When the first symptoms of shingles start, most people think they’re just bug bites.

It takes time for that itchiness to turn into the painful blistering rash we recognize as shingles. They start small but can grow into a band of blisters — sometimes serious enough to threaten eyesight, especially when the face or eyes are affected.

That’s why State Urgent Care is here to recognize shingles early, start treatment fast and help prevent complications before they take off. Here’s what you need to know.

What are shingles?

Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by the same virus behind chickenpox: varicella-zoster. The CDC estimates that about 1 million Americans develop shingles every year.

Essentially, after chickenpox runs its course, strains of the virus can lie dormant in your system for many years. And for about 1 in 3 people in the U.S., those old strains will someday reactivate to cause shingles.

Anyone who has had chickenpox is potentially susceptible to shingles at any point in their life, but the risk goes up with certain conditions that weaken the immune system. According to the Mayo Clinic, some of these risks include:

Diabetes, which can affect immune response and increase vulnerability to infections
Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy
Medications that suppress the immune system
Severe or prolonged stress, which may weaken the immune system’s ability to keep the virus in check

Importantly, shingles is not just an age-related condition. In a place like Starkville, with so many college students and busy families, stress can increase the likelihood of the virus resurfacing.

How can you know if you have shingles?

The virus that causes shingles is one you might carry an entire lifetime without knowing. When this sleeping virus does wake up, it doesn’t always cause a rash right away. You might experience:

Feelings of pins and needles in your skin without a visible cause.
Itching or burning across a specific patch of skin, such as your upper arm or the side of your face.
A general feeling of unusual sensation or tenderness in your skin.

Shingles rashes tend to remain on one side of the body without crossing the midline of your chest or face. While the rash often clears on its own within 2 to 4 weeks, that’s no reason to wait. The virus can continue to affect the nervous system long after the skin rash fades.

For example, according to UofL Health — a nonprofit academic health system affiliated with the University of Louisville — some patients develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) after having shingles. That means lingering nerve pain can last for months or even years after the initial infection, and the mere possibility of it is more than enough reason to get checked early for shingles at State Urgent Care here in Starkville.

When to go to urgent care for shingles

It’s important not to try to diagnose shingles on your own. This is a serious viral condition, and when left untreated, it can have long-term consequences like nerve damage.

If you suspect the rash might be shingles, State Urgent Care offers easy walk-in appointments seven days a week with on-site evaluation to confirm whether your symptoms are shingles.

Come see us without delay if you’re experiencing:

Unexplained, localized pain — whether it feels like tingling or stabbing nerve pain.
A spreading rash with blisters, especially if it’s growing in a distinct pattern on one side of your body
Symptoms like chills, fever or a stiff neck. The Cleveland Clinic warns that these could be signs of the virus affecting your nervous system — a serious complication that requires medical attention.

When you’re dealing with shingles, time is not on your side. It could be a mild flare-up, or it could be the beginning of something much more aggressive. You need to be properly evaluated to know for sure.

At State Urgent Care, our team is trained to identify shingles early and begin treatment fast, even within the first few minutes of your visit. And because we’re a walk-in clinic, you can be seen much faster and more efficiently than if you went to the emergency room. We’re open seven days a week with no appointments required, so visit us today.