What Causes Shingles In The Eyes

After you ve had chickenpox the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain.

What causes shingles in the eyes.

While it isn t a life threatening condition shingles can be very painful. Shingles of the eye has its own name. Uveitis an internal inflammation of the eye glaucoma due to uncontrolled uveitis blindness in extreme cases. Shingles in the eye can cause scarring.

Eye problems if you have shingles in or near your eyes forehead or nose see your doctor right away. 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. This type of shingles is called ophthalmic herpes zoster or herpes zoster ophthalmicus. Glaucoma corneal ulcers scarring acute retinal necrosis a severe disease that can cause blindness.

Without treatment it can lead to pain in your eyes but also to permanent loss of vision. Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus the same virus that causes chickenpox. You can only get shingles if you ve had chickenpox. Herpes zoster ophthalmicus hzo.

The varicella zoster virus causes shingles. The varicella zoster virus is the one that causes chickenpox and shingles. 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. It stays dormant in sensory nerve roots and in about one third of us reactivates later in life as shingles.

However shingles in the eye can cause serious complications such as. Herpes simplex type 1 or hsv1 which causes cold. When it affects your eye it s called herpes zoster ophthalmicus. A corneal dendrite which may lead to a scar.

This is the same virus that causes chickenpox or varicella. Years later the virus may reactivate as shingles. Although the shingles rash will most commonly appear on the torso it s possible for it to affect your eyes as well. For example eye shingles can cause.