Learn More About Shingles and the Shingrix Vaccine
Learn more about your risk of shingles, treatment, and the vaccine—which you most likely should get if you are over 50.
Can I get shingles?
Shingles (also called herpes zoster and varicella-zoster virus) is caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus that lives dormant in the spinal nerves. When your immune system is weakened by stress, illness, or aging, the virus appears on your skin as a swollen, painful, and blistering rash.
If you have never had chickenpox or were vaccinated for it during childhood, you can’t get shingles. The varicella vaccine was mandated for infants and children beginning in 1999.
Shingles Symptoms
Shingles begins as a burning, stinging, or itching sensation on either the right or left side (never both), without any noticeable rash. Within a week, red bumps and blisters filled with clear fluid will appear. The pain can be significant and can interfere with sleep and your daily activities.
Shingles pain usually starts on one side of the body.
Get treatment ASAP
If you think you might have shingles, contact our office as soon as possible. Treatment with prescription antiviral medication can reduce the duration and pain of shingles if taken within a week of the onset of symptoms. Timing is critical as the sooner you start antiviral medication, the less time it will take to heal and the less likely you are to have longer-term pain.
The goal of treatment is to prevent postherpetic neuralgia, a complication of shingles in which you experience pain and burning in the skin that lasts well beyond the healing of the rash.
Over 50? The vaccine is widely recommended
The shingles vaccine (Shingrix) is recommended for most adults over 50 years old. It is a two-dose vaccine, with the initial dose followed by a second dose two to six months later. Even if you are generally fit and healthy, you can still get shingles. If you have already had shingles or even if you have had a previous version of the shingles vaccine, you may still qualify to receive Shingrix.
Any questions? Consult one of our board-certified dermatologists. Please contact SSDP to schedule an appointment with any of our physicians.
