AnswersDriveShingles is caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Older adults and individuals with a weakened immune system are at greatest risk for developing shingles. fluid-filled blistering red rash, typically on the torso or face.
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Can you get shingles from stress?
Stress doesn't technically cause shingles, but it can cause your immune system to weaken — and a weakened immune system can put you at risk for shingles. A viral illness, shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.
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What is the first sign of shingles?
Early symptoms of shingles may include fever and general weakness. You may also feel areas of pain, burning, or a tingling sensation. A few days later, the first signs of a rash appear.
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Can you die if you have shingles?
Shingles is not usually dangerous to healthy individuals although it can cause great misery during an attack. Very rarely, shingles can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation (encephalitis) or death. For about one person in five, severe pain can continue even after the rash clears up.
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How long does it take for shingles to go away?
Most cases of shingles last 3 to 5 weeks. Shingles follows a pattern: The first sign is often burning or tingling pain; sometimes, it includes numbness or itching on one side of the body. Somewhere between 1 and 5 days after the tingling or burning feeling on the skin, a red rash will appear.
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What organs can be affected by shingles?
Body systems that can be affected include the eyes, nervous system, lungs, liver, and brain. Internal shingles can cause symptoms such as persistent pain, fever, cough, abdominal pain, and headache. When shingles affects internal organs, it's a serious complication that requires urgent medical attention.
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Is shingles Curable?
Like most herpes viruses, varicella-zoster cannot be cured. However, shingles can be treated. Treatment can speed up healing time, reduce pain, and delay or prevent shingles from recurring.
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How do you get tested for shingles?
Shingles is usually diagnosed based on the history of pain on one side of your body, along with the telltale rash and blisters. Your doctor may also take a tissue scraping or culture of the blisters for examination in the laboratory.
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Where do you get shingles on your body?
After about one to five days, a shingles rash will appear in a single characteristic band around one side of the torso or face. The rash will then form itchy, blisterlike sores filled with a clear fluid. The blisters will scab over in 7 to 10 days.
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What do you do for shingles?
Over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamines (Benadryl) and topical creams (Lidocaine cream) can relieve the itching. After diagnosis and appropriate treatment, apply cool tap-water compresses to weeping blisters for 20 minutes several times a day to soothe and help dry the blisters.
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Is shingles a sexually transmitted disease?
This is the same virus that causes chickenpox. Usually the virus does not cause any problems; however, the virus can reappear years later, causing shingles. Herpes zoster is not caused by the same virus that causes genital herpes, a sexually transmitted disease.
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How many times can you get shingles?
If you've had shingles once, you probably won't get it again. That doesn't mean it can't happen; it's just unlikely. Also called herpes zoster, shingles can come back a second or, rarely, a third time. However, you can take steps to help prevent it, or ease it the next time around.
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Can the shingles be deadly?
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- New research links the virus behind chickenpox and shingles to a blood vessel condition that afflicts the elderly and can sometimes be deadly. The study doesn't prove that the so-called varicella zoster virus causes the condition, known as giant cell arteritis.
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What is the cause of shingles?
Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash. Shingles is caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Older adults and individuals with a weakened immune system are at greatest risk for developing shingles.
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Can a child go to school with shingles?
If your child has shingles, he can spread the chickenpox virus to other children who've haven't been immunised or infected before. If the rash can be completely covered, your child can go to school, but he shouldn't swim or play contact sports for seven days after the rash appears.
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What does it look like when you have psoriasis?
What Does Psoriasis Look Like? Psoriasis usually appears as red or pink plaques of raised, thick, scaly skin. However it can also appear as small flat bumps, or large thick plaques, ,. It most commonly affects the skin on the elbows, knees, and scalp, though it can appear anywhere on the body.
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Can you get shingles as a child?
With the vaccine to protect against varicella zoster virus (VZV) now available, though, most kids can now avoid this infection. But anyone who has had chickenpox may later develop shingles — even children. The good news is that shingles is pretty rare in kids and teens with healthy immune systems.
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Is there a test to see if you have shingles?
Your doctor may test your blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or saliva to identify the presence of VZV antibodies. This will allow them to confirm a diagnosis of shingles without a rash. However, these tests are often inconclusive. Your medical history may provide clues that suggest you have shingles without a rash.
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Can you get shingles without a rash?
Can you have internal shingles without a rash? Shingles usually causes a painful, blistering rash. It can also cause internal symptoms, appear without a rash, and may spread to internal organs.
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Is shingles contagious to a child?
Yes, people with shingles are contagious. However, you can not catch shingles itself from someone else. Shingles are caused by the chickenpox virus which has been dormant (staying quiet) in your body ever since you had chickenpox. So, you get shingles from your own chickenpox virus, not from someone else."
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Can you get shingles without ever having chicken pox?
Shingles is less contagious than chicken pox and cannot be passed from person to person. However, the varicella zoster virus can be spread from a person with shingles to someone who has never had chicken pox. The unfortunate recipient might develop chicken pox, but not shingles.