 [ Symptoms ] how do you tell the difference between poison ivy and shingles [ Disease ] shingles is only on one side of the body following a nerve pathway it is very painful poison ivy can occur anywhere on the body both sides it is very itchy not painful they are both blistering skin eruptions but shingles tends to be hemorrhagic bloody looking and occurs in clusters poison ivy tends to have clear blisters and likely as some linear line like patterns where part of the plant contact occurred