What Causes Shingles In The Eyes

Of people with shingles the rash appears in and around the eye.

What causes shingles in the eyes.

For example eye shingles can cause. The varicella zoster virus causes shingles. Shingles of the eyes occurs when the virus is reactivated in the body when the body suffers an attack on the immune system and it becomes compromised. After you ve had chickenpox the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain.

However shingles in the eye can cause serious complications such as. This is the same virus that causes chickenpox or varicella. Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus which first enters the body as chickenpox which nearly every adult over 40 had as a child and never leaves. Without treatment it can lead to pain in your eyes but also to permanent loss of vision.

Eye problems if you have shingles in or near your eyes forehead or nose see your doctor right away. You can only get shingles if you ve had chickenpox. Years later the virus may reactivate as shingles. After you recover from chickenpox the.

It stays dormant in sensory nerve roots and in about one third of us reactivates later in life as shingles. This type of shingles is called ophthalmic herpes zoster or herpes zoster ophthalmicus. While it isn t a life threatening condition shingles can be very painful. The varicella zoster virus is the one that causes chickenpox and shingles.

Although the shingles rash will most commonly appear on the torso it s possible for it to affect your eyes as well. Shingles of the eye has its own name. Herpes zoster ophthalmicus hzo. A corneal dendrite which may lead to a scar.

A weakened immune system means the virus wherever it is in the body can now actively multiply and increase in number. When it affects your eye it s called herpes zoster ophthalmicus. Shingles in the eye can cause scarring. Uveitis an internal inflammation of the eye glaucoma due to uncontrolled uveitis blindness in extreme cases.