How Long Does Shingles Last? Symptoms and Treatment

Several months for me but 6 months later I still get post herpetic neuralgia on the right side of my face and in the ear

I was recently hospitalized with shingles that caused infection in spinal fluid traveling to brain (encephalopathy) Home, shingles gone but still confused, problems with eyes, headaches, difficulty walking- pain. Anyone else?

About a month but three months later the neuralgia is still going strong

My shingles took a long time to diagnose because I was 20 at the time. My doctors let it get pretty bad before they let go of the contact dermatitis diagnosis. It was on the back of my neck and it took about a year for my skin to heal completely and my hair to grow back (I lost all my hair where my giant 8 inch diameter flare up was) and now I’m left with nerve damage and scar tissue. And I keep my hair shaved short where the shingles were because having long hair is painful. But to answer your question, shingles never actually goes away. You’ll continue to have flare ups, usually caused by stress, for the rest of your life. Shingles is in the herpes family, it is specifically called the herpes zoster virus, and the virus lives in your nervous system. It will lie dormant until it gets triggered by something (again, probs stress) and flare up. Antivirals will make your flare ups go away, I have a standing prescription for valacyclovir that I refill anytime I feel a flare up coming