When you say the word “shingles”, most people think of the things on their roof. What a lot of people don’t know is that shingles is actually an illness, similar to the chicken pox. Unlike the chicken pox, shingles actually hurt. Since many people don’t know about this outbreak of what seems like a common childhood illness I am taking you through five important facts about shingles.

To start out, Shingles are caused by the same thing that the chicken pox are caused by; a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. After getting the virus, it normally stays in your nerves by your spine, until it becomes active again. Then you get a rash. A big difference between getting chicken pox, and getting shingles is that normally shingles symptoms form on one side of your body in a band. Chicken pox are normally spread all over. If you have had the chicken pox, then you are more likely to get shingles later in life. The statistics are that 1 in 10 people will get shingles in their lifetime.

Another fact is that shingles hurt. It is said to be the most difficult thing to deal with after contracting the illness. Also there are a lot of after effects. The most serious being Posttherpetic Neuralgia (PHN). PHN is a complication that is caused by the infection damages your nerves. Although it may hurt, and the rash isn’t the best either, there is a treatment. It is a short-term early treatment, all you need to do is get a prescription for an oral antiviral medication. After you finally get rid of the shingles, you will be happy to know that you most likely will never get them again. Most people who are healthy will develop an immunity to the virus that caused it all in the first place, the varicella zoster virus. I hope that after reading this you know a few more facts about the shingles illness. If you ever think you have it, or you are uncertain if it is chicken pox or the actual shingles then you should make an appointment and see your doctor. The treatment is for when you first get the shingles, so don’t put it off. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and good luck with your illness.

Herpes voster, commonly known as shingles, is a viral infection that is related to chickenpox, and can actually develop after having chickenpox. The virus that causes chickenpox can lie dormant for years and eventually cause shingles many years after the initial outbreak.

The initial shingles symptoms are usually very nonspecific and include things like headache, fever and general body aches and pains, which can often lead to it being misdiagnosed. However, eventually those symptoms will be accompanied by a rash that can often be very painful. Often the affected area can become very painful to the touch. Sufferers of shingles have often described sensations like tingling, aching and even sharp shooting pains. The rash generally starts out small and usually appears first on the torso, though it can also show up on other parts of the body. Though unsightly and painful, generally the rash is relatively harmless, except in the rare occasion that it occurs near or on the eyes or ears. The virus spreading to the eye can possibly cause keratitis and optic nerve palsies, which can lead to ocular inflammation, pain and even loss of vision. In the ear, the symptoms can include hearing loss and vertigo.

The shingles virus is contagious. However, if you have already contracted chickenpox as a child you cannot contract shingles as an adult. If you have never had chickenpox, your first contact with shingles will result in the development of chickenpox, as opposed to shingles. As an adult, if you have had chickenpox, though you cannot catch shingles you could possibly develop it later in life, as stated above. The shingles virus is only contagious if there are new and healing blisters. If the blisters are old and already crusted over, it is no longer contagious. The herpes zoster virus has been around since the time of smallpox, however at the time there was no way to distinguish between smallpox and ergotism. Eventually in the 1700s, a man named William Herberden found a way to differentiate between the herpes zoster virus and smallpox. Soon after, associations between that virus and chickenpox were discovered.

Up until fairly recent history, shingles was thought of to be a very non-threatening disease. It was during the 1940s and 1950s that the more serious symptoms were discovered to be more problematic than initially thought. Medical professionals believe that most adults will contract shingles at least once during their lives, with the potential of developing it on their own after that.