As a child, you may remember coping with chicken pox—an itchy rash consisting of blisters. Now you have those blisters again, but instead of itching, they are painful. Are you experiencing another outbreak of chicken pox? Maybe not—you may be experiencing an outbreak of shingles.
 Shingles is an infection caused by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox. After the chicken pox blisters have healed, the varicella zoster virus lies dormant (inactive) in neurons (nerve cells) next to your spinal cord, sometimes for decades. When the virus becomes active again, it travels down the nerve fibers that extend to your skin, and a rash develops. The main difference between chicken pox and shingles is that shingles generally erupts in a band (dermatome) on one side of the body, rather than all over your body.
Having had chicken pox—and 90% of Americans over 15 have had it—puts you at risk for getting shingles later on. Two out of every 10 people will get shingles during their lifetime, and more than 1 million people will develop shingles this year.
Many people who develop shingles find that pain is the most difficult aspect of this condition to deal with. For some people, the aftereffects of shingles can last longer than the rash. Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a painful complication of shingles caused when the infection damages the nerves.
Prescription oral antiviral medications like FAMVIR® (famciclovir) are used for the early short-term treatment of shingles. The good news is that once you've had shingles, you have usually seen the last of it. Most healthy people who have shingles develop an immunity to the varicella zoster virus.
Knowledge of the shingles varicella zoster virus and how it can be treated may help lessen the duration of an outbreak and of PHN. Learn more about the basics of shingles in the following sections:
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