Shingles

Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the skin around it. The virus behind it is the varicella-zoster virus, the same one that causes chickenpox.

The first signs of shingles can include:

• a headache
• a burning, tingling, numbness or itchiness in an area of skin
• feeling generally unwell
• a high temperature (fever)

A few days later, a painful rash will usually appear on one side of your body. It shows up on the area of skin linked to the affected nerve.

The rash then turns into itchy blisters. New blisters can keep appearing for up to a week. A few days after they appear, they become slightly yellow, flatten and dry out. Scabs then form where the blisters were, and these may leave some slight scarring.

The pain from shingles may be constant, dull or burning. It can range from mild to severe. You may also get sharp, stabbing pains from time to time, and the affected skin is usually tender.

Shingles symptoms usually get better in 2 to 4 weeks.

See a doctor urgently, or call the 16263 health line, if you have symptoms of shingles and:

• you're pregnant
• you're breastfeeding and the shingles rash is on your breasts
• the rash is on your eye or nose
• you have changes to your vision
• you have a severely weakened immune system, for example from chemotherapy
• you're 17 years old or younger

• you have symptoms of shingles and you're 18 years old or older

There's no cure for shingles, but there are ways to ease your symptoms. Your doctor or pharmacist may recommend painkillers to help with the discomfort the illness causes. Some people with shingles may also be prescribed antiviral tablets.

If you get symptoms of shingles, see a doctor or a pharmacist as soon as you can. Starting treatment early may help to reduce how severe the condition becomes and lower the risk of complications.

• take paracetamol to ease the pain
• keep the rash as clean and dry as you can, which helps prevent infection
• wear loose-fitting clothes
• hold a cool damp cloth on the skin to soothe it, and keep the blisters clean
• try calamine lotion to help with the itching

• don't let dressings or plasters stick to the rash
• don't wear clothes with rough fibres that can irritate your skin

Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus. Once you've had chickenpox, the virus stays in your body. Later on it can become active again and cause shingles, usually if your immune system is weakened. Stress, certain conditions, or treatments like chemotherapy can weaken the immune system.

You can get shingles more than once, but it's very rare to get it more than twice.

You can't pass shingles on to other people. But they can catch chickenpox from you if they've never had it, or if they haven't had the chickenpox vaccine. That's because shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus.

Chickenpox can cause more problems for some people, so try to stay away from:

• anyone who is pregnant and has not had chickenpox before
• people with a weakened immune system (for example, someone having chemotherapy)
• babies less than 1 month old

If you have shingles, you're contagious until the last blister has dried and scabbed over.

Stay away from work or school while the rash is oozing fluid (weeping) and can't be covered, or until the rash has dried out. You can pass the infection on to other people only while the rash is oozing fluid.

You can cover the rash with loose clothing or a non-sticky dressing.

Most people recover from shingles, but it can sometimes cause complications. These can include:

• postherpetic neuralgia, which is pain that lasts several months after the shingles rash has gone
• the rash becoming infected, which may need to be treated with antibiotics
• eye problems, which can lead to sight loss
• scarring or changes in skin colour after the rash has healed
• muscle weakness

Shingles can also lead to a rare condition called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which affects the facial nerve. It can cause weakness on one side of your face and sometimes hearing problems.