How To Treat Shingles

Shingles is a type of viral infection that can occur in individuals who had chickenpox as children. The virus causes a painful rash that usually spreads across a small portion of one side of the body. At first, the skin might be red and painful to the touch. Then patients might develop extremely painful blisters that can break and increase their infection risk. After individuals have chickenpox, the virus becomes dormant and hibernates in the tissue surrounding their spinal cord and brain. If it activates again and travels along their nerves to their skin, it develops as shingles. It's impossible to contract shingles without having been exposed to the virus.