Can shingles affect the thigh?

Shingles forms a rash or a collection of blisters on your skin due to a viral infection. While a shingles outbreak usually appears as a band across one side of your torso, it can appear anywhere on your body, including your leg and groin.

What is the most common complication of shingles?

The most common complication of shingles is long-term nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). “Five years later, I still take prescription medication for pain. My shingles rash quickly developed into open, oozing sores that in only a few days required me to be hospitalized.

What kind of nerve damage can shingles cause?

Postherpetic neuralgia occurs if your nerve fibers are damaged during an outbreak of shingles. Damaged fibers can’t send messages from your skin to your brain as they normally do. Instead, the messages become confused and exaggerated, causing chronic, often excruciating pain that can last months — or even years.

Can an injury Bring on shingles?

Shingles is often triggered by severe stress, trauma or an illness. Shingles (herpes zoster) is caused by varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.

What causes shingles to flare up again?

Stress, some medications, and certain health conditions can reactivate the virus and trigger the symptoms of shingles. When shingles occurs more than once, doctors refer to it as recurrent shingles. Recurrent shingles is more common among people with a compromised immune system.

What are the final stages of shingles?

The stages of shingles are tingling pain, followed by a burning feeling and a red rash, then blistering, and finally the blisters will crust over.

How do you fix nerve damage after shingles?

Tricyclic antidepressants: Medications such as amitriptyline may be used to relieve pain. Membrane stabilizers: Medications such as gabapentin can be used to reduce the pain associated with PHN. Capsaicin cream: This topical cream can be applied to the affected area to relieve pain temporarily.

Is nerve damage from shingles permanent?

Around one in five people with shingles will get post-herpetic neuralgia. People age 50 and over are particularly at risk. Many people with post-herpetic neuralgia make a full recovery within a year. But symptoms occasionally last for several years or may be permanent.

Is shingles caused by stress?

Stress doesn’t technically cause shingles, but it can cause your immune system to weaken — and a weakened immune system can put you at risk for shingles. A viral illness, shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.

Can I sleep in the same bed as someone with shingles?

Shingles is a condition caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Shingles itself is not contagious. You can’t spread the condition to another person.

How do you know if you have shingles in your eye?

Symptoms of shingles in the eye include: blistering on the upper eyelid, usually on only one side of the face. redness and swelling around the eyelids. itchiness and irritation of the eye.