Postherpetic neuralgia: the stealth attacker.

The intense pain following a shingles outbreak is the after effect of a stealth attack from the release of the herpesvirus that lies dormant in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord along the neuroaxis including the cervical, thoracic, and lumbosacral segments, which supply sensory nerve efferent and afferent pathways to the corresponding peripheral nerves in the face, trunk, and pelvis. Varicella zoster, or the chickenpox virus, is part of the herpesvirus family.