1 Put cool, moist washcloths on the rash. 
2 Rest in bed during the early stages if you have fever and other symptoms. 
3 Try not to let clothing or bed linens rub against the rash and irritate it. 
4 Call your healthcare provider right away if: You develop worsening pain or fever.
The rash from shingles will heal in 1 to 3 weeks and the pain or irritation will usually go away in 3 to 5 weeks. When shingles occurs on the head or scalp, the symptoms usually go away eventually, but it may take many months. 1 Put cool, moist washcloths on the rash. 2  Rest in bed during the early stages if you have fever and other symptoms. 3  Try not to let clothing or bed linens rub against the rash and irritate it. 4  Call your healthcare provider right away if: You develop worsening pain or fever. The painful rash may be in the area of your ear or eye. When shingles occurs on the head or scalp, symptoms can include headaches and weakness of one side of the face, which causes that side of the face to look droopy. The symptoms usually go away eventually, but it may take many months. 1 Put cool, moist washcloths on the rash. 2  Rest in bed during the early stages if you have fever and other symptoms. 3  Try not to let clothing or bed linens rub against the rash and irritate it. 4  Call your healthcare provider right away if: You develop worsening pain or fever. Shingles is a disease that affects your nerves. It can cause burning, shooting pain, tingling, and/or itching, as well as a rash and blisters. You may recall having chickenpox as a child. Shingles is caused by the same virus, the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The most common place for shingles is a band that goes around one side of your waistline. Most people have some of the following shingles symptoms: 1  Burning, tingling, or numbness of the skin. 2  Feeling sick—chills, fever, upset stomach, or headache. If you have shingles symptoms, get treatment now and you may avoid permanent nerve pain. Shingles, a viral infection of the nerve roots, affects 1 million people in the U.S each year. Most people recover from their bout, but for as many as 50% of those over age 60 who have not been treated, the pain doesn't go away. But in some -- especially people with immune systems weakened by disease or treatment -- the virus can reappear. This is likely to happen years or decades after the person had chickenpox. When it comes back, the virus can cause shingles, a rash that often appears as a band on one side of the body. Early shingles symptoms can include: 1  Headache. 2  Light sensitivity. 3  Flu-like symptoms without fever Shingles is a disease that affects nerves and causes pain and blisters in adults. It is caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus does not leave your body, but continues to live in some nerve cells.  It causes a painful rash. You can only get shingles if you had chickenpox in the past. After you have chickenpox (usually as a child), the virus that causes it stays in your body in certain nerve cells. Most of the time your immune system keeps the chickenpox virus in these cells. In a few days, these bumps turn into blisters. You might feel a stinging or burning pain. The rash may wrap around your back and chest, or it may be on one side of your face. The blisters usually crust over and fall off after 7 to 10 days. You may see changes in the color of your skin when the scabs fall off. In bad cases of shingles, these color changes last forever. Even though the rash gets better or goes away in a few weeks, the pain may last longer. In most people, the pain goes away in 1 to 3 months. Shingles can also affect your eyes, causing swollen eyelids, redness and pain. Shingles of the eye can cause scars that affect your vision. It can also lead to glaucoma later in life The first sign of shingles is often burning, sharp pain, tingling, or numbness in your skin on one side of your body or face. The most common site is the back or upper abdomen. You may have severe itching or aching. You also may feel tired and ill with fever, chills, headache, and upset stomach or belly pain. 1 Put cool, moist washcloths on the rash. 2  Rest in bed during the early stages if you have fever and other symptoms. 3  Try not to let clothing or bed linens rub against the rash and irritate it. 4  Call your healthcare provider right away if: You develop worsening pain or fever. Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the virus that also causes chickenpox. In a person who has been exposed to chickenpox -- or its vaccine -- the virus never really goes away. It can lie dormant in the body's nerves. But in some -- especially people with immune systems weakened by disease or treatment -- the virus can reappear. This is likely to happen years or decades after the person had chickenpox. When it comes back, the virus can cause shingles, a rash that often appears as a band on one side of the body. Early shingles symptoms can include: 1  Headache. 2  Light sensitivity. 3  Flu-like symptoms without fever
http://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/HT/HT_shingles.html http://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/HT/HT_shingles.html https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/shingles http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-are-you-risking-nerve-pain http://elderlynursing.com/shingles.htm http://www.clarku.edu/offices/health/shingles.cfm http://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/HT/HT_shingles.html http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-are-you-risking-nerve-pain
how to take that irritated feeling away from shingles