Shingles

If you see a rash beginning on any part of your body and it continues to get worse with redness and pain and you have had chickenpox at some time in your life, the rash could be Shingles. Most times it will follow the course of a nerve but this may be difficult to ascertain. It usually occurs on the trunk but it does not spare any part of the body. It can affect the face or the extremities. When on the face it can affect the eyes mimicking conjunctivitis however it lasts much longer than typical bacterial or viral conjunctivitis which is usually self limiting. People may confuse the initial rash on their lip with Herpes Simplex especially those persons who have recurrent bouts of Herpes Simplex. But the rash of Herpes Zoster(Shingles) is usually larger covering more than just the lip as mentioned above. Associated symptoms may include malaise, headache, fatigue and most often pain.
There are several effective anti-viral medications to treat Herpes Zoster. The sooner these medications are started the better the response, nevertheless the disease process may take as long as 3 to 6 months to subside. Recently people have been advised to get the Shingles vaccine even when they have the disease though there are no long term studies on patients vaccinated while they are infected with Herpes Zoster.