Can shingles start around the belly button?

Shingles usually affects a specific area on one side of the body and doesn’t cross over the midline of the body (an imaginary line running from between your eyes down past the belly button). Any part of your body can be affected, including your face and eyes, but the chest and abdomen (tummy) are the most common areas.

Can shingles cause belly button pain?

The first symptoms of shingles are unusual skin sensations. These include pain, itching and tingling. Other symptoms include confusion, fatigue, fever, headache, memory loss, an upset stomach and stomach pain.

Where does shingles rash usually appear?

Most commonly, the rash occurs in a single stripe around either the left or the right side of the body. In other cases, the rash occurs on one side of the face. Shingles on the face can affect the eye and cause vision loss.

What kind of pain does shingles rash cause?

This pain, due to damaged nerves in and beneath the skin, is known as postherpetic neuralgia. Others feel a chronic itch in the area where the rash once was. In severe cases, the pain or itching may be bad enough to cause insomnia, weight loss, or depression.

Where do you get shingles on your body?

It then travels along a nerve to trigger a rash in the skin connected to that nerve. The rash often appears on only one side of your body. The most common locations are the chest, back, or stomach, or above one eye. Most cases of shingles cause severe pain and itching, and can leave scars.

How long does it take for a shingles rash to appear?

Localized burning, tingling, itching, prickling pain that starts days days to weeks before the rash appears. The pain varies by person but can be constant or come and go. Days after these symptoms appear, a group of fluid-filled blisters appears on a red, inflamed base of skin; the blisters typically crust over in a week.

What to do if you have a shingles rash?

Rapid treatment with one of three antiviral drugs, acyclovir (Zovirax), valacyclovir (Valtrex), or famciclovir (Famvir), can shorten a shingles attack and reduce the risk of serious damage, such as: Long-term pain. Pain that lingers in the area of a healed shingles rash is called postherpetic neuralgia.