What is Ramsay Hunt syndrome?
When the varicella-zoster virus infects a nerve in the inner ear, it causes Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare neurological condition. The virus can stay dormant in the body after having chickenpox as a child or shingles as an adult. It's unclear why the virus reactivates and causes Ramsay Hunt symptoms.
The disease was named after James Ramsay Hunt, an American neurologist who originally characterized it in 1907. Hunt also identified two more disorders.
The illness "occurs when a shingles outbreak damages the facial nerve near one of [the person's] ears," according to Mayo Clinic.
