DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A friend recently went through a bout of shingles. I really don't know much about this condition, but I know it was painful. How do you get it? Is there a treatment or vaccine for it?
ANSWER: Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a common condition caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. Not everyone who has had chickenpox will develop shingles. However, after years of lying dormant in nerve tissue near the spinal cord and brain, the virus can reactivate in some people. As it becomes active again, the virus causes pain, tingling and, eventually, a rash of blisters that doesn't last long.
The reason for shingles is unclear. But it may be due to lowered immunity to infections as you grow older.
