What are the Symptoms of Shingles?

The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness, in or under the skin. The individual may also feel ill with fever, chills, headache, or stomach upset. After several days, a rash of small fluid-filled blisters, reminiscent of chickenpox, appears on reddened skin. The pain associated with shingles can be intense and is often described as "unrelenting." People with lesions on the torso may feel spasms of pain at the gentlest touch or breeze. The blisters are usually limited to a band, called dermatomes, spanning one side of the trunk, around the waistline, or clustered on one side of the face. 

The distribution of the shingles spots is a telltale clue to where the chickenpox virus has been hiding since the initial infection. Scientists now know that the shingles lesions correspond to the dermatome supplied by a specific sensory nerve that exits from the brain or spinal cord. 

For the majority of healthy individuals, this second bout with the chickenpox virus is almost always a second triumph of the body's immune system. The shingles attack may last longer than chickenpox, and the patient may need medication for pain, but in most cases the body has the inner resources to fight back. The lesions heal, the pain subsides within 3 to 5 weeks, and for most patients the blisters leave no scars.