What is Shingles? What are the Causes of Shingles?
Most of you must have come across the word “Shingles”. If you don’t know anything about this skin problem, well this articles is a simple description of what Shingles is and what are the reasons behind it,
In simplest of words, I can define Shingles as a viral skin disease which is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox too. The chicken pox virus enters the body through air or some other source and fights with the immune system. If the human immune system is not strong enough, the result will be Shingles. In this case, there is pain and blistering rash occurring along the nerves. Rashes may turn into fluid filled blisters. There can be mild itching as well as severe pain. This disease is not spread all over the body; instead it is limited to a certain body area only.
The primary cause for Shingles is person to person contact. If the person with Shingles touches you, you can develop chicken pox. Doctors recommend keeping at a safe distance from the person with this problem. The age factor also matters a lot. Shingles mostly appear in old people. The reason is quite obvious. The immune system of old people is not strong enough to fight this virus. Young people are able to fight this problem better since their immune system is much stronger than the old one.
For the pregnant women, it is very dangerous for the health of new born if they suffer from Shingles during pregnancy. So they must take more care for themselves and try not to be closer to any person with chicken pox or Shingles as this virus is contagious. Some people think that if they already had chicken pox, they won’t suffer from it again. This is true that they won’t suffer from chicken pox again but they can suffer from Shingles which is an extreme form of chicken pox. So, special care needs to be taken in all cases, to avoid this problem.
I hope this article has helped you to know about Shingles and identify its causes. Vaccines for chicken pox and Shingles are available and they are thought to be the best sources to avoid Shingles. During this tough time, you must keep in contact with your family doctor and a qualified dermatologist for better treatment.