How Is Shingles Diagnosed?

Shingles is very difficult to diagnose unless the rash begins to appear. The symptoms of shingles can easily be distinguished as some other disease because it can mimic other conditions. However, the common symptoms that you may experience are itching, tingling, numbness or pain at the side of your face or body. At this stage, the pain may be so severe, that you could think it to be gallstones, appendicitis or gallstones. At worst cases, you may even think it a heart attack, depending on what nerve is affected on the body.

To be safe, it would be safe to get the diagnosis of your doctor. They will be able to differentiate it from other similar conditions such as chicken pox, rashes, or poison ivy. For shingles rash, the blisters usually appear on one side of the body, and in the pattern of a band, or what is known as a dermatome.

Aside from the appearance of the rash, your doctor will get a swab of your blister for analysis. The skin cells are placed on a glass slide for examination. This glass slide will be examined under the microscope to identify any characteristics of zoster. If there is still doubt, the virus-ridden blister fluid could also be sent to the laboratory for special testing.

When someone tests positive for Shingles, are there any other concerns that can develop from it? Is there any reason for those with Shingles to worry?

The general public who have developed Shingles are usually healthy. You only need to take some additional measures if you have other medical problems or may be exposed to the AIDS virus. In this case, you should immediately inform your dermatologist. There may be some treatments that affect your present condition.

Once you have reported this, your doctor will ask for some medical details such as your medical history and may require you to take some tests such as x-ray or blood studies in order to ensure that there are no additional health problems.