What You Need to Know About Shingles

The two-dose vaccine protects you from a serious disease and possible long-term pain.

Written by Melissa Bean Sterzick

For the 50 and up crowd, chicken pox was a normal experience of childhood – almost a rite of passage. Brothers, sisters and friends all shared the virus, with its itchy bumps, scabs and scars. Our memories of the experience are vague, but chicken pox can still affect us – in the form of shingles.

Of the medical tests and interventions important in mid and later life, the shingles vaccine is one of the easiest to get and easiest to forget. However, for anyone who has had chicken pox or been exposed to chicken pox, the shingles vaccine is a simple and straightforward way to prevent a painful condition.

Torrance Memorial Physician Network physician Maliha Khan, MD, specializes in internal medicine and primary care. She urges all of her patients aged 50 and up to get a shingles vaccine.

Shingles is a rash located on a specific area of one side of the body. It is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox called varicella zoster. The virus stays in the body and, later in life, it can reawaken and cause shingles.

Dr. Khan says even if an individual has not had chicken pox, almost everyone in the world has been exposed to the virus, so those over age 50 should consider getting the shingles vaccine.

Shingles is contagious during the blister stage and can be spread to anyone who hasn’t had chicken pox or the shingles vaccine. It’s important to note the chicken pox vaccine does not prevent shingles.

Symptoms

A rash is the most common symptom. Itchy blisters and shooting pain are two early signs. Individuals can also experience fever, chills, headache, upset stomach and swollen lymph nodes.

Treatment

Call your doctor quickly if you have any of these symptoms. There’s no cure for shingles. Anti-viral medications prevent the multiplication of the virus and they are best taken early in the course of the disease. Otherwise, after 72 hours it’s considered too late. Early treatment can shorten a shingles infection and decrease the chance of complications.

Complications

The average case of shingles lasts two to four weeks with rash and pain. More serious effects of the virus can be facial paralysis, and blindness if the rash involves the eye or the surrounding area. The most common serious complication is postherpetic neuralgia – pain in the area of the rash that can last for years.

People over the age of 50, and those who are immunocompromised, are at most risk for getting shingles. In addition, there are connections between stress and shingles, says Dr. Khan. Prolonged high cortisol levels in the body, caused by anxiousness or tension, can act as an immunosuppressant – lowering the body’s defenses and allowing the virus to flare.

“The disease is related to your immune system. The virus is sitting dormant in your nerve cells, so when your immune system is weakened, it can reactivate,” she says.

The vaccine for shingles is two doses administered two to six months apart. Vaccine side effects can occur, but usually last only a couple of days and are considered mild in comparison to the discomfort of shingles complications.

“It’s just worth getting the vaccine. Once you are vaccinated with the two doses, you don’t need to get vaccinated again. It’s two doses and you’re done. You don’t have to worry about an annual shot,” says Dr. Khan. 

Maliha Khan, MD, practices at Torrance Memorial Physician Network Hermosa Beach, 705 Pier Avenue, Suite A. She can be reached at 310-891-6708.