An episode of shingles typically lasts around two to four weeks. The main symptoms are pain, followed by a rash.

Any part of your body can be affected, including your face and eyes, although the chest and abdomen (tummy) are the most common areas where shingles develop.

Early symptoms

In some cases, shingles may cause some early (prodromal) symptoms that develop a few days before the painful rash first appears. These early symptoms can include:

• a headache
• burning, tingling, -numbness or itchiness of the skin in the affected area
• a feeling of being generally unwell
• a high temperature (fever)

Not everyone will experience these prodromal symptoms. A high temperature is particularly uncommon.

Pain

Eventually, most people with shingles experience a localised “band” of pain in the affected area.

The pain can be a constant, dull, or burning sensation and its intensity can vary from mild to severe. You may have sharp stabbing pains from time to time, and the affected area of the skin will usually be tender.

Pain is less common in young healthy people and is rare in children. It usually starts a few days before the rash appears and can remain for a few days or weeks after the rash has healed.

Rash

The shingles rash usually appears on one side of your body and develops on the area of skin related to the affected nerve.

Initially, the shingles rash appears as red blotches on your skin before developing into itchy blisters similar in appearance to chickenpox.

New blisters may appear for up to a week, but a few days after appearing they become yellowish, flatten and dry out.

Scabs then form where the blisters were, which may leave some slight scarring. It usually takes two to four weeks for the rash to heal completely