HEALTHNET

What are the symptoms of shingles? How can doctors distinguish between common rash and shingles?

Early symptoms are non-specific; there is usually nerve pain or numbness under the skin in a certain area accompanied by flu-like symptoms like headache, fever or abdominal pain for 1-2 weeks. Rash and blisters would appear, with itching, stinging and burning sensation around the infected area. Delayed medical attention would see the pain aggravate and the rash spread, which may lead to skin inflammation, ulceration and complications like nerve pain. Therefore, you should seek medical assistance as soon as possible in case of suspicious symptoms.

The main difference between common rash and shingles is that rash causes itching while shingles causes stinging. Shingles usually involves infection of a single nerve, and hence herpes zoster only appears on one side of the body. The blisters would dry and crust over around 10 days. Both common rash and shingles may recur, but the former would not lead to postherpetic neuralgia (nerve pain) like the latter.

The doctor may make diagnosis according to clinical symptoms and the patient's medical history. Skin tissue may also be taken for confirmatory testing.

Source: Quality HealthCare Medical Services

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