What Is Shingles?
Chances are that you know at least one person who has had a case of shingles. In reality, twenty percent of the population has shingles at some point during their adulthood. Although shingles is a fairly common condition, many people are quite unaware about what shingles really is.
Shingles is a condition caused by the herpes zoster virus. The herpes zoster virus, which is officially known as varicella-zoster virus or VZV, is actually the same virus that causes chickenpox in children. For eighty percent of the population, VZV stays dormant after chickenpox. For a less fortunate twenty percent of the population, VZV resurfaces during adulthood as shingles.
When the virus first resurfaces as shingles, it takes the form as an intense pain on one side of the body. After several days, a rash will appear in the same area as the pain. The rash consists of many red bumps and blisters. After a few more days, the blisters will become pus filled and start to weep. Eventually, the blisters will scab over and the rash will disappear once the scabs fall off. Scarring may or may not occur two to three weeks after the initial symptoms of shingles.
Although it is not known for sure what causes VZV to reactivate as shingles, there are several factors which seem to commonly accompany a case of shingles. These factors include stress, fatigue and a weakened immune system. Even though you can't prevent shingles, by minimizing the factors mentioned above, you can reduce your chance of having a more severe case of shingles.
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