Shingles
Natural Remedies

Exploring Natural Remedies and Supportive Care for Shingles

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne
Posted by Gene (Sarasota, FL USA) on 04/21/2009
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I have a previous posting on Apr. 11, 2009 (day 3 of my attack), which is currently logged under ACV+Cayenne. It would be helpful if you started there. This is an update, ten days later, and should be tremendously useful if you are debating whether to try a natural remeby for Shingles, specifically Apple Cide Vinegar.

Ten days ago, with a bad shingles rash and moderate deep pain, I turned to Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and Cayenne. I had already been on western meds, specifically valtrex & prednisone, and I had no sense that they were doing any good.

Almost immediately, the pain (but NOT the rash) went away. I continued swigging about half a shot glass of ACV sprinkled with Cayenne, three times a day, and used the same mixture topically a few times daily as well.

After a week, I felt I was completely cured, with the exception of the rash, and dutifully forgot about everything. After all, the smell and taste of ACV don't set the world on fire and aren't powerful motivators to hang in there once cured!

I realized yesterday that, during the past three days, the pain was back and had been for a couple of days now. Particularly, at night, I'd say the pain (in my case deep nerve pain) was perhaps a 7-8 out of 10 (the first time I had shingles it was a 10 out of 10, many times, so I know the scale!).

I had been lazy and listened to all my friends, including several doctors, saying 'It's the Western meds, dummy', and I figured I was in good hands once it stopped. Also, since the rash was taking forever to disappear, receding glacially, but no longer hurting, I felt that I didn't the ACV/C and it was probably an old wives tale anyway.

Boy was I wrong.

This is what I've learned:

1. A virus isn't over when you say it is. It's over when it decides it's run the course.

2. In going back on ACV, the topical pain (which had come back a bit in the past couple of days), stopped on the spot. Taking it yesterday AM, the topical cleared up immediately and the pain stopped throughout the day. Night was a different matter.

3. Two nights ago, the pain was terrible through the night. Last night - the first night since I had been back on ACV - the pain was gone until 5:58am (I went to sleep at 10pm, so I had 7 solid hours).

4. I finally got out of bed around 7:30, with a deep pain in the left side of my lower back. Within 10 minutes of taking ACV internally and topically, the slight itching was gone and the internal pain had gone from a 7/8 to a 2/3.

Everyone's disease and progress is different, and anecdotal evidence for me does not mean a hell of a lot in your case. But I wanted to give as much detail as possible so that you could see exactly how ACV has impacted what I'm going through.

I am dissapointed that the rash is only abating slowly, but - if I had to choose between reallybad, debilitating pain and the side effects pain and sleeplessness produces, and a rash, which in my case is under the shirt/pants and not visible, I'll take the rash anyday!

Count me as an ACV believer. Not once - but twice - in the same illness! Good luck with your shingles!!

Gene


Echinacea
Posted by Ron (Idaho) on 09/14/2022
★★★★★

Echinacea for shingles- get a 1 or 2 oz extract tincture and take the whole thing throughout 1 day, you can't overdose on it. This worked for me and three others, I noticed changes before the day was over, and by the next day, all that had to happen was to heal the damage done by the shingles.

Clay
Posted by Rhoda (NE) on 03/23/2022
★★★★★

My daughter recently applied a bentonite clay poultice to a blistering shingles rash on my arm. The blisters and pain were gone the next day and the rash was no longer visible in 4 days. I have suffered shingles attacks for years and tried many remedies. None, prescription or over the counter have been effective.


Aspirin in Water Based Cream
Posted by Art (California) on 04/19/2023 2326 posts
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

So it takes 6 very finely ground aspirin for every ounce of lotion to make the shingles lotion

Art


Herpetic Neuralgia Remedies
Posted by Tessa (Nyc) on 03/05/2015
★★★★★

I contracted herpes in my 30s about 18 years ago and have suffered from postherpetic neuralgia ever since. I found that meds - such a Lyrica or gabapentin - are a nightmare (the horrific side effects outweigh any benefits). I have reduced my pain (arms and legs), which was once severely acute and constant, to either nonexistent or occasional and mild simply by doing the following:

(1) I avoid foods that are high in arginine (nuts, seeds, chocolate, especially), which can lead to excruciating bouts for me. Dairy is helpful (high in lysine). I remain aware of lysine versus arginine ratios in my diet, tipping the scale toward more lysine. I eat lots of vegetables, leafy greens, and some meat (lamb is high in lysine) -I keep it organic/free range.

(2) The real miracle cure for me: I take spirulina every morning (1000 mg).

(3) I do as much yoga as I can (yin yoga is especially great during bouts - something about stretching and breathing). I get acupuncture (but never during a bout because that will make it more acute).

