Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBefore the RashWhen Rash AppearsComplicationsRarer ComplicationsWhen to See a Healthcare ProviderFAQNext in Shingles GuideWhat Causes Shingles?
Table of ContentsView All
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Table of Contents
Before the Rash
When Rash Appears
Complications
Rarer Complications
When to See a Healthcare Provider
FAQ
Next in Shingles Guide
The most well-known symptom ofshingles (herpes zoster)is a severe skin rash. However, before any signs of blisters, what shingles can feel like is very much as if you’re only coming down with the flu.
You may experience chills and fever, as well as intense pain in one part of the body. It’s not until a few days later that a rash finally joins these shingles symptoms, with clusters of tiny, pimple-like blisters progressing quickly once they appear. The rash usually appears in a band around the left or right side of your torso (back or chest). It can also occur on the side of your face.
This article explains what shingles feels like, the typical stages of a shingles outbreak that begin with pain, and complications to avoid, such as nerve issues or bacterial skin infections. It offers information about when to see a healthcare provider for your symptoms.
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What Shingles Feels Like Before the Rash
Shingles develops in two stages. The first is called the prodromal period.
Shingles is a reactivation of thevaricellavirus, which is what causeschickenpox. After an initial infection, the virus lays dormant in the body. Once reactivated, which can happen years later, shingles can occur.
Often, the earliest signs this is occurring are similar to what you’d expect at the start of any infection. These symptoms sometimes occur at times when you’re feeling stressed or run down. They are also systemic, meaning they affect the whole body.
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You may assume you’re just overtired or coming down with a cold when you actually have shingles.
What First Symptoms of Shingles Feel LikeSystemic symptoms may appear in the first few days of the prodromal stage of shingles. These symptoms feel like:Pain in a specific, localized area of the bodyFeverChillsUpset stomachA headache
What First Symptoms of Shingles Feel Like
Systemic symptoms may appear in the first few days of the prodromal stage of shingles. These symptoms feel like:Pain in a specific, localized area of the bodyFeverChillsUpset stomachA headache
Systemic symptoms may appear in the first few days of the prodromal stage of shingles. These symptoms feel like:
The most telling first symptom of shingles typically is the pain. Often excruciating, the discomfort has been described as burning, stinging, tingly, prickly, itchy, numbing, achy, or shooting.It can be persistent or intermittent, but will always be limited to one side of the body.
Because the pain from shingles is localized, it can be mistaken for other conditions depending on where it’s focused.
For example, a stabbing or persistent pain on one side of the lower back may mistakenly be attributed tosciaticaor a kidney problem. Shingles pain around the lips could suggest a cold sore coming on, while pain focused on the eye or ear might seem like the start of amigraine.
What Does Nerve Pain From Shingles Feel Like?The skin will be sensitive to any pressure, even a light touch, around the damaged nerves. Pain is often described as sharp, stabbing, or burning. It can be constant or come and go, and it may feel worse with movement.
What Does Nerve Pain From Shingles Feel Like?
The skin will be sensitive to any pressure, even a light touch, around the damaged nerves. Pain is often described as sharp, stabbing, or burning. It can be constant or come and go, and it may feel worse with movement.
What Shingles Feels Like When the Rash Appears
The eruptive stage of shingles begins a few days later. This is when a rash appears.
Within three to five days of the initial pain, a few tiny pimple-like spots appear and quickly multiply into clusters, forming a rash that feels prickly to the touch.
From there, sometimes within hours, the pimples develop into water-filled blisters, orvesicles, that then consolidate into larger blisters.Often, redness and swelling accompany the rash.
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The shingles rash looks very much like the chickenpox rash, with a key difference: Chickenpox blisters are widely scattered over the entire body. With shingles, the rash almost always occupies a finite strip of skin.
Ultimately, the pain of shingles may get so excruciating that simply grazing the skin with clothing can set off what feels like an electric shock.
What Triggers a Shingles Outbreak?While researchers aren’t sure, one theory is that a weakened immune system can allow the virus to reemerge. This can happen as you get older and your immune system becomes less robust.
What Triggers a Shingles Outbreak?
While researchers aren’t sure, one theory is that a weakened immune system can allow the virus to reemerge. This can happen as you get older and your immune system becomes less robust.
Where a Shingles Rash Forms
A shingles rash typically occurs on the face, neck, or chest, on just one side of the body.
The exception may be in people whose immune systems are severely comprised, such as those withadvanced HIVinfection. They’re more at risk of reactivation, or recurrence, of shingles than the general population, and the rash can spread beyond a specific dermatome or two and become more generalized.
How Long It Takes for Shingles to Go AwayThe shingles rash forms over a period of three to five days and then gradually crusts over. Symptoms usually get better within two to four weeks.However, pain that accompanies it can sometimes last for weeks, months, and occasionally years.
