I had ophthalmic shingles three years ago. The day I started to get a couple of itchy welts around my right eye, I rushed to urgent care, thought I had pink eye. Fortunately the doctor immediately diagnosed shingles and got me started on anti-viral medication within an hour.
Starting antiviral medication within the first 72 hours of blisters appearing is key. In my case the blister rash was nowhere near how bad it could have been. Nonetheless I did have blisters on the upper right side of my face, and when the blisters popped, ugly “shingle”-like scabs took their place.
I was off work for almost 4 weeks. During that time I was in a lot of pain and was overwhelmed with fatigue. Thank God, because I caught the shingles early, I have no permanent scarring on my face.
I didn’t get scarring but did get depigmented areas on my forehead that only showed when I had a tan, that appear to be fading over time. It was ten years ago that I had them. Only lasting effect I still have is a sensation of coldness in my left eyebrow, which is aggravated by perspiring in that area. Didn’t actually know there even were sweat glands there, but I do experience that.