What Does Shingles Look Like In The Beginning Stages

The painful rash will then form itchy or.

What does shingles look like in the beginning stages.

Shingles or herpes zoster occurs when the dormant chickenpox virus varicella zoster is reactivated in your nerve tissues. This explains the term shingles which comes from the latin word for belt. Early signs of shingles include tingling and localized pain. The recognition of a shingles rash in the early stages of formation is much more manageable.

A shingles rash can affect anyone who s had chicken pox although it usually targets people over the age of 50 or those with weakened immune systems 1. The stages of shingles before the shingles rash appears you may have a burning sensation itching or numbness in the area where the rash will appear. The stages of a shingles rash are distinctly noticeable to those who ve experienced this painful condition with unpleasant symptoms beginning even before the rash itself erupts 1. Itchiness and numb sensations are also noticeable.

The bumpy skin covered in blisters on the affected area will be very red in addition to painful. In the early stages shingles can produce an extensive range of signs and symptoms. It starts as a red rash such as the one seen in the shingles photo above but will turn into fluid filled blisters. After about 1 to 5 days a shingles rash will appear on one side of the body often in a single characteristic band around one side of the torso or face.

It is very apparent and clearly distinct from irritated skin. The early stage of shingles called the prodromal stage begins 3 to 4 days before the rash appears. The next rash stages include blisters ulcers and crusts. The shingles rash can be a distinctive cluster of fluid filled blisters often in a band around one side of the waist.

Early symptoms resemble those of the common cold including headache nausea general achiness abdominal pain fatigue fever and chills. These vary from very mild skin irritation and pain to fever and other symptoms of severe illness. What does shingles rash in an early stage look like. As shingles progresses more severe symptoms begin to develop.

While the shingles rash typically develops on the torso first it can spread to almost any other place on your body.