Shingles FAQs

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash. Generally, people only develop shingles once, but it’s possible to get it multiple times. Shingles is most common in people age 50 and older.

Shingles typically produces a painful rash that blisters and scabs over in 7 to 10 days and clears up within 2 to 4 weeks.

One to 5 days before the rash appears, people may experience pain, itching, tingling, or numbness in the area where the rash will develop.

The rash usually erupts in a single stripe on either the left or right side of the body, or sometimes the face, along a nerve path. It could develop on the arm, thigh, head – even the ear or eye. It’s most common on the chest and abdomen. Symptoms of shingles may also include fever, headache, and a sense of not feeling well.

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. If you’ve had chickenpox, you have the shingles virus inside you already, but it is inactive. As you get older, your immune system naturally weakens, increasing your risk of the virus reactivating as shingles.

No, shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus can be spread from a person with shingles to someone who has never had chickenpox or to someone who is not protected against chickenpox.