Take the Shingles Quiz Shingles Slideshow Pictures Gallery of Skin Problems and Image Collection

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Follow-up

After patients leave the doctor's office, they need to take all the medicine prescribed and follow the directions given. If people notice new symptoms or if they cannot control the pain or itching, they should contact their doctor immediately.

Is Shingles Contagious?

Shingles, the disease, is not contagious, but people with shingles are contagious to people who are susceptible to chickenpox. People with shingles are contagious for herpes zoster virus infections (chickenpox). Chickenpox usually appears about one to three weeks after exposure to the virus. Infected individuals unfortunately become contagious for chickenpox about one to two days before the pox lesions become apparent and remain contagious while uncrusted lesions are still present. Children usually have pox blisters healed in about seven to 10 days, but adults may take longer (about two weeks or more) to heal completely. Similar time spans exist for shingles blisters to crust over and become noninfective for chickenpox virus (herpes zoster virus). About one in 10 people who get chickenpox may develop shingles later in life.