Award-winning performer Viola Davis is opening up about a painful bout with shingles that struck during a pivotal moment in her career, sharing details about her diagnosis to encourage older adults to take preventive health measures.
Davis, 61, said the illness began in early 2012, shortly after she adopted her daughter and received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the film “The Help.” Exhausted from a grueling work schedule, she awoke with flu-like symptoms and an intense rash that wrapped around from her stomach to her back, which she initially suspected was an insect bite or skin irritation from a workout belt, according to interviews with People and TODAY.com.
“I would put it a nine out of 10,” Davis told People, as reported by the New York Post, describing the intensity of the pain. “Hard to lay down, hard to get up, hard to walk. Nerve pain, all of that.”
A surprising diagnosis
Davis said learning she had shingles was “the surprise of my life” because she believed her dedicated fitness regimen and healthy diet shielded her from such conditions, The Daily Beast reported. At the time, she admitted she had known nothing about the illness.
Shingles is triggered by the varicella-zoster virus, the identical virus responsible for chickenpox, which Davis had contracted during childhood. After an individual recovers from chickenpox, the pathogen remains dormant in nerve tissue and can reactivate decades later. The condition affects approximately one in three Americans during their lifetime and is particularly common in individuals older than 50 or those with weakened immune systems, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
When reactivated, the infection often produces a distinctive stripe of fluid-filled blisters along one side of the body, accompanied by burning, tingling sensations, headaches and fever. While not fatal, the virus has no cure, though doctors can administer antiviral drugs, over-the-counter pain medications and corticosteroids to reduce symptom severity and speed recovery.
Advocating for prevention and listening to the body
Health specialists note that shingles can lead to severe long-term complications. The most frequent is postherpetic neuralgia, a persistent nerve agony that can linger for months or years in the area where the rash first emerged. Infections near the face can also damage vision or cause nerve damage near the ear, known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Medical authorities recommend the two-dose Shingrix vaccine for individuals 50 and older and adults with compromised immunity, noting it is more than 90 percent effective at preventing both shingles and postherpetic neuralgia.
Davis has partnered with biopharmaceutical company GSK on its “Shingles, actually” educational initiative. The campaign aims to persuade adults over 50 to consult physicians and pharmacists regarding their susceptibility to the infection and ways to guard against it.
Reflecting on her recovery, the EGOT-winning performer said the experience forced her to change her mindset about pushing through physical distress.
“Strength is about sort of loving on your body and experiencing good health as you age,” Davis said in the People interview. She stressed that people should view persistent pain not as a challenge to endure, but as a clear prompt to seek medical care.
