If you’ve ever had the chickenpox, you’re at risk for shingles – a common infection of the nerves that sets off a painful rash or small blisters on your skin. Shingles can sometimes lead to serious complications like long-term nerve pain and vision loss. And 1 in 3 people in the United States will experience shingles in their lifetime.

The good news is that shingles can be prevented with vaccination.

What Causes Shingles

After you’ve had chickenpox, the virus that causes it – varicella-zoster virus (VZV) – lies dormant in certain nerves for the rest of your life. You can get shingles when the virus reactivates in your body after you’ve already had chickenpox.

Shingles is more common in people with a weak immune system and in people over age 50. The risk goes up with each decade of life after that.

Symptoms of Shingles

Symptoms may include:

• Skin sensitivity, tingling, itching or pain in the area of the skin before the rash appears.

• Rash. The rash usually shows up one to five days after symptoms start. At first, the rash looks like small, red spots that turn into blisters. The rash often occurs in a single stripe on either the left or right side of the body. In some cases, it occurs on one side of the face. In people with weakened immune systems, the rash may be more widespread on the body and look like chickenpox.

• Blisters typically scab over in seven to 10 days and clear up within two to four weeks.

Shingles can lead to serious complications. The most common shingles complication is long-term nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN.

Sometimes, people get a bacterial infection in the skin where the rash is present. You can get a corneal infection if the rash is infected near or on your eyes. This can lead to temporary or permanent blindness.

If you suspect you have shingles, see your healthcare provider immediately. Your healthcare provider will likely know right away that it is shingles based on the unique rash.

Your provider may prescribe an antiviral medication that can shorten the length and severity of the illness. Antivirals are most effective if taken as soon as the rash appears.

Preventing Shingles

You can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends two doses of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, Shingrix) to prevent shingles and related complications in adults 50 years and older. Shingrix is also recommended for adults 19 years and older who have weakened immune systems because of disease or therapy.

People cannot get shingles from someone who has shingles. But you can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you never had chickenpox or never got chickenpox vaccine. You could then develop shingles later in life.

If you have shingles, you can protect others by taking the following steps:

• Cover the rash

• Avoid touching or scratching the rash

• Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds

• Avoid contact with the following people until your rash scabs over:

  • Pregnant women who never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine

  • Premature or low birth weight infants

  • People with weakened immune systems

Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The StayWell Company, LLC