(4) Try not to get too stressed out. Avoid an abundance of sun. Avoid getting overtired or overexerted (e.g., pushing myself beyond an athletic limit - as in running too long).

It's taken me a long time to figure it all out, so I wanted to pass it along. :)


L-Lysine and Vitaminc
Posted by Kathy (Mitchell, NE) on 03/31/2007
★★★★★

Dear sufferers of shingles, Don't. Lysine and Vitamine C seem to be the best get rid of them forever cure. I have had about 3 or 5 breakouts in 20 years since I discovered Lysine and Vitamin C. Always take the Lysine the minute you notice a breakout. Before this my breakout would occure regularly. My life is high stress. stress causes outbreaks. If the lysine and c dont quite do it, add liquid b vitamins also to your diet. So far, I'm going on 8 years since my last breakout!


Sweet Wormwood, Wild Lettuce Leaf
Posted by talkdtwo (Oregon) on 02/11/2024
★★★★★

Sweet Wormwood Capsules for Shingles and Wild Lettuce Leaf for pain

I'll explain below why I even thought to do this. I'm taking Sweet Wormwood Capsules, 425 mg, two every four hours. I'm just taking an inexpensive brand (Swanson Full Spectrum). I wish I could paste a picture to show you how quickly this is working. It's amazing. In three days, it's 70% gone.

For the pain, I took Wild Lettuce Leaf Extract, 1 capsule every four hours. I use Zanzee Wild Lettuce Leaf Extract, 500 mg. It works better than Opioids, does not make you drowsy, and is non-addictive.

On Tuesday evening, I thought I had gotten bitten by some bug. I had what looked like a cluster of bites. I was itching like crazy. By Friday it kept getting worse and was now burning quite painfully and itching like crazy. Went to Urgent care and was told it wasn't bug bites, but Shingles.

They prescribed the Antiviral Valacyclovir HCL and told me they don't know if it will help but its the best they have to offer. I filled the prescription but it said it can make you dizzy and not to drive. I have to see clients and didn't want that in my system. So, I thought, "What might I have in my arsenal to help?"

I used to be a Federal Investigator for the Bureau of Drugs, New Drug Investigations. When COVID hit, I researched to find a Bioidentical herb for HydroxyClor** because that drug seemed to be super effective, and then they banned it from use. In the 70's, Dr. Tu You You got the Nobel Peace Prize for finding that Sweet Wormwood was as effective against Malaria as HydroxyC. I actually found studies and articles where WHO/CDC was recommending that people in high-malaria areas not drink Dr. Tu You You's recommendation of sweet wormwood tea because if they might/possibly/could/we're supposing need HydroxyCl, the sweet wormwood might/possibly/could/we're supposing make them resistant to it. In other words, they wouldn't make money. The wormwood dropped the cases of malaria by 80% and if someone needed HydroxyCl, it did not prohibit its effectiveness.

So we stored up on Sweet Wormwood. Every time someone we know got COVID, we told them about Sweet Wormwood. Within 24/48 hours, their symptoms were gone. We stopped counting after 70 some-odd cases. My sister-in-law actually had to sneak some into the hospital when her husband was admitted because he refused to take Remdesivir and they were giving him nothing, just monitoring him as he declined. In 24 hours, he went from dying to going home. We recommend taking 2 every four hours while symptoms are evident and then 1 three times a day for two more weeks.

So that is what got me thinking that if Shingles is also a virus, why not try it? What do I have to lose, except for a few more days of discomfort? I'm SO impressed at how quickly this is working. Friday I was burning/pain/itching so bad I went to Urgent Care. Saturday, there was a negligible amount of pain/no itch. Today, I don't even notice it's there unless I'm writing about it (hahahaha).


Magnesium, Zinc
Posted by Taylor (Auchendale) on 03/02/2022
★★★★★

Liquid Magnesium, followed by Liquid Zinc Cured Shingles

Hello Everyone,

In the first year of my marriage, 18 years ago, my husband developed shingles in his shoulders/upper back area. It was excruciatingly painful for him. For the next twelve months, he did everything the doctors told him to do. Z Packs mostly. Nothing worked. Then we went to my herbalist, a deep Christian, who told him she believed she had a Word of Knowledge from The Lord for him. My husband was to take 1-3 tablespoons of liquid magnesium, wait 3-5 minutes and then take 1-3 tablespoons of liquid zinc. I forget if it was 1 or 3 tablespoons. As I recall she said 1 and I would often up it to 3. Do that every 3-4 hours. He did that for a week and then he was well. She explained the magnesium chased the virus out of his cells and the zinc killed the virus. The mineral products are made by a company in Florida that sells very high-quality liquid minerals which are highly absorbable but gentle on the stomach. Of course, the FDA has been leaning on them heavily because they published "cures" so they have changed names and their business model several times to avoid more regulation. The results were astounding.


