Shingles Essay

Small red bumps, an itchy rash, pain when anyone touches it…these are some of the symptoms of Shingles. A viral disease also known as herpes zoster is a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It’s also the same virus that causes chickenpox (varicella). Unlike chickenpox which can cover a person’s entire body, shingles typically stays in a local area. The bright red rash that’s typical is in a single stripe on either the left or right side of the body. The symptoms can vary from person to person as well as the duration. Typically there’s some tingling anywhere from 2 to 4 days before the rash appears but it could be as far out as weeks before the rash appears. The first phase of the disease can last from a few days to about 3 weeks. The patient will have either headache, fever or malaise (typical body weakness) but not every person gets or experiences these symptoms. Once these first symptoms pass is when the

When the VZV virus is reactivated and it manifests itself upon your face usually affects the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve. When this happens in about 10%-25% of cases it’s called herpes zoster ophthalmicus. When it breaks out upon your face it’s usually along the forehead, upper eyelid and around the orbit of the eye. When this occurs it can bring along conjunctivitis(eye infection), keratitis(inflamed cornea), uveitis(inflammation of the uvea, the vascular tunic of the eye, comprising the iris, choroid coat, and ciliary body), and optic nerve palsies(eye tremors). It can also cause chronic ocular inflammation, a loss of vision resulting in blindness in one eye and of course debilitating pain. Shingles oticus, otherwise known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome type II was thought to be a result of the virus spreading from the facial nerve to the vestibulocochlear nerve. Symptoms from this form of shingles include hearing loss and