herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

[jimmie 48]

my mom has them and barbde has them. i though the following article would be informative.

What is Shingles?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox — the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch, in one particular location on only one side of the body. After several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body. Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome, spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus, some of the virus particles leave the skin blisters and move into the nervous system. When the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, the virus moves back down the long nerve fibers that extend from the sensory cell bodies to the skin. The viruses multiply, the tell-tale rash erupts, and the person now has shingles.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/s...s/shingles.htm

[Atkid]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

My brother in law had them last month.

[dotsamantha]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

I've had shingles. I don't develop immunity for some reason. I've had chicken pox and shingles more than once. Yay me.

[Terry]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

I get a patch of it on my back when under stress and it is always the big sign to me that I have not been taking care of myself and need to chill and take care of me for a bit.

[jimmie 48]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

i knew basically nothing about shingles before mom got them. i have read that it hits primarily older folks. i use that term with a cringe because the age i have read if 60 and older. that isn't old.

this is connected to the nervous system so i think i would be a good candidate to get this also, terry. look at the stress barb has been under in just the past couple weeks and now she has a flare up of shingles. my mom is a worrier and before the shingles appeared, she had her good eye start failing and had a fall.

sam, i don't think you can develope immunity for this. i mean, barb has had it more than once and as terry says, she gotten the patch more than once. chickenpox, i don't understand. i thought you only got those once, is that correct? it's been ages and ages since i had even thought about that!

the doctor is telling mom she has months before she is "right as rain" again. the pain associated with this lingers a long time, i guess.

[dotsamantha]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

That's what I thought also. When I got it as an adult, my doctor looked at my history and saw the multiple chicken pox episodes and the previous shingles and mentioned my immunity, but I had always thought you could get it more than once.

[jimmie 48]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

so we are lead to a chickenpox post:
Chickenpox is a common disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is part of the herpesvirus family. Although many people associate the word herpes with genital herpes, the herpesvirus family is made up of nearly 100 kinds of viruses, eight of which cause disease in humans. Examples of different herpesviruses are herpes simplex virus (which causes cold sores and genital herpes infections), Epstein-Barr virus (which causes infectious mononucleosis), and varicella-zoster virus (which causes chickenpox and shingles). Varicella-zoster virus spreads in the air through coughs or sneezes or through contact with fluid from inside the chickenpox blisters.

Chickenpox, which occurs most often in the late winter and early spring, is very contagious - if exposed to an infected family member, about 80% to 90% of those in a household who haven't had chickenpox will get it. However, immunization of children with the chickenpox vaccine that's now available is expected to decrease cases of the disease dramatically over the next few years.

Although it's more common in kids under the age of 15, anyone can get chickenpox. A person usually has only one episode of chickenpox in his or her lifetime. But the virus that causes chickenpox can lie dormant within the body and can cause a different type of skin eruption later in life called shingles, also referred to as herpes-zoster.

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/inf...icken_pox.html

sam, it appears you are the not so lucky girly girl.

[jimmie 48]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

part of the same article for those now hitting the link:
Anyone who has had chickenpox as a child is at risk for a complication later in life called shingles. After an infection, some of the varicella-zoster virus may remain inactive in nerve cells near the spinal cord. Many years later, the virus can reactivate and resurface as shingles. When it reactivates, it affects the nerve to the skin. Symptoms, such as a tingling feeling, itching, or pain followed by a rash with red bumps and blisters appear only in the area of the skin that the nerve goes to.

[dotsamantha]

Re: herpes zoster.... aka: shingles

I don't even pay it any mind anymore, lol. If I notice it I cover up. so I don't contact anyone. i don't get "sick" often, so if this is as bad as it gets, I don't mind,