Search results
Mar 5, 2024 · Small blisters that appear only on the lips or around the mouth may be cold sores, sometimes called fever blisters. They're not shingles, but are instead caused by the herpes simplex virus.
- Overview
- Causes
- Symptoms
- Appearance and pictures
- Treatment
- Prevention
- When to call a professional
- The bottom line
Shingles looks like a blistering rash that covers a small area on one side of your body. Antiviral medications can help prevent complications and speed recovery.
Shingles forms a rash or a collection of blisters on your skin due to a viral infection. While a shingles outbreak usually appears as a band across one side of your torso, it can appear anywhere on your body, including your leg and groin.
A 2011 case report noted that your trunk and face are the most common locations for an outbreak, while cases of penile shingles are rare, but can still occur.
Wherever it forms, shingles can also be quite painful or itchy. Treatment with antiviral drugs can usually clear up shingles within a couple of weeks. There are also topical treatments and home remedies that can ease symptoms while the virus disappears.
The varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox, is responsible for shingles. If you’ve had chickenpox, you’re at risk of shingles because the virus can lay dormant in your body for many years after chickenpox clears up.
The shingles virus goes after nerve cells and tends to follow the line of a nerve, which is why it often appears as a band. The large nerves that extend from your spine down your legs are therefore targets for the virus to attack, which could cause the rash to appear on one leg or your groin.
While blistering and a red or discolored rash are the most visible symptoms of shingles, they are often not the first to present. You may experience pain or tingling under your skin a few days before anything appears. In some cases, shingles pain persists with little or no rash developing.
Then, fluid-filled blisters appear. Some burst open and turn crusty. The rash may be itchy and sensitive to the touch. Other symptoms that sometimes occur include:
•headache
•fever
•fatigue
•sensitivity to light
The typical look of shingles is a blistering rash that often appears on one side of your body, usually covering a relatively small area. If you have that type of rash on one leg or one side of your groin, but not the other, it’s likely to be shingles.
Don’t assume it can’t be shingles just because a shingles rash usually forms on your chest or back or on one side of your face or neck.
A rash on your inner thigh or on your buttocks can be the result of any number of medical conditions, but rashes resulting from something other than shingles tend to look a little different. For example:
•Jock itch appears as a reddish or discolored, half-moon rash that may have small blisters and scaly skin. It may be itchy, but it isn’t painful like shingles. This fungal infection can cause a reaction in areas such as your groin that become moist with sweat, creating an optimal area for the infection to take hold.
•Contact dermatitis is a response to an allergen, such as poison ivy or a chemical in clothing or laundry detergent. It causes a dry, scaly rash, but may also cause hives to appear. Your upper legs and groin area are vulnerable to certain triggers of contact dermatitis, because your skin rubs against clothing.
•Prickly heat or heat rash appears as small red or discolored bumps often where sweat is trapped against your skin. Your legs and groin are common sites for prickly heat, particularly in hot weather.
Antiviral drugs, including acyclovir (Sitavig, Zovirax), valaciclovir (Valtrex), and famciclovir (Famvir) can quickly start fighting the infection and reducing symptoms of a rash, especially if started early. These drugs may also help reduce the risk of shingles complications.
Antibiotics, in oral form and as topical ointments, may also be prescribed to reduce the risk of a bacterial infection developing at the site of the blisters.
To help reduce the pain of shingles, your doctor may prescribe:
•capsaicin topical patch
•tricyclic antidepressants
•numbing agents, such as lidocaine
The best way to help prevent shingles is to get a vaccine. Shingrix is the primary shingles vaccine available in the United States. Because shingles usually hits when a person is older, people who are 50 years old and above are advised to get the vaccine.
While Shingrix will greatly reduce your chances of developing shingles, it is not 100 percent effective. The vaccine will, however, help reduce the severity of an outbreak if you do develop shingles.
If you suspect shingles, you should call a healthcare professional promptly. Getting started on antiviral medications soon can help reduce your chances of shingles complications, such as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) — nerve pain that lingers long after the rash clears up.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 10 to 18 percent of people with shingles go on to experience PHN.
If shingles causes an outbreak near your eye, you should get treatment right away. If the infection reaches your eyeball, it can cause scarring and possibly vision loss.
Other rare complications include:
•brain inflammation, or encephalitis
•pneumonia
A blistering rash that appears on your leg and groin — particularly if it’s just one side of your body — may very well be shingles, a viral infection that usually needs strong, antiviral medications for proper treatment.
If you experience pain in the area that then develops a rash, it’s probably shingles. The key to avoiding long-term pain and other complications is to get treatment as soon as you notice symptoms.
- James Roland
People also ask
How do you know if a blister is a rash?
What causes a blistering rash on your leg and groin?
What is ophthalmic shingles rash?
- 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).
Apr 9, 2024 · Shingles is a painful rash that appears as blotchy red patches and clusters of blisters. Here’s how shingles looks at different stages in pictures.
Oct 12, 2023 · In most cases, the blisters appear over a localized area, but widespread blistering is possible. Blisters usually appear on the face and torso but can occur elsewhere. In rare cases, there’s...
- 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...
Nov 24, 2022 · Shingles causes a blistering rash to appear on a small patch or stripe, often on one side of the body. The blisters are usually small and close together.
Oct 26, 2022 · Shingles causes a painful, blistering rash to appear on one side of the body. It often affects the face and torso but shingles can also appear on the legs. The varicella-zoster virus (VZV)...
