Shingles, otherwise known as herpes varicella zoster, is the same infection that causes chicken pox. The primary difference between the two is that rather than have an outbreak all over the body, shingles generally erupts on one side of the body. Anyone who has had chicken pox is at risk of developing shingles. Shingles mainly occurs in people over age 50, although someone as young as 20 are susceptible to the infection. Stress, depression, chemotherapy, and diseases that affect the immune system, can cause the virus to become active. Shingles is not contagious, but if someone who has never had chickenpox is exposed to an outbreak, they are at risk of getting chickenpox.

Symptoms such as tingling, numbness, itching, or pain may appear before the rash. In the pre-eruption stage the pain can be severely painful depending on the location of the virus. The outbreak looks similar to chickenpox and is usually located on the face (around the nose and eyes), or on the torso area. Like herpes, the rash begins with small clusters of bumps that develop into blister, and once broken open, forms crusty scabs.

Shingles, in its severity, can cause blindness, facial paralysis, and deafness depending on the location of the outbreak. In an extremely weakened immune system, the shingles virus can spread to the internal organs and affect the lungs, central nervous system and the brain, possibly causing death. Like other members of the herpes family, such as oral and genital herpes, the varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox never completely leaves the body. After an attack of chickenpox, which is usually during childhood, the varicella-zoster virus retreats to nerve cells in the body, where it may lie dormant for decades. Due to aging and disease the virus can reactivate and begin to reproduce, traveling to the skins surface, thus bringing about a shingles outbreak.