Shingles ???

what is Shingles? how do you get Shingles ? Is it contagious?
any info will greatly help - a close friend has been diagnised with Shingles - has a large scar on the face - almost like a blood clot
a few tiny pimples around the forehead - need to know if it can be contracted by phisical contact - how would he have contracted it
- dont feel comfortable to ask him directly - he seems embarrassed enough -

Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox 鈥?the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch, in one particular location on only one side of the body. After several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body. Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome, spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus, some of the virus particles leave the skin blisters and move into the nervous system. When the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, the virus moves back down the long nerve fibers that extend from the sensory cell bodies to the skin. The viruses multiply, the tell-tale rash erupts, and the person now has shingles.
It is not spread from person to person.

I just want you to know.when I had mine, I have twin neices. They had chicken pox previously but one of them (the one that hangs on me all the time) got shingles in her eye the week after I visited them. There was no other reasoning for it except that she was exposed by me. Report It

They are nerves that have come to the surface of your skin & they hurt like HE LL!! It is contagious in the form of chicken pox. It is a reoccurring condition.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/7077...

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shing...

it is a side effect of having chicken pox, your body did not fight it off all the way when u had it. It can be contagious

They are a form of chicken pox. Basically they never popped out when you had chicken pox. They can be very painful, as I have had them. They are in the nerve endings, so you get like stabbing pains. It isn't something you contract, it is just a matter of when they decide to make their appearance. He should see a doctor, cause there a creams he can use to help with the stinging. Not all people who have had chicken pox will get them, I guess it is the luck of the draw.

Actually, they are not a form of chicken pox. Shingles are caused by the same virus, Varicella Zoster, as chicken pox, but the virus manifests itself differently in adults.

Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus, herpes varicella. When you have chicken pox, the virus remains dormant in your body afterward and may stay dormant for decades or permanently. Or it may resurface as shingles. Shingles are not contagious to a person who has had chicken pox, but a person who has never had chicken pox can get them from being exposed to shingles. Also, a pregnant person should NEVER be exposed to shingles, regardless of whether they have had chicken pox. The virus can harm the unborn child. Shingles are blisters or lesions that follow nerve pathways, and they can be very painful. They may appear at a time when a person's immune system is suppressed due to other illness or stress. They are usually treated with antiviral medications such as Valtrex. Topical antiviral treatments may also be used.