Shingles can strike anyone over the age of 50 years and can be an extremely painful, debilitating condition
Shingles can strike anyone over the age of 50 years and can be an extremely painful, debilitating condition. According to doctors, shingles, which accompany a body rash, are usually caused in those who had chickenpox when they were young.
Caused by the varicella-zoster virus—the same virus that causes chickenpox—shingles most often appear as a band of rashes or blisters in one area of your body. Experts say when you have chickenpox as a child, your body fights off the varicella-zoster virus and even though the physical signs of chickenpox fade away, the virus always remains in your body. And so, in adulthood, sometimes it may become active again. This time, the varicella-zoster virus makes its second appearance in the form of shingles.
Doctors say the rashes either appear in patches along the same nerve root or can be scattered. Many times, you may feel some tingling or a burning sensation prior to the rash actually breaking out. Also, it may give you a string around the torso area since most nerves wrap around the torso. You may also get a line around you, from the back to the front.
How common are shingles?
Experts say shingles is a relatively common condition that affects between 20-30 per cent of people at some point in their lives. Globally, an estimated three out of five people out of every 1,000 get shingles each year.
Shingles is more common in older people, but children can also get it. About half of people over the age of 80 have the condition. Statistics say shingles also develop in about 10 per cent of those who have had chickenpox at an earlier time in their lives.
Signs and symptoms of shingles
A few early signs and symptoms of shingles include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Feeling tired
- Sensitivity to light
- Stomach upset
- An itching, tingling, or burning feeling in an area of your skin
- Redness on your skin in the affected area
- Raised rash in a small area of your skin
- Fluid-filled blisters that break open and then scab over
- Mild to severe pain in the area of skin affected
How long does a shingles outbreak last?
Doctors say the entire outbreak of shingles takes around three to five weeks from the time you begin to feel symptoms until the rash totally disappears.
- In the first few days of the rash, you may feel a lot of pain in an area on your skin. It can be described as bad itching, burning, stabbing, or shooting kinds, which happen even before the rash comes.
- A few days after that, you would see a raised rash that begins to show as a patch—usually on one side of your body. That rash would show around your waistline or on one side of your face or neck. It can also happen around your arms and legs.
- In the next three to four days, the rash would turn to red, pus-filled, and painful blisters. The blisters would begin to dry out and crust over within the next 10–12 days.
- The scabs begin to clear up in 2-3 weeks.
Are shingles contagious?
Doctors say that even though shingles cannot be spread to another person, chicken pox can. The varicella-zoster virus spreads through direct skin-to-skin contact with the fluid that oozes from the blisters.
While shingles are rarely spread by breathing in the varicella-zoster virus the way airborne viruses are spread, it is always advised to stay away from those who have not had chickenpox or its vaccine and always keep your rashes covered.
How can singles be treated?
While there is no cure for shingles, doctors say there are treatments for managing the symptoms.
A vaccine can prevent you from getting the infection along with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a common complication that arises from shingles. Doctors say healthy adults over the age of 50 years should get the vaccine, given in two doses. While there are no major side effects, a few mild conditions like pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site can happen.
The vaccine is administered in two doses, separated by two to six months.
Who should not take the shingles vaccine?
According to doctors, the shingles vaccine should not be given to those who:
- Currently have shingles
- Have had a severe allergic reaction to the shingles vaccine in the past
- Have tested negative for immunity to the varicella-zoster virus, meaning they never had chickenpox in the past So, if you never had chickenpox, you should get the chickenpox vaccine instead
- Are ill with other infections and should wait until the illness has passed
- Are pregnant and breastfeeding
Doctors say more than 85 per cent of those above the age of 70 years and older remain protected from shingles for at least four years after they get vaccinated. And since your risk of shingles and PHN increases as you age, it is important to have strong protection against the condition in your older years.
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