Licorice Extract
Posted by Pam (Columbia Falls, Montana ) on 02/25/2022
★★★★★

My husband had shingles on the back of his head in his hair. He had them for two or three weeks before he showed them to me. Too late for an antiviral from the doctor. I got licorice root extract and applied 2-3 times a day and my husband rubbed it in. His shingles dried up and went away within 2-3 weeks. Completely gone. My son's father-in-law got the this fall and they got some right away. It took his pain away and healed his shingles also. We swear by it!


Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Maria (Canberra, Australia) on 02/11/2022
★★★★★

Thirty years ago, a Homoeopath treated me for shingles, just one pill and it was gone and I thought it was gone forever. However; I broke out in shingles again recently. Same place, on the right buttock. I applied Dr Bach's Rescue Remedy which gave a relief from itching and stinging but it was still there. Then I applied Narrow Leaf Eucalyptus Oil which I bought on the net and straight away all sensation stopped. Applied it again next day and it started to dry up, and within two days it was a dry hard scab which eventually fell off.


Chlorine Dioxide
Posted by ORH (TEN MILE, TN) on 12/07/2021
★★★★★

HI U OLE PATOOTS, ORH here and just checking in to let you know that making CDS is a no-brainer if you have the right glassware. I did not and had to make do with what was in the kitchen. The Chlorine dioxide is made and now I have to properly dilute to suit what program we opt for. Everything must be glass with no plastic. I have the graduated cylinders and liter jars ordered from Amazon. Researched and found that CDS cures Genital Herpes so it should handle Shingles because that is Herpes Zoster. Herpes is supposedly not curable but one person said she had breakouts every few weeks for the last 20 years and had none for 6 months since taking the CDS. Now that will give the medical folks indigestion for certain. Life is just a bowel of cherries. ====ORH====


Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Pam N. (Kent, WA) on 03/03/2021
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I'm 67 yr old, got shingles on my face and in my ear and on my eardrum. Did the Dr thing, anti-viral, steroids, sleeping pill, pain pill, lidocaine gel. My search led me to eucalyptus oil, several drops in a tablespoon of hemp oil, which worked like a charm and took the pain away immediately, applied as needed. I was basically bedridden for a month feeling sick and vertigo from shingles on my eardrum. It has been 5 months of residual pain around my ear, across my cheek, on my lower lip, and my tongue. It continues to fade but my tongue always feels weird.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by Christine (Malaga, Spain) on 11/24/2020
★★★★★

Antifungal Cream for Shingles

Well, here we are on vacation and in lockdown and my partner is laid low with his first case of shingles. Travelling as we are and without our usual pharmacopoeia of natural remedies, we had to try what we have on hand and it happened to be clotrimazole antifungal cream. Within a couple of hours, the pain and sensitivity subsided and the sores were more localized. Thank you everyone for salvaging an already strange vacation.


Coconut Oil
Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 09/19/2020
★★★★★

My husband had an outbreak of shingles. It started with an odd pain in his arm then he had a few blisters on his wrist. They were pretty painful but he was still able to work. (He works with his hands.) He experienced the most pain at night - I think that is often the case... daily activities are a pain distraction.

At night he took ibuprofen a couple of times and used our homemade menthol salve (a homemade Vicks) topically.

I suspect he had such a mild case of it because he has been on coconut oil for months. Coconut oil is an amazing antiviral, in our experience. He takes a tablespoon in his coffee every morning.

Anyway, if you have shingles, I would suggest adding coconut oil to your daily routine and whatever else you end up doing for it. For viruses we use cold pressed- the kind that smells like coconut oil.


Vitamin C
Posted by Garry (Mtn Home, Ar) on 08/15/2017
★★★★★

I can attest to the use of vitamin C for shingles. I had shingles in my 20s and was told I needed vit C IV for 4 days running. The first shot, all pain gone, 2nd shot blisters all but gone, no pain, 3rd-4th shot-all signs gone, no nerve pain, not even any redness. 15 years later diagnosed with herpes. Contracted it when I was 18. It was evident at infection site(lesion) and also throughout my nervous system. Used Acyclovir, had to quit because of side effects...besides the fact it really did not help much, shortening episodes by maybe 1 week(3 week episodes).

