Shingles arises from stress, either from lack of proper, restful sleep or depression and trauma in one's life. These traumatic occurences can bring the body's immune defenses down and if one was exposed to 'Chicken Pox' as a child, it comes back due to the above occurrences as 'Shingles.' It is also called Herpes Zoster, and it can occur over again if the above conditions which bring the immune defenses down are not corrected. The virus has remained dormant in the nerves being rekindled again, and usually starts out as a very bad back ache about a week prior to a bright red rash formation, which usually occurs on the backside, buttocks and could spread along the nerve endings all the way down to the legs. It sometimes can occur near the eye and could be serious if the lesions form there. Medical attention is required as soon as possible and drugs such as Acyclovir are given to shorten the duration of the occurence, which if untreated with these drugs, could last for a few weeks. I'm sorry to say, that it is quite painful and you will have severe pain during, and lingering pain some time after the lesions disappear. I had them 3 times in my lifetime, so I know what you may be experiencing, but now my life is less stressful and it has been years since they have occured. Try to eliminate the stress in your life, get proper sleep and take Lysine supplements. This helps to prevent an occurence. Stay away from foods that are rich in Arginine such as nuts and chocolate, because Arginine 'feeds' the Herpes Zoster virus. There is plenty of info about Herpes Zoster online. Just use your favorite search engine. Good luck to you. Take Care Aspirin or Tylenol may help relieve some of the pain but your doctor may prescribe a more potent pain killer until the Shingles subside. Incidentally, there is now a Shingles vaccine just recently approved by the FDA, but I believe it only will work for people who had chicken pox and have NOT had Shingles yet, and want to PREVENT it from occurring. Talk to your doctor about it. Again, good luck!
If you have ever had chicken pox before then you probably have herpes zooster which is the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles. If you have had chicken pox before then you may want to talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated for shingles which can affect you later in life after having chicken pox.
Shingles is basically the adult form of chicken pox also known as Vericella Zoster or Herpes Zoster. Most people have already been exposed and have had chicken pox. When a person has already experienced chicken pox, shingles can occur. Another few factors to consider when shingles symptoms appear is a person may have a weakened immune system, stress, or just simply be older.
Following the steps below can help a person determine if they do shingles and what treatment options are available. Always let a medical professional be the one to diagnosis the condition. This ensures proper treatment of the condition can be given and the right medications can be ordered.
Yes. A doctor is needed to correctly diagnose shingles and help discuss a treatment plan. See a doctor as soon as possible because complications can arise.
I would say that you can't reliably diagnose zoster (shingles) without the rash. Some specialists have coined the term "zoster sine herpete" for symptoms (usually pain) without any rash that they believe is due to the varicella virus (the cause of chicken pox and then shingles) but the existence of this has been difficult to establish and it is nearly impossible (some would say impossible) to diagnose in most clinical settings.
Generally a doctor will have to diagnose you with shingles, and then he will start you a treatment with antiviral medicines. However, over-the-counter medicines can help, such as aspirin or ibuprofen for the pain.
No. Shingles is not contagious, but someone with shingles can give chicken pox or varicella to someone who has not had chicken pox before.
Shingles
No. You only get shingles's if you have had chickenpox. No chickenpox no shingles's.
Shingles vaccine protects you from the shingles for few years only.
You could get the vaccine if you already had shingles; but it may not help you from recurrence of zoster, which by the way is less than 5%. If it does recur, the vaccine may help you.
Shingles is a virus, in the same family as chicken-pox. If you have it, you may feel uncomfortable, but you can certainly work. On the other hand, you may be contagious, which is something to consider before going to work. You cannot give shingles to another person, but you can transmit the virus, especially to a person who never had chicken-pox. The best thing is to get vaccinated to prevent this disease, and if you do get it, to follow your doctor's instructions.
Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus. You do not get shingles from someone with shingles; you get chickenpox from someone with shingles. Then when you get older, you will get shingles because you had chickenpox. Or, you might get older and never get chickenpox. In that case, you will thank your mother for having you vaccinated against chickenpox when you were a child.
Can you take the shingles shot while having shingles
Shingles is an outbreak of the chicken pox virus that causes a rash on the skin. But before the rash shows up, and after the rash is gone, the virus affects the nerves leading to the skin. Right before the rash shows up, a person affected by shingles might feel an itchy, burny pain in that area. After the rash is gone, the patient might have pain or discomfort in that area for some time -- again, related to the nerve involvement and not the skin rash itself. So, to be precise, shingles always develops "under the skin." The skin symptoms make it easiest to diagnose, but it's not the skin symptoms that cause the greatest aggravation with shingles.