Shingles on my feet?

April 1, 2013 8:39 PM

Have you ever had shingles on your feet? I have extremely itchy, burning spots on the outside edges of both feet, little toes and ankles, and up my left calf. Could it be shingles?

If it's not better in the morning, I will go to the dr, etc. About five days ago, I started breaking out in extremely itchy, burning spots that I thought were spider bites on my feet and left calf. Then they spread and broke out into little blisters, maybe from my scratching. So I started thinking it must be something besides spider bites. I do live in fire ant country and they burn like that but usually you know when you've been bitten by fire ants because it hurts right then. These just started up out of nowhere and spread over several days. Google images confirms that there is such a thing as shingles just about anywhere on your body so I'm wondering if it could be that.

I have some valtrex that I started taking yesterday just in case and calamine lotion helps some, but man oh man, the burn. Could this still be shingles if it is both feet? I'm just wondering if anybody else has had this experience and if so, how long it took to get better?

posted by tamitang to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Not on both feet. "A rash can appear anywhere on the body but will be on only one side of the body, the left or right."

Because shingles travel along the nerves, you only get them on one side or another. The whole body could conceivably be affected (as in chicken pox), but not on both feet and nowhere else.

Always get a rash checked out, though.
posted by xingcat at 8:42 PM on April 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

Seconding xingcat. Shingles usually presents unilaterally on the head or trunk. The rash roughly follows the path of the nerve from which it originates, so it will generally be confined to a single dermatome.
posted by dephlogisticated at 10:07 PM on April 1, 2013

My guess would be a fungal infection or staph infection. If it's causing blisters, it's definitely time to get to a doctor.
posted by sbutler at 10:42 PM on April 1, 2013

it could also be poison oak/ivy. i forget which one is the really bad one that causes the bad blisters but you may have brushed by one of the plants if your feet were exposed. if you do an image search you can probably figure out if what you have is poison oak/ivy. i knew someone who had it and it was pretty awful looking and i think he spread it by all his scratching iirc. ack, the google pics are rather scary looking. hope you get some relief soon!
posted by wildflower at 11:42 PM on April 1, 2013

Only because my son got it last week, and we jokingly asked him, "When the hell did you go to Africa?!!" I'm thinking coxsackie virus. My kid has the same blisters you describe but on his hands and in his mouth. You can also get them on your feet (it's informally known as hand, foot and mouth disease).

See a doctor. He went on meds for a week and it cleared right up.
posted by kinetic at 2:20 AM on April 2, 2013

It's chilblains or hand/foot/mouth disease.
Or simple hives.
Have you tried an antihistamine?
posted by jen14221 at 4:54 AM on April 2, 2013

Athlete's foot can manifest as blisters. Fleas can live in carpets and bite feet and ankles. I couldn't tell you if it's either of these, or any of the above suggestions.

Since there are so many different types of things it could be (virus, fungus, bug bites, allergies, etc.) and the treatment for each is quite different, it's a really good idea to go to the doctor as soon as you can. Best to figure out what it is and not waste time inadvertently treating something you don't have.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:51 AM on April 2, 2013

Please do not take random prescription medications you have lying around at home to treat a condition you self-diagnosed using Google image search. That is a dangerous and foolish thing to do. Not saying your condition is necessarily serious, but medications have side effects, may cause resistance in treating infections, etc.

Also, Xingcat is right that shingles only shows up on one side of your body. Be skeptical of the other advice given here. Chilblains in fire ant country? Doubtful....
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:11 AM on April 2, 2013

Fleas? Had that problem once and the bites itched like hell. Not so much burning though...unless you've scratches yourself raw. Also recommend trying an anti-histamine.
posted by Eicats at 8:12 AM on April 2, 2013

I would also add that neither chilblains nor hand foot and mouth lesions would be typically found on your calf. IANYD. See one.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:15 AM on April 2, 2013

My first outbreak of pompholyx eczema was on my feet. I don't know if it can spread as far up as the calves, but the little blisters and itching seem to fit.
posted by BiffSlamkovich at 1:14 PM on April 2, 2013

Response by poster: Well, none of these really seem to match my symptoms but I'm some better today so it will just remain a mystery, I guess. The last one probably came the closest so if it comes back I'll have it checked out. Thanks everyone.
posted by tamitang at 4:48 PM on April 2, 2013