prescription - a drug that is available only with written instructions from a doctor or dentist to a pharmacist; he told the doctor that he had been taking his prescription regularly. ethical drug, prescription drug, prescription medicine.
Definition. Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. Although shingles can occur anywhere on your body, it most often appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or the right side of your torso. Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus â the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. While it isn't a life-threatening condition, shingles can be very painful.
Shingles-What Happens. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. After an attack of chickenpox, the virus remains in the tissues in your nerves. As you get older, or if you have an illness or stress that weakens your immune system, the virus may reappear in the form of shingles. You may first have a headache, flu-like symptoms (usually without a fever), and sensitivity to light, followed by itching, tingling, or pain in the area where a rash may develop.