Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of shingles usually affect only a small section of one side of your body. These signs and symptoms may include:

• Pain, burning, numbness and tingling
• A red rash that begins a few days after the pain
• Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over
• Itching 

Some people also experience:

• Fever and chills
• General achiness
• Headache
• Fatique

Pain is usually the first symptom of shingles. For some, it can be intense. Depending on the location if pain, it can sometimes be mistaken for a symptom of problems affecting the heart, lungs or kidney. Some people experience shingles pain without ever developing a rash.

Most commonly, the shingles rash develops as a stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or right side of your torso. Sometimes the shingles rash occurs around one eye or on one side of the neck or face.