Unlike other diseases in the herpes family, herpes zoster, or shingles, is not something that is commonly communicated from one individual to another through touch. Shingles is the result of a virus that is most likely already inside of you.
Shingles is caused by the same virus strain that causes chickenpox in small children. The unfortunate fact is that that virus can move into the nervous system during an chickenpox outbreak and lay dormant in the body for an indefinite amount of time.
In periods of heavy stress or during circumstances where the immune system is weakened (common instances being when a person is infected with HIV, during treatment for cancer, or while a patient is receiving drugs to suppress the immune system in hopes of a successful organ transplant), the shingles virus can return to the skin and multiply, developing into a case of shingles.
Shingles can only caught if someone has never had the chickenpox before. If this occurs, the infected party will not develop shingles, but instead will develop their first case of chickenpox. Someone with chickenpox is unable to pass shingles to another. Passing shingles at all can only occur if there are new blisters forming. If the blisters have already broken and crusted over, the virus is no longer able to be passed to another. Most people who develop shingles will be people who have already had chickenpox.
Shingles usually forms within the dermatome, which is a band of skin on one side of the body, near the waist. Shingles rashes may form in a nerve pattern along this area continuously, or with breaks in formation. Occasionally, shingles may form in other places.
Shingles will start as an itchy, burning pain in affected part of the body. This pain can continue for up to a week or so, at which point a rash will develop. The shingles rash is a series of red, fluid-filled blisters, very similar to those developed during chickenpox. The severity of pain and irritation can vary.
Some people experience mild symptoms with just itching, while others will experience intense pain at the slightest touch. Blisters will continue to form for 3-5 days. Eventually, the blisters will break and the fluid will ooze out. At this point, blisters will crust over and heal. They will typically not leave any lasting scars or marks. The entire process can take from 3-5 weeks to fully finish.
While shingles are not always extremely painful, they can be debilitating due to their unattractive appearance and persistent itching. There is no known way to prevent shingles or to determine if or when a person might develop them.
There are, however, medications that can be taken to lessen the symptoms of shingles, strengthen the immune system and assist in the healing process should they surface.
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