Introduction
The course of shingles is characterized by different phases. After a kind of “incubation period” of decades, shingles develops in two phases. The first phase is characterized by general symptoms.
In this phase, no skin symptoms are yet visible. Depending on where the shingles has manifested itself in the body, various misinterpreted symptoms can occur in this phase. In the second phase, the characteristic skin rash appears.
The course of the rash is again divided into three subphases. Under unfavorable conditions, a third phase develops after the disease has been completed. This phase is chronic and accompanied by chronic pain.
Incubation period
Since shingles is not a new infection, no “correct” incubation period in the classical sense can be determined. However, if the time in which the viruses have already been in the body is defined as the incubation period, shingles has a very long incubation period. This can last decades Reason for it is the connection with the chickenpox.
It is the same viruses that cause these two diseases. After surviving a chickenpox disease, the so-called varicella zoster viruses accumulate in a kind of collection point for nerve cell bodies. These collection points are called ganglia.
They are located in the spinal cord and in the cranial nerve nuclei. There the viruses often rest for decades and, if the immune system is intact, for life. If the immune system is severely weakened, however, these viruses can be reactivated. They leave the ganglia and migrate along the affected nerve cord. They then come into contact with the skin and can trigger shingles.
What are the signs of shingles?
The first signs are very unspecific. General symptoms and pain in a specific area of the body initially manifest themselves without visible skin changes. For example, pain in the chest area can be mistakenly interpreted as a heart problem or, in the case of back pain, a herniated disc can be suspected.
Occurring abdominal pain can also be misinterpreted as gastrointestinal problems. In addition, flu-like symptoms can occur with limb and headaches. In some cases a fever develops. The affected patients often report a strong feeling of illness, exhaustion and tiredness. After a few days, there are visible signs of shingles in the sense of a skin rash, usually hemiplegic.