You Can Get Shingles at Any Age, Something These Women Found Out the Hard Way

This could be because antiviral medications work best when taken within 72 hours of symptom onset, according to Dr. Washing. As a result, some providers may be reluctant to prescribe antivirals if more than three days have passed since you first noticed symptoms, she explains. However, immunocompromised patients, those who develop active lesions in new areas, or anyone with facial shingles can be treated with antivirals at any time, Dr. Washing adds.

This last scenario – having a shingles rash on your face – doesn’t just attract doctors’ attention because it can be unsightly. “If someone has a rash on their forehead or, in particular, if they have lesions on their nose, that patient should really see their doctor, they should start taking antiviral medications, and they should probably see an ophthalmologist,” says Dr. Washing.

The severity lies in which nerve may be affected, says Dr. Foad. The shingles virus hides silently in sensory nerve cells and, once reactivated, appears along dermatomes. Each of these skin areas corresponds to a specific nerve that transmits sensory information (for example, pain, temperature, and itch) to and from the spinal cord.

For example, the same nerve that serves the tip of the nose also serves the eye. So, if you have a shingles infection in your nose, it could spread along the nerve and impact your vision. “You don’t want to get shingles in your eyes because it could lead to blindness,” says Dr. Foad. “Aesthetically, you don’t necessarily want to have shingles on your face, but more importantly you definitely don’t want it to happen in the nerve that goes to the eye. »

When Jamie Smith*, then 28, felt a slight tingling at the tip of her nose, she thought it was just the beginning of a “weird pimple,” but after a rash developed on the left side of her nose, an urgent care provider diagnosed her with shingles. It didn’t take long for the rash to spread to her eye, and before she knew it, she saw numerous doctors: a primary care doctor, a dermatologist, an ophthalmologist, and even an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat specialist).

At the time, Smith was a new mom trying to juggle returning to work in an emotionally demanding career, a 24-hour breastfeeding and pumping schedule, marital tensions and her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis. “This whole experience was extremely traumatic and life-changing,” she says. “Shingles made me realize that all the emotions and stress I was dealing with would catch up with me and manifest physically.”

Like other viruses, the varicella-zoster virus is an “invader” that attacks a weakened immune system. Although another physical illness or injury may impact your vulnerability to shingles, mental stress often appears to be associated with reactivation of the virus, particularly in younger patients, both experts say.

“We live in a very stressful world, and I think young people are even more stressed,” Dr. Foad says of the very demanding lifestyle many young adults try to maintain. “Shingles is a disease that can be activated when a person’s immune system is a little weakened, and we know that stress is a big factor in this. [So] It doesn’t surprise me that we can find younger people who start to experience a reactivation of the disease.