You may have heard shingles is a painful rash that is more common among older adults. What you may not know is what causes it, how many people suffer with it and how you can protect yourself.

An estimated 1 million Americans will have a bout with shingles each year. Even children can contract it.

What Is Shingles?

Shingles is a viral infection. The same virus (varicella zoster) that causes chickenpox triggers shingles. If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in your body. If it becomes active again later, it causes shingles.

While shingles isn’t life-threatening, it can be extremely uncomfortable. Its painful rash can appear anywhere on your body. Most often it occurs as a cluster of blisters on the sides of the face or torso. Other symptoms can include a fever, chills, headache and upset stomach.

Who Can Get Shingles?

Anyone who has had chickenpox, or in some rare cases received the chickenpox vaccine, can get shingles. Your chance of getting shingles increases as you get older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly half of all people who get shingles are over the age of 50.

Other risk factors can include a weak immune system caused by cancer, HIV, AIDS and other conditions. The use of certain medications such as steroids or anti-rejection drugs for transplanted organs can also boost the risk.

How Does It Spread?

The only way you can get shingles is if you’ve had chickenpox. You cannot “catch” shingles from someone else. If you’ve never had chickenpox, coming into contact with the shingles rash may cause chickenpox. To prevent this, anyone with shingles should keep their rash covered, avoid scratching or touching it, and wash their hands regularly.

How Is Shingles Treated?

Since shingles is caused by a virus, there is no magic pill or treatment to get rid of it. Your doctor can give you medication, which is more effective earlier in the disease than later, to speed up the healing process. To help with pain, your doctor may also prescribe pain medicines and soothing creams for the rash.

Shingles usually lasts between two and five weeks. It’s possible that you can get shingles more than once, but most people usually get it only once.

Can Shingles Be Prevented?

The only way to protect yourself from shingles is to get vaccinated. The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 50 get the shingles vaccine, even if you have had shingles before. Talk with your doctor if you have any questions about the shingles vaccine or would like to get it.

Sources: Shingles,  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025; Shingles,  Cleveland Clinic, 2024