Shingles Question

What percentage of the population, say over 60 years of age, develop shingles?

I don’t know, but I have heard that those who get it often wish they had died instead.

http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/hcp/clinical-overview.html

If you suspect you or someone you know has shingles it is important to get to a doc ASAP.

There are drugs that will help minimize the effects/duration of shingles. But to be effective the drugs needed to be administered as early as possible.

This is one thing you don’t want to do a “wait and see” on. Get to a doc fast.

I had it at 20. It was no worse than a minor case of poison ivy.

I had shingles once and I’m under age 60, but it was only several blisters on the sides of my chest under my arms. It really hurt while showering, and I made an emergency doctor appointment for spider bites, but it turned out to be something other than spider bites. I recovered quickly after taking the medication.

answer:“About 25 percent of healthy adults may develop shingles, usually after age 45. The likelihood of developing shingles increases 10-fold after the age of 60.”

I had shingles at around 37. Mine took the “high road” and put my left eye at risk. Hurt like anything. Fortunately, I got to the doc pretty fast, he gave me some of the newer anti-viral stuff, and I had no lingering effects from the shingles…and that’s a really good thing too.

The list of bad aftereffects reads like a Stephen King horror novel: blindness, deafness, itching, brain damage, and permanent “phantom” pain. Jeeze.