For Patients

Shingles (herpes zoster)

Shingles, medically correctly called herpes zoster, is a viral disease. It often begins with a mild fever, fatigue and pain in a limited area of the skin. Later, fluid-filled blisters develop in the hip, abdomen or lower back. The name shingles refers to these blisters, which wrap around the body - usually on one side - like a belt. If you have chickenpox as a child, you carry the chickenpox virus with you forever. The virus often survives in the nervous system and can become active again when the body's defenses are weakened, for example by stress. Only a limited area of skin is supplied by the nerve nodes. That's why you don't get a rash all over your body as with chickenpox, but the blisters typically spread over a limited area of skin on one side of the body. Before the first skin symptoms, burning or stabbing pain in the affected area is often characteristic and the skin feels sore. The skin is reddened, and gradually blisters form and fill with fluid. Treatment for shingles should be fast and consistent. Your doctor has medicines available that can relieve your pain and stop the virus from multiplying.

One possible complication of shingles is post-zoster neuralgia, in which nerve pain persists after the blisters have healed. It is the most common complication of shingles and is particularly troublesome for older patients. The cause of this pain is damage to peripheral nerves by the viruses. To prevent this complication, it is important that you take the medicines prescribed for you to treat shingles exactly as your doctor instructs.

Shingles can manifest itself on the face as facial erysipelas or on the ear as a special form. Here, too, antiviral medicines provide relief.

AT-WEB-32-10-2021