What Are The Symptoms Of Shingles
Signs and symptoms of shingles happen in stages. The early shingles symptoms, which include headache, fever, and malaise, are nonspecific. For some people, they may also feel like you have the flu but not have a fever. Later, you may feel itching, tingling, pricking or burning pain in a certain area.
Usually, a band, strip, or small area of rash may occur after 1–2 days (but sometimes as long as 3 weeks), which occurs on the torso, but can appear on the face, eyes or other parts of the body.
The rash looks like hives; however, unlike hives, herpes zoster normally results in a stripe or belt-like pattern that is limited to one side of the body and it does not cross the midline.
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Later, the rash on the skin turns into clusters of blisters or vesicular, filled with a serous exudates, as the fever and general malaise continue. At this time, as they fill with blood, the painful vesicles eventually become cloudy or darkened.
Finally, the blisters which fill with fluid will crust over. It takes 2 to 4 weeks for the blisters to heal, and then leave scars.