[cstreit]

In adults it's called Shingles...

When you get chicken pox as a kid, it never actually "goes away" but rather it lies dormant in the nerve fiber sheaths. In a case of a significantly reduced immune system, like if you've been sick for a while, stressed, etc... it can re-surface.

In a kid, it's simply uncomfortable. In a adult it's the most painful thing you can imagine. All the nerve fibers in your back leading around to your sternum are inflamed... Even major pain killers don't really help much.

From what I understand it's less contagious to adults except through direct contact. I don't know if you get it for the first time as an adult that its the painful kind. Interestingly enough it's a derivative of the herpes virus....