Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus.  This viral infection may sound foreign, but it is actually the virus that causes chickenpox, the bane of everyone’s childhood.  Shingles in essence is a reoccurrence of this original chickenpox, but at a later time. But why or how does this happen?  Following the resolution of chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus lies dormant in the spinal dorsal root ganglia, or the spinal cord nerves until something triggers a reactivation is triggered.  This is important as 95% of adults have antibodies to varicella zoster virus and all those individuals are vulnerable to reactivation of infection.