Shingles On Chest

Symptoms of shingles usually occur without warning. The first sign of shingles is often burning, sharp pain, tingling, or numbness in or under the skin on one side of the body or face. Some people experience severe itching or aching rather than pain. Many people also feel tired and ill with fever, chills, headache, and upset stomach.

After several days of these symptoms, a belt-like rash that extends from the midline of the body outward will develop. The rash will be made up of grape-like clusters of small, clear, fluid-filled blisters on reddened skin. Within three days after the rash appears, the fluid-filled blisters will turn yellow, dry up, and crust over. Shingles rash can sometimes take longer to crust over in HIV-positive people with severely suppressed immune systems. Here's what a shingles rash can look like...

After the rash crusts over, it can take two weeks for the shingles to heal completely, sometimes leaving pitted scars.
It can take up to six weeks for shingles pain to go away completely. Sometimes, shingles can do long-lasting damage to a nerve, which may result in pain, numbness, or tingling after the rash has healed completely (this is called "post-herpetic neuralgia").