How Long It Takes for Shingles to Go Away
The shingles rash forms over a period of three to five days and then gradually crusts over. Symptoms usually get better within two to four weeks.However, pain that accompanies it can sometimes last for weeks, months, and occasionally years.
Shingles Pictures
What Shingles Feels Like When There’s Complications
Aside from the discomfort that can come along with shingles, it is particularly concerning because of its potential complications.
Postherpetic Neuralgia
Symptoms of PHN can be severe enough to interfere with daily life and include:
The CDC reports that between 10% and 18% of people who have shingles will develop PHN. The risk increases with age; it is rarely seen in people under age 40.
A particularly severe and painful shingles rash can be associated with PHN. Having the rash on the face or torso also increases the risk of the condition.
Treating PHN can be complicated, but it’s important, as the condition can lead to further complications such as depression, fatigue, trouble concentrating, sleep issues, andappetite loss.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and it often takes several medications to relieve the pain and other symptoms. Among the drugs used most often to treat PHN are:
Internal Shingles: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment
Bacterial Skin Infections
One bacterial skin infection sometimes associated with shingles isimpetigo, which most often affects children. It starts with itchy sores that burst and then form honey-colored crusts. Impetigo is extremely contagious but can be treated effectively with antibiotics.
Cellulitis is another skin infection known to result from shingles.Unlike impetigo, which affects the outermost layer of skin, cellulitis is an infection of the deeper layers and even the tissue beneath the skin.
Cellulitis starts with an area that’s red, swollen, and feels warm and tender to the touch. If it’s not treated, cellulitis can spread quickly and even affect the lymph nodes, eventually leading to a blood infection. As long as it’s treated right away with oral antibiotics and good care of the affected skin, cellulitis is highly curable and unlikely to leave permanent damage.
Cellulitis: Everything You Need to Know
Facial Pain and Eye Damage
In about 10% of cases, shingles will affect thetrigeminal ganglion—a triple-branched nerve that provides sensation to structures in the face. This leads toherpes zoster ophthalmicus(HZO).
HZO can affect any part of the eye, from the optic nerve to the conjunctiva (the membrane that covers the front of the eye and lines the eyelid). Withoutantiviral treatment, almost half of people who have shingles near the eye will experience eye pain and damage, so it’s vital to see an ophthalmologist immediately.
Uncommon Complications
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome
Otherwise known as herpes zoster oticus, this is inflammation of a facial nerve near one of the ears. The symptoms include:
People with Ramsay Hunt often experience dizziness or lack of balance. The condition also can cause permanent hearing loss if not treated promptly.
Meningitis
This is an infection of themeninges, the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms of meningitis include:
Encephalitis
Like meningitis, this is a secondary viral infection.Encephalitisaffects the brain and can cause symptoms such as a headache, memory loss, fever, and changes in personality.
Encephalitis vs. Meningitis
Motor Neuropathy
Normally the varicella virus affects only sensation in the skin, but, in rare cases, it can go deeper into muscle tissue, causing weakness or atrophy. Most patients experiencing motor neuropathy will regain motor function.
If you suspect you have shingles, you should see a healthcare provider right away—within three days of finding the rash.You can then begin appropriate treatment that will help to relieve your symptoms, speed your recovery, and lower your risk of complications. This is especially important if you:
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If while you’re dealing with shingles you experience any of the following, let your healthcare provider know right away if:
Also, contact your provider if you begin to have symptoms of a secondary infection, such as a very high fever, chills, and severe headache.
Your healthcare provider will help you determine the right treatment for you. This may include antiviral drugs, antidepressant medications, and pain medications.
Summary
Shingles (herpes zoster) infections can occur many years after exposure to the varicella virus that causes chicken pox. The first symptoms of what shingles feels like include fever, headache, and an upset stomach common to many types of infection. You also may experience pain at a specific site on your body.
The pain can be significant. People often describe it as sharp, stabbing, or burning. A rash typically follows and lasts for three to five days. Symptoms overall may last two to four weeks, but pain may last longer. Complications can occur as well, some of them serious.
It’s important to see a healthcare provider right away if you suspect shingles and its symptoms. And consider the highly effectiveShingrix vaccineto prevent shingles in people over 50.
How Shingles Is Treated
Frequently Asked QuestionsIt can, but there’s a risk of developing severe pain without treatment. It’s important to see your healthcare provider within three days of developing a rash. Early treatment with antiviral medicine can help the rash heal faster and prevent severe pain.Antiviral medications can help prevent severe pain and shorten the length of the illness. These include acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can, but there’s a risk of developing severe pain without treatment. It’s important to see your healthcare provider within three days of developing a rash. Early treatment with antiviral medicine can help the rash heal faster and prevent severe pain.
Antiviral medications can help prevent severe pain and shorten the length of the illness. These include acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir.
Shingles Causes and Risk Factors
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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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