Shingles is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.

It is more common in older adults and in people who have weakened immune systems. It isn't a life-threatening condition.

Most people who get shingles will get better and may never have another attack. However, the virus enters your nervous system and lies dormant for years in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. In some people, the virus stays dormant forever; while In others, the virus wakes up and reactivates.

Vaccines can help reduce the risk of shingles but the vaccine does not guarantee that you won't ever get chickenpox or shingles. This condition may occur when disease, stress, or ageing weakens the immune system causing a reawakening of the virus.

As well, some medicines may trigger the virus and it wakes up.

1. Shingles can be very painful with intense pain as the first symptom.
2. Rashes usually show up a few days after the emergence of the pain.
3. Most often shingles appear as a stripe of blisters that affect only a section of one side of your body.
4. The rash may wrap around either the left or right side of your torso, lower back but it can occur anywhere on your body.
5. Sometimes the shingles rash occurs around one eye or on one side of the neck or face.
6. Other symptoms may include burning, numbness or tingling,
7. The red rash and fluid-filled blisters break open and crust over.
8. There is also itching and some people may suffer from fever, headache, fatigue, general aches and chills.

A person with shingles can pass the varicella-zoster virus to anyone who isn't immune to chickenpox. This usually occurs through direct contact with the open sores of the shingles rash. Then again, some people experience shingles pain without ever developing the rash.

Shingles are usually diagnosed based on the history of pain on one side of your body, along with the indicative rash and blisters. Your doctor may also take a tissue scraping or culture of the blisters for examination in the laboratory.

Complications can occur, and skin infections occur if the rash becomes infected. Also, there can be eye problems because shingles of the eye cause inflammation and in severe cases, it can lead to loss of vision. Another complication can be, weakness of the muscles that are supplied by that motor nerve. As well as scarring.

Treatment

1. There's no cure for shingles, but early treatment can help shorten a shingles infection. Prescriptions of antiviral drugs can speed healing and diminish or lessen your risk of complications.
2. Numbing agents, of a cream, gel, spray or skin patch may help relieve the pain.
3. Taking cool baths or using cool, wet compresses on your blisters may as well help relieve the itching and pain.

The shingles vaccine is used only as a prevention strategy, it's not intended to treat people who currently have the disease. However, it can reduce your chances of complications and the severity of the disease.  Shingles are hurtful rein in Complication