Get News & Updates Directly To Your Inbox
Get News & Updates Directly To Your Inbox
Find A Doctor Or Hospital In Your Network.
Nearly one-in-three Americans will have a bout with shingles. Even children can contract it.
Shingles is a viral infection. The same virus (varicella zoster) that causes chickenpox triggers shingles. If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in your body. If it becomes active again later, it causes shingles.
While shingles isn’t life-threatening, it can be very uncomfortable. Its painful rash can appear anywhere on your body, but it most often occurs as a cluster of blisters on the sides of the torso. Other symptoms can include a fever, headache and upset stomach.
Anyone who has had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine can get shingles. Your chances of getting shingles increase as you get older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly half of all people who get shingles are over the age of 60.
Other risk factors can include a weak immune system caused by cancer, HIV, AIDS and other conditions. The use of certain medications such as steroids and anti-rejection drugs that help prevent the body’s rejection of transplanted organs can also boost the risk.
The only way you can get shingles is if you’ve had chickenpox. You cannot “catch” shingles from someone else. If you’ve never had chickenpox, coming into contact with the shingles rash may cause chickenpox. To prevent this, anyone with shingles should keep their rash covered, avoid scratching or touching it, and wash their hands regularly.
Since shingles is caused by a virus, there is no magic pill or treatment to get rid of it. Your doctor can give you medication to speed up the healing process. To help with pain, your doctor may also prescribe pain medications and soothing creams for the rash.
Shingles usually lasts between two and six weeks. It’s possible that you can get shingles more than once, but most people usually get it only once.
The only way to protect yourself from shingles is to get vaccinated. The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 60 get the shingles vaccine, even if you have had shingles before. Talk with your doctor if you have any questions about the shingles vaccine or would like to get it.
Originally published 2/9/2016; Revised 2021, 2023
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, a Division of Health Care Service Corporation,
a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
© Copyright 2024 Health Care Service Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Telligent is an operating division of Verint Americas, Inc., an independent company that provides and hosts an online community platform for blogging and access to social media for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico.
File is in portable document format (PDF). To view this file, you may need to install a PDF reader program. Most PDF readers are a free download. One option is Adobe® Reader® which has a built-in screen reader. Other Adobe accessibility tools and information can be downloaded at https://access.adobe.com.
You are leaving this website/app ("site"). This new site may be offered by a vendor or an independent third party. The site may also contain non-Medicare related information. Some sites may require you to agree to their terms of use and privacy policy.
Powered by Telligent