3 Up to 20% of patients with shingles experience PHN, a chronic, debilitating, painful condition lasting months or years. The third phase, which is not experienced by all patients, is marked by complications such as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and eye involvement (herpes zoster ophthalmicus). The rash typically lasts 7 to 10 days, with the majority of patients healing within 4 weeks. The second, or acute, phase is characterized by a dermatomal rash, often accompanied by unbearable itching, pain, and allodynia (site pain in response to innocuous stimuli such as clothing or wind). The first, or prodromal, phase is characterized by symptoms of headache, pain, malaise, and photophobia.
![painful rash painful rash](https://i1.wp.com/www.aliem.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/18-Pediatric-Covid-19-Rash_Logo.jpg)
3,4ĭisease progression occurs in 3 stages. 2 Up to 90% of Americans are susceptible and approximately 33% of Americans develop shingles in their lifetime, resulting in 1 million episodes annually. VZV affects any level of the neuraxis, but common sites are the chest, face, and eye. 2 Reactivation usually occurs later in life when cell-mediated immunity declines or in patients with immune disorders.
#Painful rash skin#
1 In chicken pox infection, VZV is highly contagious, and transmission occurs by direct contact with skin lesions or by respiratory aerosols from infected individuals.
![painful rash painful rash](https://images.onhealth.com/images/slideshow/viral-rashes-s2-shingles.jpg)
![painful rash painful rash](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/11/750x445/1338681.jpg)
Herpes zoster-commonly called shingles-results from the reactivation of the varicella- zoster virus (VZV), which lies dormant in the spinal and cranial sensory ganglia following a primary infection with varicella (chicken pox), often during childhood. Long after the rash heals, the painful symptoms of shingles may persist for some patients.