'The 3 things no one tells you about having shingles.'

On a Tuesday morning in July 2022, 59-year-old Karin Cahill woke up with muscle pain down her left side. 

Initially, Karin thought this was due to the previous evening’s gym session, so she applied an adhesive heat pack on the area and went about her day. 

But after two days, the pain had not subsided. Instead, a rash had also formed in the same area. 

“I am allergic to some glues used in band-aids, so I thought that had caused the rash, and so I stopped using the heat pack,” Karin says.

Karin tried to soothe the rash with a variety of creams to no avail. Instead, she found the rash had become progressively worse, even beginning to blister, so she booked a doctor’s appointment, where she was ultimately diagnosed with shingles.

“I had been working all this time, I didn’t feel anything major was wrong or feel particularly unwell,” she says.

“By the time I was on my way to the doctor late Monday afternoon, I had shooting pains through my chest like laser beams.”

When her doctor confirmed that Karin was suffering from shingles, she was taken aback. “I was very surprised as I did not consider at all that it could be this,” she says. 

Since her diagnosis, Karin’s journey with shingles has been plagued by unexpected surprises in relation to the condition, details she had wished she had known beforehand. 

Here are the three things she wants you to know. 

1. Nearly all adults over 50 carry the shingles virus.

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a painful condition that is most common in people over 50, with about one in three people developing it at some point in their lifetime, regardless of how healthy they are.

In fact, like Karin, nearly all adults over 50 already carry the inactive virus that can cause shingles. Anyone who has previously had chickenpox (varicella) can develop shingles, and also those with chronic health conditions can have an increased risk.

Shingles typically produces a painful and blistering rash, erupting in a stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or right side of the torso, along a nerve path. The most common places are the chest and abdomen, but can develop on the torso, arms, thighs, or head (including in the eyes or ears). 

Along with a rash, the pain associated with shingles can often be severe and interfere with everyday activities, like getting dressed, walking, and sleeping. 

Karin says that in her case, the pain was debilitating.

“The initial pain from the rash and shooting pains meant I wasn’t able to sleep properly, I had to prop myself up and cushion that side, which is my normal sleeping side.

“I was overwhelmed with extreme tiredness. I could work from home, but I had to frequently rest and couldn’t really do anything normal in my life, like go to the office, the gym, socialise, do any chores or wear normal clothes, everything had to be loose fitting,” she says.

2. The impact of shingles can last for months or years.

“I didn’t resume my gym classes for 12 weeks, and even when returning I found I had to take it slow to build my strength back up. Normally I spend a full day in the garden on the weekend working quite strenuously and I wasn’t able to do that for some time,” Karin explains.

While most people recover fully from shingles, other people, including Karin, can experience long-term complications including post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), nerve pain that persists after the shingles rash has healed which can last for months or years.

PHN occurs in approximately one in 10 herpes zoster cases in people aged 50 to 59 and this is three times higher in people aged 70 to 79 years.

“My PHN is exacerbated by stress,” says Karin.

“I have noticed that whenever I get stressed (even if I think I’m okay), my body aches or gets strong pain at the site where the shingles started. I have experienced a lot of stress over the past twelve months, both from work-related issues and a lot of personal experiences, so the pain is with me a lot,” she explains.

3. So many people don't realise the symptoms of shingles.

“Some people were uninformed about shingles and panicked that they were going to catch it from me, even though the doctor said it’s not contagious and I just needed to keep it covered. This just added to the stress of the diagnosis and the pain I was in,” Karin says.

Shingles occurs when the virus that’s already in your body reactivates, so it cannot be passed from one person to another. However, since the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles are the same, if a person who has never had or isn’t protected against chickenpox comes into direct contact with the blisters of someone with shingles, they could get chickenpox.

After first seeking the advice of her medical practitioner, Karin said that being kind to herself and taking time to recover were the best things she did.

“During my recovery period, we had a week in Fiji, the ache disappeared even though I was very tired and napped a lot,” she says.

While still suffering from some of the longer-term complications of shingles, Karin is prioritising self-care and listening to her body as she moves forward.

“I’m focusing a lot on self-care to alleviate stressful situations as my body is now telling me when to take it easy.”

Book an appointment with a healthcare provider in your area to learn more about the signs, symptoms and your risk of developing shingles.

Individual patients’ symptoms of shingles may vary. This article contains statements and descriptions unique to an individual and may not be representative of every patient's experience of shingles.

This information is general in nature and does not replace the advice of a healthcare professional. As with any medical condition, always seek health advice from a qualified healthcare professional.

This article was developed by Mamamia/the writer at the request of, and with funding from, GSK (Melbourne) Australia. NP-AU-HZUSMP-230002. September 2023.

Feature Image: Getty.