Transcript of
Shingles
Anyone with shingles should start antiviral treatment
within three days of the rash appearing.
If you have a weakened immune system,
or if the shingles rash is on your face near the eye,
then prompt medical assessment and treatment is particularly important.
Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the associated skin,
caused by a virus called the herpes varicella-zoster virus.
Julian Spinks GP
We actually catch this normally in our childhood
because it's the virus that gives us chickenpox.
The problem is, the body can't get rid of the virus in a lot of cases.
It lies dormant in the nervous system, sometimes for decades.
If it meets an opportunity, it will then come out on a nerve
and infect the nerve and the skin that's associated with it.
It then gives pain and a rash. That's shingles.
You can get shingles anywhere on the body.
On the trunk it tends to appear as a band of rash and pain.
On other parts of the body like the face it will be a patch,
but it can be anywhere from top-to-toe.
Shingles can be triggered by a number of things.
Often it's something that lowers your immunity slightly,
so it may be that you've had a recent infection.
It can sometimes be triggered by medications that lower your immunity,
but it can be something as simple as being over tired and stressed.
Shingles starts with an area of pain on the body, normally on one side.
The pain can be itching or burning in nature, sometimes with sharper areas.
After about two or three days, a rash starts to appear,
and the rash then will continue appearing for about a week.
Overall, the illness lasts for about two to four weeks.
During that time, you have the rash and the discomfort.
When the shingles rash is there, it starts off as red blotches.
Later it develops blisters rather like chickenpox, but in a concentrated area.
After two or three days, each of the blisters tends to go more yellow,
flattens, dries out and eventually crusts over.
You can pass on the chickenpox virus if you have shingles,
but only to people who are susceptible to it.
In other words, people who've never had chickenpox.
It's passed on directly by contact with the blisters.
So, if the area is covered up where the blistering is taking place,
then it's unlikely you can pass on the virus.
Once the blisters have crusted over, then you are no longer contagious.
Shingles is a relatively common disease.
It affects one in five of us overall in our lifetime.
Typically, it's older people that get it, people over the age of 50.
This is probably because their immune system
isn't quite as healthy as younger people.
Often people need to take some pain relief
for the discomfort that goes with it.
With older people, and people who get shingles in certain areas,
particularly near the eye,
and patients who may have some disease that affects their immune system,
we may need to use antiviral drugs.
These need to be started within three days of the onset of the rash,
and that will shorten the duration of the illness and make it milder.
If you've just been diagnosed with shingles,
the main thing to do is to make sure that the area is dry
and that the clothing is loose.
If you haven't sought some advice from a healthcare professional,
it might be worthwhile doing that.
But in general, as long as you make sure
that you're not putting other people at risk,
and that means keeping the area covered,
then you should be OK and the illness will go away by itself.
