Shingles: a virus that hides within you

If you had chickenpox, the virus responsible never really left your body. It can lie dormant for decades, only to raise a new red rash and blisters, causing excruciating skin pain known as shingles. Here's everything you need to know about the painful disease, including some simple ways to reduce your risk.

The varicella-zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox. Once you've had chickenpox, the virus lies dormant and can reemerge as shingles decades later, triggered by impaired immunity, stress or even dental work.

• Burning, tingling or numb skin plus chills, fever, upset stomach and headache.
• A red rash develops on your body — especially the torso, neck or face — becoming fluid-filled blisters, which dry up in a few days.
• Shingles clears up completely in three to five weeks, but for 25 to 50 percent of people who get it, severe nerve pain can linger for months or years afterwards.

Shingles in the family? Don't put off getting the vaccine. Having just one close family member with shingles increases your risk of developing it four-fold.

• The more relatives who've had it, the higher your risk. 

A single dose of the vaccine cuts your risk of developing shingles by 61 percent. The vaccine also reduced the severity of shingles for people who developed it and cut by two-thirds the risk of the agonizing chronic nerve pain.

• The vaccine is designed for people who have already had chickenpox. If you somehow made it to adulthood without contracting this classic childhood illness, ask your doctor about a chickenpox vaccine, which contains the same virus but at a lower potency.
• Experts say it protects against shingles and chickenpox. The shingles vaccine isn't recommended for people with weakened immune systems.

Shingles blisters heal in three to five weeks, but pain can linger for months or even years. Called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), this sharp, throbbing or stabbing pain affects up to 40 percent of people who get shingles. PHN can make your skin so sensitive that wearing even the softest, lightest silk or cotton is agony. A kiss or a cool breeze can be excruciating.

• Your best option for avoiding PHN is getting the shingles vaccine.
• Next best option: recognizing the early symptoms of a shingles outbreak and getting to your doctor for treatment with antiviral drugs within 72 hours. These drugs reduce nerve damage caused by the virus and speed healing of the original shingles outbreak.
• Feed your immune system. People who ate more than three servings of fruit a day cut their risk of shingles in half. Volunteers who ate five daily servings of vegetables reduced their odds by 70 percent compared to people who had just one or two daily helpings.

In a study, this gentle, flowing exercise form boosted immunity against shingles dramatically.

• Compared to participants who took health education classes, volunteers who practiced tai chi developed antibodies to the shingles virus on a par with those found in people who had gotten the shingles vaccine.
• No one's saying this type of exercise is a replacement for the vaccine, however; it works best in combination with immunization.
• When the researchers gave the shingles vaccine to everyone in the study and rechecked their immunity a few weeks later, they found that the tai chi group's immunity was 40 percent higher than that of the vaccine-only group.

An estimated one in three older adults will develop shingles. You don't have to be one of them, thanks to a new vaccine and a host of smart, immunity-bolstering strategies. Keep this guide in mind and contact your doctor to learn more about treating shingles.