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What does a bad case of shingles look like?
The shingles rash appears as painful skin blisters that appear usually on only one side of the face or body along the distribution of nerves in the skin. The skin rash begins as fluid-filled blisters that then form scabs that may leave scars.
What does shingles look like on African American skin?
Shingles rash starts as small bumps that are discolored compared to your surrounding skin, often appearing dark pink, purple, or brown. These then turn into raised white or grey vesicles surrounded by discolored skin. Shingles vesicles eventually break open and scab over, taking several weeks to heal completely.
Do shingles blisters turn black?
Long-term complications from shingles, such as post-herpetic neuralgia, may continue for months or many years. The disease also may cause varying degrees of skin discoloration, primarily darkening.
Can shingles look like pimples?
Within three to five days after the initial pain of shingles develops, a few tiny pimple-like spots will appear and quickly multiply into clusters, forming a rash that feels prickly to the touch.
How do you confirm shingles?
Shingles is usually diagnosed based on the history of pain on one side of your body, along with the telltale rash and blisters. Your doctor may also take a tissue scraping or culture of the blisters for examination in the laboratory.
Is shingles caused by stress?
Since stress affects the immune system, many researchers believe that stress could be a trigger for shingles. Researchers in multiple studies have linked chronic, daily stress, and highly stressful life events as risk factors for shingles.
What happens if you let shingles go untreated?
If left untreated, some complications of shingles can be fatal. Pneumonia, encephalitis, stroke, and bacterial infections can cause your body to go into shock or sepsis.
How do you check for shingles?
How does a person get shingles?
People get shingles when the varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox, reactivates in their bodies after they have already had chickenpox. You cannot get shingles from someone who has shingles.