Most adults in America remember having chicken pox when they were children. While the disease is relatively harmless during childhood, it can return spontaneously in later years, and cause a number of problems. Shingles disease refers to a non-primary outbreak of illness caused by the virus Herpes Zoster. Research indicates that this is the exact same virus that causes chicken pox. Nevertheless, there are some important differences in two episodes of the disease. While Herpes Zoster belongs to the same family of virii as Herpes Simplex, it is not the same pathogen that causes genital herpes.
Among other things, it is important to understand that shingles disease results from the overgrowth of a pathogen that was never completely removed from your body. After someone is over the chicken pox, the Herpes Zoster virus is housed by the nerve cells. For some unknown reason, years later, it will leave the neurons, and return to the skin, where it produces rash and water blisters. Even though people over the age of 60 are the most likely to come down with shingles disease, it can happen to younger people if their immune systems are weakened.
While shingles disease is caused by a virus, your condition is not contageous to someone that has already had chicken pox. On the other hand, if someone that has not had chicken pox touches the rash or blisters, they can come down with a primary outbreak. Fortunately, unlike chicken pox, shingles disease is usually not spread by coughing or sneezing.
Typically, shingles disease also does not cover the entire body. Usually, the rash will make a band, or “girdle” on one side of your waist. Other people may develop lesions on their face. Recently, doctors have learned there are more numbers of people with very mild cases of shingles disease than previously realized. In very rare cases, shingles disease can develop in the eyes, or internal organs.
For those who remember chicken pox as being more itchy than anything else, shingles disease may bring a few unpleasant surprises. First, because the virus has traveled through your nervous system to reach the skin, it will also colonize in those areas. As a result, you may experience substantial pain along with the itching.
Similar to chicken pox, the blisters and rash associated with shingles disease will usually subside in a week to ten days. While there are pain medications and ointments available, itching and other abnormal skin responses may be more difficult to control. Unfortunately, some people may also continue to experience pain long after the rash and blisters have gone away.
Today, as more and more people are living longer, the rate of shingles disease appears to be increasing. Unfortunately, modern researchers do not know what triggers a recurrence of overgrowth of the Herpes Zoster virus. Many feel that learning about this specific characteristic may lead to limiting the severity of outbreaks, as well as point to some things that people can do on their own to prevent them.
