All About Shingles

In the case of most childhood diseases once you have the illness, and recover, you are done with it. Your body makes antibodies that prevent you from every having the illness again. There are some general exceptions to this such as the case with the flu but most other childhood illnesses do fall under this category. There is one, however, that does not. Chickenpox is a very common illness and for the most part children come out relatively unscathed. But unfortunately later in life you can develop something far more painful and worse due to having chickenpox as a child. This is a very painful disease and there is a lot of information about shingles that is not known. If you need help understanding with this disease is and how to get relief, this article can answer some of your basic questions.

What does shingles look like?

Shingles looks a lot like chickenpox except it usually follows a nerve cluster. So you will notice that it looks to be in an odd pattern on the skin. The skin will be very red and will have blisters. Once the blisters burst the lesions will begin to scab over and eventually fall off. Most sufferers only have one nerve pathway that is affected but on occasion there can be more than one which leads to a greater area that is inflamed and very painful.

Do you have to have chickenpox in order to later get shingles?

Since shingles is the Varicella zoster virus you do have to have chickenpox first in order to develop the condition later in life. But not everyone who has had chickenpox will develop shingles. It is estimated that roughly 1,000,000 cases are developed each year. That sounds like quite a lot but when you consider how many people have had chickenpox it really is not that much. If you have not had chickenpox then contact with a person who is having an outbreak of shingles could trigger an outbreak of chickenpox in yourself. Then later in life you could develop shingles.

Can anyone of any age get shingles?

Shingles is most commonly found in patients over the age of 60 but in actuality anyone who has had chickenpox can develop this condition at any age. Researchers and physicians believe it is your immune system that determines whether or not you will develop this condition. People who are going through a lot of emotional stress, have a lowered immune system due to HIV or other disease, or even is going through chemotherapy as a result of a cancer diagnosis are all likely triggers. The healthier you can make your immune system then the greater chances you have of not having the Varicella zoster virus reactivate.

How long does an episode of shingles last?

An episode, or outbreak, of shingles can last anywhere from a week to several weeks. It really all comes down to your immune system and the medications or solutions you are using on the affected areas. And if you wind up with a bacterial infection in the open wound left after the blister has burst you could be looking at an even longer recovery time. That is why doctors stress the importance of antiviral medications and homeopathic remedies to help dry up the blisters and keep you from scratching the affected area.

Related topics about About Shingles
Shingles Disease Symptoms Are Painful
Many patients wonder, "Are shingles contagious?" They also wonder if they will experience these painful shingles disease symptoms more than once in their lifetime. Doctors can say with certainty that a person cannot catch shingles from someone who has shingles, but if they've never had the chickenpox before, they can catch that form of the herpes virus. So far it seems, almost without exception, that people will either never get shingles or will only have it once.

Treating Shingles to Relieve Pain and Itchiness
Once a diagnosis has been made, you will begin your shingles medication treatment with antiviral medicine that targets the root cause of your symptoms. Doctors say you should begin your treatment within two days of noticing the shingles rash to decrease your risk of developing complications like post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is the chronic pain that persists for weeks, months or even years after the lesions heal. If the virus is not directly attacked, then it may actually damage nerve endings, which can be very difficult to treat.

Shingles Disease: The Facts
The shingles disease is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is part of the herpes viruses that cause chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles, as it often lies dormant in the nervous system for years. Doctors are still researching to figure out what triggers the dormant virus in some people, but they speculate that it may be due to a lowered immunity to infections as the body weakens with age.