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What is ophthalmic shingles rash?
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Mar 5, 2024 · 12 /18. If the shingles rash appears around the eye or forehead, it can cause eye infections and temporary or permanent loss of vision. If the shingles virus attacks the ear, people may develop ...
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Shingles symptoms usually affect only a small section on one side of your body. These symptoms may include:
•Pain, burning or tingling
•Sensitivity to touch
•A red rash that begins a few days after the pain
•Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over
•Itching
Contact your health care provider as soon as possible if you suspect shingles, especially in the following situations:
•The pain and rash occur near an eye. If left untreated, this infection may lead to permanent eye damage.
•You're 50 or older. Age increases your risk of complications.
•You or someone in your family has a weakened immune system. This may be due to cancer, medications or chronic illness.
•The rash is widespread and painful.
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Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who's had chickenpox may develop shingles. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus enters your nervous system and stays inactive for years.
Sometimes the virus reactivates and travels along nerve pathways to your skin — producing shingles. But not everyone who's had chickenpox will develop shingles.
The reason for shingles is unclear. It may be due to lowered immunity to infections as people get older. Shingles is more common in older adults and in people who have weakened immune systems.
Varicella-zoster is part of a group of viruses called herpes viruses. This is the same group that includes the viruses that cause cold sores and genital herpes. As a result, shingles is also known as herpes zoster. But the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles isn't the same virus that causes cold sores or genital herpes, which is a sexually transmitted infection.
Anyone who has ever had chickenpox can develop shingles. Most adults in the United States had chickenpox when they were children. That was before the availability of the routine childhood vaccination that now protects against chickenpox.
Factors that may increase your risk of developing shingles include:
•Age. The risk of developing shingles increases with age. Shingles typically occurs in people older than 50. And people over the age of 60 are more likely to experience more-severe complications.
•Some diseases. Diseases that weaken your immune system, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, can increase your risk of shingles.
•Cancer treatments. Radiation or chemotherapy can lower your resistance to diseases and may trigger shingles.
•Some medications. Drugs that prevent rejection of transplanted organs can increase your risk of shingles. Long-term use of steroids, such as prednisone, may also increase your risk of developing shingles.
Complications from shingles can include:
•Postherpetic neuralgia. For some people, shingles pain continues long after the blisters have cleared. This condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia. It occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from your skin to your brain.
•Vision loss. Shingles in or around an eye (ophthalmic shingles) can cause painful eye infections that may result in vision loss.
•Neurological problems. Shingles may cause inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), facial paralysis, or problems with hearing or balance.
A shingles vaccine may help prevent shingles. People who are eligible should get the Shingrix vaccine, which has been available in the United States since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017. The Zostavax vaccine is no longer available in the U.S., but other countries may still use it.
Shingrix is approved and recommended for people age 50 and older, whether they've had shingles or not. People who've had the Zostavax vaccine in the past or don't know whether they've had chickenpox may also receive the Shingrix vaccine.
Shingrix is also recommended for people who are 19 years of age and older who have weakened immune systems due to disease or medication.
Shingrix is a nonliving vaccine made of a virus component. It's given in two doses, with 2 to 6 months between doses. The most common side effects of the shingles vaccine are redness, pain and swelling at the injection site. Some people also experience fatigue, headache and other side effects.
The shingles vaccine doesn't guarantee that you won't get shingles. But this vaccine will likely reduce the course and severity of the disease. And it will likely lower your risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Studies suggest that Shingrix offers protection against shingles for more than five years.
Talk to your health care provider about your vaccination options if you:
•Mayo Clinic Minute: Learn more about eye shingles
•Mayo Clinic Q and A: Shingles -- not just a band of blisters
Oct 12, 2023 · Ophthalmic shingles, also known as herpes zoster ophthalmicus, occurs around the eye. Often, it starts as a burning or tingling sensation on the scalp, cheeks, or forehead. Like when shingles ...
- How long does shingles last?Most people can expect the rash to heal within 2–4 weeks, according to the CDC. Although some people may be left with minor scars, most will comple...
- What’s a mild case of shingles like?In mild shingles, you may only experience tingling or itching but without the painful blistering. This is more likely in younger people with health...
- How long are you contagious with shingles?It’s impossible to pass on shingles. But you can get chickenpox from someone with shingles through contact with active blisters due to the same vir...
- Symptoms Before Rash. Shingles is caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus, called the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). After someone gets chickenpox, VZV embeds itself in the nerve roots of the spine where it can lie dormant for decades.
- Initial Rash. Soon after the onset of prodromal symptoms, slightly reddish patches of skin with small bumps (papules) will develop in a cluster in the areas of pain.
- Vesicles Rash. As VZV migrates to the skin, the virus will multiply rapidly in the outermost (epidermal) layer of the skin. Following the appearance of bumps, tiny blisters (vesicles) will appear within 12 to 24 hours.
- Blisters. The rapid development of blister clusters will reveal one of the hallmarks of a shingles infection, namely the so-called "shingle belt." This manifests as a single stripe that runs along one side of the body (such as one side of the trunk, one side of the face, or down one thigh).
Aug 20, 2022 · Treatment. There's no cure for shingles. Early treatment with prescription antiviral drugs may speed healing and lower your risk of complications. These drugs include: Acyclovir (Zovirax) Famciclovir. Valacyclovir (Valtrex) Shingles can cause severe pain, so your health care provider also may prescribe: Capsaicin topical patch (Qutenza)
Feb 2, 2022 · Stomach upset. Other signs and symptoms that appear a few days after the early symptoms include: An itching, tingling or burning feeling in an area of your skin. Redness on your skin in the affected area. Raised rash in a small area of your skin. Fluid-filled blisters that break open then scab over.
Nov 27, 2023 · rash that appears on one side of the body, such as on the chest, abdomen, back, or face. a rash on your face and ears. itchiness. fluid-filled blisters that break easily. burning sensation ...
