Understanding shingles

Your skin feels hot for days and then, suddenly, a blistering rash breaks out. Not only does it itch, it's so painful that a light touch can hurt  – you have shingles, the same virus that causes chicken pox.

• The blistering rash may blaze a trail from the middle of your back to your breastbone, a band called a dermatome.
• You may also have fever, chills, nausea, diarrhea, and trouble urinating. Shingles is also called herpes zoster, the same virus that causes chicken pox, the varicella zoster virus.
• Once you've had chicken pox, the virus may simply lie low for decades, reappearing as shingles for no apparent reason; or it may reappear triggered by stress, an immune-system deficiency from chemotherapy or AIDS, for example, or cancer.
• Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another, however the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles.

• People over age 60 are most at risk, although anyone who's had chicken pox can be a victim.
• Doctors believe the virus may migrate to nerve cells during chicken pox, then resume along the nerve fibres, affecting sensory cells, when it recurs as shingles.
• Although the rash, when treated, can clear up within three to five weeks, the affected skin can remain painful for years, a complication called postherpetic neuralgia, which occurs in one out of five people who get shingles.
  Your doctor will give you a physical exam, ask you about symptoms, and may take a tissue sample to verify that you have shingles. Once that's confirmed,  the doctor will likely suggest several treatments.
  As with most painful conditions, the sooner you act, the better. Fortunately, when caught early, shingles can be treated with antiviral drugs and self-care treatments.