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Show Herpes Zoster By HAROLD B. LIGON, MD A very common skin disorder, dis-order, especially in adults over 50, is herpes zoster. A more familiar name for this condition condi-tion is shingles. In simple terms, shingles is an infection of a nerve causing physical signs along the nerve's pathway path-way in the skin. THE AVERAGE case of shingles falls in the thoracic area or the rib cage-but can occur anywhere there's a nerve. It is always on one side only, since the origin of the nerves supplying all of the skin areas is off the spinal and vertebral ver-tebral columns in the back. There is an old adage that says "If it goes all the way around the body, you'll die!" Well, that's unlikely, since a single infected nerve can cripple an area only half way around. Likewise, the average case of the shingles is characterized by early symptoms of chills, fever, gastrointestinal disturbance, disturb-ance, and pain along the eventual even-tual eruption site 3 or 4 days before the diagnosis becomes obvious. AFTER THAT, characteristic characteris-tic colonies or clusters of stinging, sting-ing, burning, and painful blisters blis-ters emerge on reddened and raised areas along the nerve route. Local touch can be very painful. About 5 days later, the blisters begin to dry up, forming form-ing black scabs which eventually even-tually fall off as the process subsides. Scars of bluish purple pur-ple hue persist for a long time-but time-but eventually become barely noticeable. In the above, I've described the average case. I have seen many variations of shingles. Actually, I've discovered a patch or two on people getting a routine exam--who didn't even know they had the disease. |