Shingles Complications
Shingles Complications
Most people recover from shingles without any problems. But it can sometimes cause complications, such as:
- The rash becoming infected, which may need to be treated with antibiotics
- Scarring or changes in skin colour after the rash has healed
- Muscle weakness
- Eye problems, which can lead to sight loss
- Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare condition where shingles affects your facial nerve, causing weakness on one side of the face and sometimes hearing problems
- Post Herpetic Neuralgia, where pain lasts for several months after the shingles rash has gone
Shingles and pregnancy
If a pregnant lady gets shingles, it's mostly mild and there's usually no risk to them or their baby. But a GP should arrange for a specialist to advise on whether they need treatment.
How long shingles lasts
Unfortunately, complications are not always short lived. It can take up to 4 weeks for the shingles rash to heal. The skin can be painful for weeks after the rash has gone, but it usually gets better over time.Stay away from certain groups of people if a customer has shingles
Although a customer cannot spread shingles to others they could spread chickenpox if the other person has not had chickenpox before or have not had the chickenpox vaccine. This is because (as we already know) shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus.
- Anyone who is pregnant and has not had chickenpox before
- People with a weakened immune system – like someone having chemotherapy
- Babies less than 1 month old
