Shingles: "Chicken Pox's Revenge"
Shingles are great on a roof, but on your body, they're painful, angry and can cause long-lasting nerve pain. Or, as EvergreenHealth Monroe Chief Medical & Quality Officer Scott Stuart, MD said, "It's like chicken pox's revenge."
What is Shingles?
Shingles is a painful rash that's caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. Long after your childhood chickenpox has cleared, the virus lies dormant in the roots of some of your nerves. For most people, the virus stays there, minding its own business.
But for one third of Americans – about one million people per year – the virus reactivates and causes an extremely painful rash on one side of the body or face. "When it reawakens, if follows the nerve route," said Dr. Stuart. "That's why the rash tends to be a stripe only on one side of the body." That "stripe" is where shingles got its name, from the Latin word "cingulum," which means "girdle" or "belt."
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), shingles is not contagious, but you can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you have never had chickenpox or received the vaccine.
Common first symptoms include headaches, fever and itchiness, numbness, tingling or burning/shooting pain in a small area on one side of the body. The rash typically appears one to five days after the initial symptoms, with fluid-filled blisters a few days later that "crust over" within ten days. More serious side effects include long-term vision problems, brain inflammation and chronic nerve pain.
Treatment for shingles includes prescription antiviral medications that speed healing and lower your risk for complications.
Who is at Risk of Getting Shingles?
People in these groups have a higher risk of developing shingles:
- Are over 50 years old
- Had chickenpox in the past
- Have a weakened or compromised immune system
- Have a disease that weakens your immune system such as HIV/AIDS or cancer
- Are under a high level of stress
How Do I Avoid Getting Shingles?
According to Dr. Stuart, the best way to avoid developing shingles is to get the shingles vaccine, called Shingrix. The CDC recommends all Americans over age 50 receive Shingrix, as well as immunocompromised adults 19 years and older.
"For folks that don't have a limitation on their health, it's a really good idea to get a shingles shot when you're 50 or older," Dr. Stuart said. "It's a two-shot series and you take them a few months apart. If you have any symptoms, it's like any vaccine – you might feel achy or get the shivers or something, but that only lasts a day or two. And then after the second shot, you're 90-plus percent protected for at least seven years."
The Shingles Vaccine: A Dementia Fighter?
Emerging research shows a correlation between receiving the shingles vaccine and your likelihood of developing dementia. A study published in April 2026 found that people who received the shingles vaccine had a 33 percent less chance of developing new-onset and vascular dementia and a 28 percent lower chance of developing Alzheimer's. Other research from Wales and California made similar conclusions.
Dr. Stuart said that although these findings are not from double-blind studies, they are compelling enough that he tells his patients about them when discussing the shingles vaccine. "Shingles can cause inflammation in your brain, and brain inflammation is one of the causes of dementia. So if we can prevent that with the vaccine, it's logical we would have fewer cases of dementia."
But whatever correlation there is between the shingles vaccine and your likelihood of developing dementia, Dr. Stuart's advice is simple: "You don't want shingles. You don't want chronic nerve pain. If you're eligible for the shingles vaccine and don't have any restrictive health conditions, my advice to patients is always to get it."
