Shingles
What are shingles?
Shingles are defined as "a disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, especially by reactivated virus in an older person, characterized by skin eruptions and pain along the course of involved sensory nerves" (Dictionary.com). It is an extremely painful, blistering skin rash that can break out over any part of the body. Shingles occurs if you have had chickenpox and the virus becomes active again after being dormant for an extended period of time. When someone "gets rid of" chickenpox, they are not really getting rid of the virus, it has become dormant and "remains inactive in certain nerves in the body" (NCBI.com). When the virus becomes active in those nerves again, shingles breaks out. There is no known explanation for why the virus suddenly becomes active, however there is usually only one attack. You are more susceptible to being affected by shingles if you had the chickenpox virus before the age of one and you are older than age 60.
What are the symptoms of shingles?
The first sign of a shingles outbreak is usually a burning or painful tingling sensation along one part of the body or within a certain area of the body. The burning and painful tingling sensation can occur before the rash is visible. After onset of the rash, the following symptoms are typical of shingles:
Fever and chills
Headaches
Joint pain
Swollen glands
Hearing loss
Loss of eye motion
pain and muscle weakness
Vision problems and drooping eyelids
Taste problems
Red blisters typically appear, which form small sores that will "begin to dry and form crusts. The crusts fall off in 2 to 3 weeks and scarring is rare" (NCBI.com). The most commonly affected area of shingles is along the spine, abdomen and chest, however, sometimes shingles can form on the face around the eyes, mouth and ears.
What do shingles look like?
Shingles usually look like a big patch of red, inflamed, or blistered skin quite similar to a rash. Below are some examples of what shingles outbreaks typically look like.
This is an example of a chicken pox outbreak before it goes dormant which has the potential to become shingles later in life.
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Pictured here are shingles around the abdomen area extending around the back area towards the spine.
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Here is an example of a shingles outbreak on the face region, including the eyes and mouth.
This is an example of the small blistering sores that typically form and will eventually dry and turn into crusts.
This is another example of a shingles outbreak, however, without smaller and not as inflamed.
Looking for more information?
The following websites have tons of useful information of what shingles are, how they occur and what to look for, some of which I've included here.
Later, I'll be discussing day to day self management for those who have shingles, recommendations for family members of patients who are dealing with the virus, questions family members and patients should both ask their health care providers in regards to the virus, along with a couple of skills-based tutorials and an overview of medications that are recommended for treatment.
