Quote Originally Posted by Hulud
no, you get them from a flare up from chicken pox or can be caused from stress. you cannot get them unless you have had chicken pox
yep, herpes zostra, it is the same virus as chicken pox, the virus after you've had the chicken pox is stored in the spine. They still don't know what causes the flare ups but it follows one particular nerve path, that is why with shingles they are usually only on one side or the other. Usually they are around the trunk but can come up on the head/neck, but still only one one side. I just had the shit so I tried to learn as much as I could about it. It does hurt bad tho