal cord for life. However, if your immune system is weakened, the virus can activate and cause rashes and intense pain. Therefore, due to the condition of a weak immune system the virus gets activated and you a shingles outbreak.

As with all diseases, the best start is to identify the symptoms. Shingles has several stages and you can sometimes identify the disease very early on. However, like most diseases, the symptoms of shingles will vary in person to person so be sure to visit a doctor for confirmation if you believe you have a shingles outbreak.

In the most common case, early symptoms of shingles will occur two or three days before the common symptoms appears. These early symptoms often include (if they exist) burning or shooting pain in one side of the body of the face. Some other common symptoms are a tingling or itching feeling on the skin. Lastly, other early symptoms that sometimes occur are having a fever, chills, headache, upset stomach, or swollen or tender lymph nodes.

After the early symptoms occur, intense (but sometimes mild) pain occurs and people have generally called it unrelenting. This is often accompanied with the stage most people remember about chickenpox occurs: rashes of small fluid-filled blisters may appear on the reddened skin. Once the blisters burst they actually contain the chiken box so make sure you do not come in contact with anyone who has not had chicken pox or the shingles vaccine.

See Your Doctor If You Have The Symptoms Of A Shingles Outbreak

However, rare cases do happen and some people never attain these rashes but do receive the pain. As a final note, if you do have shingles or believe you have shingles, you should generally see a doctor as soon as possible. While some people may have mild symptoms and require no treatment, getting early treatment can often make symptoms less severe and less complications! Therefore, to save yourself some hassle, visit the doctor for a proper diagnosis and treatment if necessary.

Normally you will get prescribed some type of cream to help the rash and some painkillers if the patient is shown to be in severe pain. At first it is hard to tell if the virus has been activated, but most physicians can easily identify the symptoms. If you think that it is a shingles outbreak call your local doctor or hospital and get some relief.

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