Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox. Anyone who battled the childhood virus is at risk for shingles since the virus lays dormant in nerve cells for years. ...
It presents with the same red, hot, sore blisters as chicken pox, not body wide but in the territory of the nerve where the virus is reactivating, often in a band on the chest or abdomen."...
About 10 to 25 percent of people who get shingles will have it in the face and eye, said Dr. Erik Chotiner, ophthalmologist with Memorial Eye Institute in Lower Paxton Township....
While shingles on the skin can include swelling of the eyelid and conjunctivitis, shingles on the eye itself, called herpes zoster ophthalmicus, can cause something much worse – scarring that can lead to vision loss,
"Skin lesions can be painful, but when you are talking about potential loss of vision, shingles become scarier," Chotiner said.