Shingles is a painful skin condition caused by the reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. It is recognized by a blister-like rash that appears in specific patterns on the body and can cause pain, burning, itching, and tingling. Recurrent episodes are common, and some patients may experience prolonged pain even after the rash has cleared up.
Shingles, also known as shingles, is a painful skin condition that occurs due to the reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. It is most often recognized by a blister-like rash that appears in specific patterns on the body. Symptoms of this rash can include pain, burning, itching, and tingling. Patients with recurrent attacks of shingles may be able to recognize some symptoms before the skin lesions appear. Others experience prolonged pain at the site of the skin lesion for months or years.
The most obvious of the symptoms of shingles is the rash it causes. Affected patients have rashes of raised, pus-filled lesions. This rash can be red and painful. Initially the rash looks like blisters, but after these lesions burst the area underneath becomes crusted with a yellowish crust.
The rashes associated with shingles often appear in a certain pattern on the skin. They are said to have a dermatomal pattern, meaning they affect an area of skin that receives its sensation from a specific nerve. This distribution occurs because shingles represents a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus that had been dormant in the nerve root. The dermatomal pattern of shingles often affects only a strip of skin on one side of the body. Although the most common location is on the lateral or posterior chest wall, any area of the body could theoretically be affected.
Other shingles symptoms involve the pain and discomfort associated with the rash. The pain may be sharp, tingling or burning in nature. Some patients develop a symptom called allodynia, which is severe pain after lightly touching the rash. The pain experienced by the patient is significantly disproportionate to the stimulus that triggered it. Other patients feel itchy at the site of the rash, and if they scratch enough to break the underlying skin, they can put themselves at risk of a bacterial infection.
Patients with shingles tend to have recurring episodes of this condition. The blisters typically resolve after a couple of weeks, but can recur over months or years. Some patients are able to identify when they will have a recurrence of shingles because they experience symptoms such as tingling and burning of the skin before the blisters are seen. Identifying these symptoms as early as possible can help these patients get the best treatment for their attack of shingles.
Some patients have symptoms of shingles even after the blisters have resolved, a condition known as “postherpetic neuralgia.” They continue to have pain for months after the rash has cleared up. Symptoms can include tingling, numbness, burning pain, or a feeling that their skin is crawling.
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