Hello. Thanks for writing to us at healthcaremagic Your description of the rash and associated pain does seems to suggest a possibility of Shingles; more so if the rash is arranged in a stripe like pattern across one half of the body, with a sharp mid line cut off. Shingles may initially start either as rash or as raised patches and subsequently may develop fluid filled lesions. Therefore absence of fluid filled lesions from the start does nt rule out shingles. Pain is more of a feature of herpes Zoster; irritation to the muscle rub would have been associated with a burning sensation rather than pain. I would suggest that you visit a dermatologist for a confirmatory diagnosis. A dermatologist would be better able to confirm it or rule it out. There is usually associated pain which may be shooting or stabbing in quality. If Shingles is confirmed to be shingles on visual inspection, treatment would be with an oral antiviral e.g acyclovir or valacyclovir. Associated pain also need to be managed appropriately with NSAID s First step would be to visit a dermatologist for a confirmatory diagnosis Regards