Symptoms:

The first symptom is usually one-sided pain, tingling, or burning. The pain and burning may be severe.

Red patches on the skin form, followed by small blisters that look very similar to early chickenpox. The blisters break, forming small ulcers that begin to dry and form crusts. The crusts fall off in 2 to 3 weeks.

The rash usually involves a narrow area from the spine around to the front of the belly area or chest. It may involve face, eyes, mouth and ears.

Additional symptoms may include:

• Abdominal pain
• Chills
• Difficulty moving some of the muscles in the face
• Drooping eyelid (ptosis)
• Fever
• General ill-feeling
• Genital lesions
• Headache
• Hearing loss
• Joint pain
• Loss of eye motion (ophthalmoplegia)
• Swollen glands (lymph nodes)
• Taste problems
• Vision problems

Signs and tests:

Your doctor can make the diagnose by looking at your skin and asking questions about your medical history.

Tests are rarely needed, but may include taking a skin sample to see if the skin is infected with the virus that causes shingles.

Lab tests may show an increase in white blood cells and antibodies to the chickenpox virus but cannot confirm that the rash is due to shingles.