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Shingles (NHS)

Tier 1: Established: peer-reviewed research or government health authority
Publisher: NHS · Published: August 23, 2026 · Accessed: August 23, 2026

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Claims this source supports

  • The first signs of shingles can be a tingling or painful feeling in an area of skin, a headache, or feeling generally unwell; a rash usually appears a few days later, and in rare cases shingles causes pain without a rash.
  • The rash usually appears on the chest and tummy but can appear anywhere including the face, eyes and genitals; it typically appears on one side of the body only, and a rash on both sides is unlikely to be shingles.
  • Antiviral medicine works best when started within 3 days of the rash first appearing; adults 18+ with shingles symptoms should try to see a pharmacist within 3 days of the rash appearing.
  • Urgent advice applies if the rash is on the eye or nose, there are vision changes, you are pregnant, or you have a severely weakened immune system.
  • Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus, which stays in the body after chickenpox and can be reactivated later if the immune system is weakened, including by stress, certain conditions, or treatments like chemotherapy.
  • Complications can include post-herpetic neuralgia (pain lasting months after the rash), infected rash, scarring or skin colour changes, muscle weakness, eye problems that can lead to sight loss, and Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
  • The shingles rash can take up to 4 weeks to heal, and skin can remain painful for weeks after.
  • Shingles cannot be spread to others, but people who have never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine can catch chickenpox from someone with an oozing shingles rash; avoid contact with pregnant people who have not had chickenpox, people with weakened immune systems, and babies under 1 month.
  • The shingles vaccine is available on the NHS for people who turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023, people aged 70 to 79 not yet vaccinated, and people aged 18 and over with a severely weakened immune system; you can get shingles more than once, so vaccination matters even after having had it.
  • Page last reviewed 23 November 2023; verified live 2026-08-23.