Shingles strikes some 850,000 Americans annually. It is able to appear at any age, but is most common in men and women over the age of 50, when the immune function normally starts to drop as an outcome of growing older.

Shingles is a disease brought on by the varicella-zoster virus, which is an identical virus that causes chickenpox. It affects the nerve endings in the skin. Most typical places on the body impacted is the skin of the abdomen underneath the ribs, leading toward the navel, but tend to show up anywhere on the entire body.

A good number of adults already have contracted chickenpox. This familiar childhood conditions results in a rash and a fever that itches maddeningly, but seldom does any long term damage. However, when the varicella-zoster virus enters the body and is mainly responsible for chickenpox, it does not go away. It may lie dormant in the spinal cord and nerve ganglia for many years until a weakening of the immune system. Then the varicella-zoster infection spreads to the precise ends of the nerves, causing them to send out impulses for the mind that are interpreted as pain which is serious, or burning, itching, and rendering the underlying skin far more delicate than usual.

Most cases of shingles run the course of theirs within a few weeks. More severe cases may be more durable and require aggressive treatment. However in a number of cases the soreness continues for a few months, even years, after the blisters have disappeared. This particular syndrome, is called postherpetic neuralgia, View this site is more likely to take place in aged people. If shingles develop at the eyes, the cornea might be affected and blindness could result. An ophthalmologist should be used if the shingles appear on the forehead, close to the eyes, and on the tip of the nose. Untreated ophthalmic herpes zoster can lead to vision loss.

An attack of shingles is often preceded by 3 or 4 days of chills, fever, and achiness. The pain may have started in the area affected. Then crops of small blisters appear. The affected area becomes excruciatingly painful and sensitive to the touch. Numbness, shooting pains, tingling, depression, fever and headache may also be present. Thankfully this level of shingles lasts only 7 to 14 days. (ONLY?!) The blisters inevitably form crusty scabs and fall off. People can get shingles more than once.

The chance of an attack of shingles may be increased by quite a few factors, including:

* Stress

* Cancer