Typically progresses - trunk, neck and back are the most common areas

The earliest indication is feeling very sensitive in a band-like region of the skin on one side of the body (trunk, head, face, neck, or one arm or thigh). Soon that sensitivity is often followed by an intense discomfort, which can be a burning, itching, stabbing or other painful sensation because shingles involves nerve fibers.

The pain may be felt from front to back, especially in the chest or face, and is usually felt on just one side of the body. At this early stage, in the absence of a rash, these symptoms can be confusing for both patients and doctors alike. So that the shingles disease may be mistaken for the pain of an ulcer, heart attack, migraine headache, appendicitis or some other internal disorder, or a lower back problem .

Before the shingles rash appears, one may have a slight fever and feel mildly fatigued. After about four or five days, reddish bumps appear in the painful area. A day or two later, that rash turns into what is the unmistakable hallmark of shingles : groups of tiny, clear blister on a red base. Over the following two or three weeks, the blister fluid first turn brownish, the blisters then dry out, forming crusts which drop off, sometimes leaving behind small pigmented areas where the rash had occurred.

The trunk, neck and back are the most common areas where the rash appears, but in some cases, the eye, the face and the tip of the nose are affected. If this happens, you should see your doctor immediately so that medication can be prescribed to help prevent the blisters from worsening and causing complications like blindness.