My symptoms, other than the occasional lesion, was nerve pain at areas of previous wounds and extreme skin sensitivity. Several years ago I came across an article about vitamin c mega dosing. I remembered my treatment for shingles, so thought what the heck. When I had my next episode, which included a lesion on my right ear lobe, I took 1,000mg caps every hour I was awake for two days(15,000mg/day), then when my bowels started to get 'loose', I dropped to 1 every other hour. The results were nothing less than spectacular for me.

After the first day, no more pain, itching or fever. After the 2nd day I experienced something I had never seen...the lesion actually started to recede, no blisters popped and still no pain. After 5 days, I couldn't even tell it ever occurred. I now take 1,000mg/day and have never had a occurrence. I used to be able to rub my ear lobe and create a 'fever' at any time, this is gone as well. By the way, weather patterns exacerbated my episodes and actually instigated them. My doctor said he never heard of such a thing, but I could tell friends and family when there was a weather change coming...I usually got a very painful 48 hour warning. These too are gone...the only 'down' side. It's probably also useful to note that I've never had a cold or flu since either. I see now that the FDA has decided IV vitamin C usage is no longer a recommended treatment. Probably because it's cheap and effective. I use Ester C if anyone is interested (horse pills! ).


Homeopathy
Posted by Zach (Rockport, Ma) on 01/09/2016
★★★★★

Remedy for Shingles: ranunculus bulbosus 30x. Took it two times two hours apart. Then every 6 hrs. At least 15 min before or after eating. I avoid any of the mints (including in toothpaste), garlic and coffee to not neutralize the remedy.

Relief end of first day.
Gone next day.

When starting to get some mild tingling a week later repeated remedy with good effect.

Shingles can re-occur so I make sure I have remedy in house. Will have to get remedy special order-not one that is regularly stocked at health food store. I used a 30x. Perhaps a 30c will also work. Other homeopathic remedies that are noted on the web as being helpful include; rhus tox, mezereum and arsenicum among others. I,

Of course, try to limit stress-its not worth it.

Good luck.


Cayenne Pepper
Posted by Desertpoc (El Cajon, California, United States) on 05/03/2012
★★★★★

I came down with shingles, searched the internet and luckily listed was this post. First, I used what Gloria suggested - which I could see some improvement but not enough. Then I combined some of the suggestions from Gloria and David T. Used the ratio of ingredients:

1 T. Coconut Oil

1 t. Alo Vera oil from capsules which is approx. 4-5 capsules

1/2 T. Vitamin E oil

1 T. Cayenne pepper

Plus added corn meal to thicken the mixture. Applied the mix to the shingles, as it was spreading; let the application dry then removed as suggested by David. I followed this treatment for 2 to 3 times a day. Depending on the severity and process of healing. After 2 days, the shingles were starting to heal, then I made another batch of the mix without the corn meal and applied the mix to the shingles area. Thank you to all that contributed to this subject of shingles.


Dave Thomas Shingles Protocol
Posted by Raeanne (Anchorage, Alaska) on 02/19/2018
★★★★★

Dave's Shingle Protocol:

This mixture worked so well for me. I had shingles on my face, neck, head and behind my ears. My Dr. gave me a herpes medication, then I decided to google remedies. I found this site. This was 4 years ago. I looked thru all the remedies and went with this one. My Dr. told me NOT to put the cayenne on my shingles. I decided it couldn't possible hurt worse, so I followed all the instructions Dave lists. I had my husband apply it. Almost immediately, the cayenne made the pain go away. I slept with the paste on and a scarf over my head. I awoke, and to my surprise all the blisters had burst and were starting to heal. Every time the paste dried, I washed it with warm water and reapplied it.

By the 2nd day of treatment, all I had were some bumps that had smoothed over. I continued the treatment for another day.

On the 3rd day, there was no pain, no redness and the bumps did last for another 2 weeks, but they were gone from my face, mostly behind my ears. In 3 days I felt normal again. I can't thank Dave enough for sharing this treatment. I have shared it several times since I had shingles to entire towns even. I always recommend people come to this site for that ailment and look at other remedies too, but I had complete success with Dave's protocol.

Thank you so much Dave, you saved me so much agony.


L-Lysine and Vitaminc
Posted by Kelly (Us) on 05/14/2014
★★★★☆

I am 62 and I believe my shingles are from stress. I immediately stated the L-lysine and vit c - 1000 mg each 3x/day. after 2 weeks of very little sleep, I added vicks vapor rub to the area of pain and then wrapped it snugly with a wide ace bandage. Also I added homeopathic remedy phosphorus 30c. finally in the middle of the 3rd wk I have actually had less pain and 6.5 hrs of undisturbed sleep! I think due to intense prayer and the above remedies I am on the upside of this nightmare. I hope my post is helpful to someone. Blessings.



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