Shingles is a disease that can occur at any age and is usually accompanied by severe redness, blistering and pain in a certain area of the skin. The disease is caused by a virus called herpes zoster virus. The special thing about shingles is that you can only get it if you have had chickenpox before in your life.
This is due to the fact that chickenpox is the first infection with the pathogen, but even after the disease has subsided, the viruses remain in certain nerve cells of our body and are initially inactive. If these viruses are reactivated by various triggers, such as stress, for example, the typical clinical picture of shingles develops, which is mainly characterized by the fact that it only affects a clearly defined area of skin, namely the area of skin that is supplied by the affected nerve. This is the reason why the disease usually spreads over the skin in a belt shape on the upper part of the body, which is what gave the disease its name.
Is there shingles without rash or blisters?
In some cases, shingles can occur without the formation of blisters or redness. This phenomenon is called ‘Zoster sine herpete’. Such a manifestation of the disease can make diagnosis difficult, as other symptoms, such as nerve pain or fever, are not very specific and can also occur in other diseases.
However, the basic course of shingles does not differ from the regular cases. For example, patients initially report fatigue and exhaustion, which are usually accompanied by fever. In addition, there is a lack of sensation in the skin area, which is sensitively supplied by the affected nerve.
After one or two days, the sensation changes to nerve pain, a so-called neuralgia, which is usually accompanied by severe itching. To confirm the diagnosis of shingles, an antigen detection or virus culture is required in this case, as the specific symptoms of shingles are not present. The therapy for this type of shingles consists only of relieving the nerve pain until the shingles subsides.
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