Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. Shingles can occur anywhere on your body. It typically looks like a single stripe of blisters that wraps around the left side or the right side of your torso.
What did the beginning stages of shingles look like?
Soon after the onset of prodromal symptoms, slightly reddish patches of skin with small bumps (papules ) will develop in a cluster in the areas of pain. These often look like pimples or an allergic rash but are differentiated by sharp, needle-like pain, particularly if you scratch or pick at them.
What does pre shingles feel like?
Sometimes shingles causes symptoms that develop a few days before the painful rash. This includes symptoms like: a headache. burning, tingling, numbness or itchiness of the skin in the affected area.
What does shingles look like when it first starts?
When the rash starts, you may notice pink or red blotchy patches on one side of your body along nerve pathways. These are not contagious yet, but fluid-filled blisters like chickenpox soon develop, possibly accompanied by itching.
What causes shingles?
Shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in the body. This virus can reactivate years later, causing shingles.
How long does shingles last?
Shingles lasts 3–5 weeks in most cases, and the blisters usually take around 10 days to heal. After it heals, most people will not have shingles again. Shingles is a viral infection that affects approximately 1 in 3 adults in the United States. Around half of all shingles cases occur in adults over 60 years old.
