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Sometimes a life update is also a health update.
Nearly two months after his last post, Ed Sheeran is essentially reintroducing himself to fans.
He’s displaying his freshly buzzed head and catching people up on what he’s been up to.
And he’s opening up about the viral infection that played a role in his recent silence.
He’s okay (at least, he’s on the mend)
Just shy of two months after his most recent post, Sheeran took to Instagram to share a photodump and a major life update.
“Yes I’ve shaved my hair,” the singer acknowledged.
“I wanted to shave it to signify a fresh start,” he explained.
Sheeran affirmed: “A lot of new beginnings in my life atm.”
He then revealed: “I love it, thinking of keeping it this way.”
Additionally, Sheeran shared a lot of updates about his music and tour dates and such.
He revealed that he had finally watched Stranger Things — the entire series — after putting it off for the past decade.
Sheeran admitted that he is particularly partial to Season 4.
He also recommended the 2022 novel, Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver. The book addresses poverty and fallout from the opioid epidemic in rural Appalachia, with nods to Dickensian works.
Then he revealed the health condition that had plagued him for weeks.
‘Wouldn’t recommend it’
Where he recommends Stranger Things and Demon Copperhead, Sheeran does not feel the same way about herpes zoster.
“I’ve had shingles for the last month,” he wrote.
“Wouldn’t recommend it,” the singer then understated.
“But,” Sheeran assured his fans and followers, “on the mend now.”
Shingles is herpes zoster. This famously agonizing viral infection is caused by the chickenpox virus — lurking in the human body for years or even decades before manifesting in a painful flare-up.
Anyone who has had chickenpox is at an increased risk of developing this deeply painful condition.
(Yes, that means that the people who insist that “chickenpox parties” are harmless and a good idea are putting their children at risk. Which … is pretty obvious, actually.)
A normal shingles outbreak tends to last for about a month or so. The agonizing blisters can be even more painful, depending upon their location — and they can even be internal.
However, some people end up suffering from chronic shingles. This takes a situation from being one of the worst months of the patient’s life to being a disability that spans years or decades.
We are relieved to hear that Sheeran is on the mend. A shingles vaccine exists. If you have access to healthcare, it’s worth talking to your doctor about making sure that this nightmare never happens to you.