Having shingles is no joke. It’s caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, and even if you’ve already had chickenpox, it doesn’t mean you’re safe from ever getting shingles. Once you’ve had chickenpox the virus stays in your body forever and if you are elderly, your immune system becomes weak, or you get very stressed, the virus can get reactivated, which can cause a case of shingles. Luckily, it’s easy to treat, and you can get treated for shingles at a Health4Men Clinic near you, for free. Sometimes, shingles can be caused by starting ARVs, because the ARVs can trigger an immune reaction called IRIS, immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. If this does occur it does not mean you should stop your ARVs, it just means that you need to speak to your doctor or clinician and they will help you to manage the shingles as you continue to take your ARVs. This is not very common, though.
What is shingles? At first, it appears as a rash on an area of your skin. It can appear as a patch or a band around one section of your body, but it doesn’t appear all over the body as chickenpox does. It rarely crosses the midline of the body i.e. the blisters occur on one side or the other but not both The rash gradually becomes a series of red blisters and these eventually dry out and then flake off. Shingles can be very painful and can also be accompanied by itching, tingling, headaches and swollen glands under the arms and around the throat. Some people also develop sores on their genitals.
You should go to your nearest doctor or clinic if you have any of these symptoms. If you have a weak immune system or you are HIV-positive and are not receiving ARV treatment, you may be more vulnerable to reactivation of the chickenpox virus, which causes shingles. You can get shingles if your immune system is weak and you are exposed to someone who has the chickenpox or shingles virus. When someone has a shingles skin rash, especially if blisters are present, then that person is very contagious to anyone who has never had shingles or chickenpox before. The fluid in the blisters contains a large amount of chickenpox virus which is transmittable. Most cases of shingles go away by themselves after about three weeks, but pain medication and antiviral medication can help to speed up the healing process and make it a lot less painful. Proper treatment also lowers the risk of residual pain which sometimes occurs even after the rash has healed. If you develop a blistering rash on one side of your face or forehead that you think may be shingles, you must go and get treatment immediately because there are rare cases reported where the person’s eye can become infected, and there is a possibility of blindness or neural damage in that eye.
If you do suspect that you have shingles, you should stay away from small children and newborn babies until you are no longer infectious, because these babies are very vulnerable to infection and they could get dangerously sick. Having shingles is nothing to be ashamed of because many people around the world have been treated for it. Getting shingles also does not mean that you must be HIV-positive. Many people who are negative get shingles due to other illnesses and stressful life circumstances, which can challenge the immune system. For more information, chat to a clinician at your nearest Health4Men Clinic.
Bruce J. Little is the Content Creator for Anova Health Institute.