Spotlight on Shingles: Know what you can do is a disease education program sponsored by the American Pain Foundation (APF), with support from Merck & Co., Inc.

Spotlight on Risk: What is Shingles? Who’s at Risk?

• Shingles is a disease caused by the same virus that caused chickenpox.
• Once a person has had chickenpox, the virus can live, but remain inactive in certain nerve roots within your body for many years; if the virus becomes active again, usually later in life, it can cause shingles
• If you’ve had chickenpox (and more than 90 percent of adults in America have), you’re at risk for shingles; also, the risk for shingles increases as you get older.
  • Up to half of the nearly 1 million shingles cases in the U.S. each year occur in people 60 years and older.
  • 1 out of 2 people who live to age 85 will have shingles.
• In fact, shingles can affect anyone who has had chickenpox at anytime, without warning; there is no way to tell who will get shingles or when it may occur.
  

• You may not be able to see the first signs of shingles, but you may feel them; the first signs of shingles may include: itching, tingling and burning.
• Within a few days, a rash of fluid-filled blisters appears (usually on one side of the body or face) the blisters may take 2 to 4 weeks to heal.
• Shingles rashes can be painful; for most people, the pain from shingles rash lessens as it heals.
• However, for some people, after the rash heals, shingles may lead to pain that can last for months or even years; this long-term nerve pain, called postherpetic neuralgia or PHN, occurs because the virus that causes shingles may damage certain nerves.
• The pain from postherpetic neuralgia can vary and may include: burning and throbbing, and stabbing and shooting; also, the older you get, the more you’re at risk for long-term nerve pain.
  • Long-term nerve pain hurts more and lasts longer in older adults.
  • For many people with long-term nerve pain, even the touch of soft clothing against the skin can be painful.
• Other serious problems that may result from shingles include skin infection, muscle weakness, scarring, and decrease or loss of vision or hearing.
  

• Talk to your doctor or healthcare professional if you think you may have shingles so that treatment may begin as soon as possible.
• If you are an older person and have had chickenpox, talk to a doctor or healthcare professional about your risk for shingles.

Click her to download Shingles Fact Sheet.