‘Bad houseguest’ in the attic: What to know about shingles symptoms and treatments

(Aging Untold) — Many people think the first sign of shingles is a bad rash, but it can start with intense pain in the body.

‘Intense amount of burning’

Gerontologist “Sam” Cradduck said she had shingles twice and it was tied to an autoimmune condition, and described the pain as burning.

“It burned. It’s an infection in the nerve, essentially. It is nerve pain at the highest level,” Cradduck said.

She compared it to a toothache.

“You know how intense a toothache is. Now think about that in a pathway, in a nerve pathway in your body,” Cradduck said.

Her pain was on her back and flank.

“Not something I could see, not something I could reach, but just an intense amount of burning. And then it came around,” she said.

Following the nerve pathway

The pain does not show up in random spots, Dr. Rhea Rogers, a board-certified physician, said.

“That’s the clue to people. It’s not like you’re going to get a spot over here that hurts, and then the spot on the right side hurts. It’s following what we call the dermatome of the nerve. So you can map out the nerve to see what’s happening,” Rogers said.

She said shingles is the same virus that causes chickenpox, but it is a reactivation.

What the rash looks like

The rash is distinctive, Cradduck said.

“Mine was very red, almost fiery red, but very close rash,” Cradduck said.

When she had shingles the second time it came back on the same nerve pathway and was not as bad.

“It is a crazy amount of pain,” Cradduck said.

The shingles vaccine

Aging expert Amy O’Rourke said she is an advocate for the vaccine.

“The shingles vaccine, which I’m a real advocate for, is two shots. Some people forget to do the second shot,” O’Rourke said.

Rogers said the shingles vaccine does not take the condition away, but it may help if you get it.

“It may make your symptoms much milder,” Rogers said.

She said age and health play a role.

“As you get older, your immune system is not as effective. So you can’t fight things as well as you did, or if you’re under stress or have autoimmune disease or anything that compromised immune system,” Rogers said.

When the pain doesn’t go away

O’Rourke said a friend who had shingles ended up with eye nerve pain.

“It didn’t go away completely. Now he’s on medicine to treat the eye nerve pain, and that has its own side effects,” she said. “So it’s really a potentially long-term damaging disease.”

Like ‘a houseguest in the attic’

Cradduck explains shingles to people with an analogy.

“It’s kind of like having a bad houseguest that lives in the attic. And then every once in a while, it comes out and decides to wreak havoc, but only in one hallway. And then it goes back to the attic,” Cradduck said. “It can choose a different hallway. It can choose a different nerve path.”

Keeping the immune system strong

Rogers said a great immune system suppresses it.

“It doesn’t allow it to come out,” Rogers said.

Rogers said to minimize inflammation.

“That comes back down to the basics. It’s sleep, nutrition, all those different things help keep your immune system strong,” Rogers said.