Shingles is a skin condition that affects only people with a previous chicken pox infection. The chicken pox virus, varicella zoster, remains lodged in your nerves, even after the infection has resolved. In some individuals, the virus emerges again, later in life, as shingles, or herpes zoster. Individuals who suspect they are experiencing an outbreak of shingles should consult a doctor for medical treatment.
Prodrome
A prodrome is a symptom, or a group of symptoms, that a shingles sufferer can use to predict a shingles outbreak. A prodrome for shingles can resemble the prodrome for other herpes virus outbreaks, like cold sores. Common prodrome symptoms include pain, itching or tingling in the area that will experience the outbreak.
Flu-like Symptoms
Some shingles sufferers experience flu-like symptoms prior to a shingles outbreak. These symptoms can include muscle aches and pains, and may occur in conjunction with the shingles prodrome symptoms. While it is possible for a fever to accompany these symptoms, it is rare.
Pain
You may begin to experience pain in the area in which a shingles rash will emerge well beforehand. Pain, however, is not just a prodromal symptom. Shingles pain may occur as a result of the open blisters, but is also the result of the virus traveling up into the nerve endings to emerge on the skin. The nerve pain of a shingles rash may last throughout an outbreak, and even remain for months afterward.
Rash
The earliest visible stage of a typical shingles outbreak is a red bumpy rash. This itchy rash contains small red bumps that will eventually develop into blisters. Shingles blisters are initially small and flat, and filled with a clear fluid. Over time, the blisters become cloudy, as the fluid changes color before they break open, crust over, and begin to heal.
Location
In the beginning stages of each shingles outbreak the virus will erupt in a different area, so you may feel symptoms in a different location. In most cases, however, symptoms occur in a band that wraps around the body. The shingles outbreak will occur on only one side of the body, since the virus must migrate up the nerves in order to reach the surface of the skin.
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