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 Anna (Roswell, Ga) on 09/06/2013
★★★★★

My boyfried had what we think to be shingles. That is when I discovered Earth Clinic. I fixed him a bottle water with ACV (apple cider vinegar), cayenne pepper (3 good size shakes) honey to taste. had him drink this 3 times a day and mixed cayenne pepper with ACV (heavy on cayenne) took cottonball and put it on him everywhere, three times a day and shingles were gone within 3 to 5 days. It made him a believer. Now we both drank ACV as a often as we can.

Cayenne Pepper
Posted by Ahmad_h (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) on 12/04/2012
★★★★★

I'm 27 and I recently had a breakout of shingles on my leg. A day after I had the red spots the nerve pain arrived. That's when I realized it was shingles and immediately began seeking remedies. It appeared that cayenne pepper was key to suppressing the virus, according to a number of folks on earthclinic. I began looking for natural pastes around the house to mix with cayenne pepper. All I had at the time was Tahini (sesame butter). I took a tablespoon of tahini and mixed it with a whole lot of cayenne pepper, almost to the point of saturation, and applied it to the red spots. 95% of the nerve pain was gone and the red spots were no where in sight within 24hours. I've been reapplying it almost daily (usually when I feel the pain creeping up). Cayenne pepper is shingles' worst nightmare. I've been ingesting half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper every few days as well, just for good measure. And they said it takes 2-3 weeks to heal!

Colloidal Silver
Posted by Liz (Melbourne, Australia) on 11/14/2012
★★★★★

Hi, l have had shingles 3 times in 3 months but quite mildly, l use colloidal silver and keep a wet solution on at all times with cotton wool, you can put it in your eyes, l have been using it successfully for 15 years on any external infection. Sometimes l drink it for my ulcer and it helps straight away, also sore throats, eye infections. It's fantastic.


Multiple Remedies
Posted by Healthnut (Scarsdale, Ny, Usa) on 11/05/2011
★★★★★

Hi Everyone-

Much to my horror, I had all the symptoms of a shingles outbreak on my scalp and face - headache, pain, tingling, electric shock - 4 weeks before my 40th birthday party!!! After finding this website, I started my own treatment in an attempt to stave off any rash/blisters on my face. Here's what I did DAILY for 3 straight weeks and I never did have the outbreak!!! After a total of 4 weeks of symptoms and my daily routine, no outbreak and symptoms disappeared. Good luck and God Bless to everyone dealing with this.

1) 3 times per day: 2 TB _____'s Apple cider vinegar. You can mix with apple or pear juice.

2) L - Lysine - 1000 mg, 2-3 times per day

3) Folic Acid - 800 mg, 2-3 times per day

4) Vitamin C - 2000-3000 mg per day

5) B12 - 1000 mcg per day

6) mixture of plain yogurt and zinc oxide - applied on my face along the nerve where I felt tingling and electric shock.


Coconut Oil
Posted by Gavin (Manganui, Northland, New Zealand) on 09/29/2011
★★★★★

The herpes virus along with many others has a protective coating that prevents the body from killing it. The natural remedy for this ailment is Coconut oil, as it strips the coating from the virus and allows the bodies own defensive mechanisms to engulf it. Taken internally and applied topicaly will fix it for good and all. Incidentaly it might be worth mentioning the clinical dose is about four teaspoons a day. It also causes ketones to be used by the brain without having a starvation diet to get them, which seems to help Parkinsons and Alzthiemers.. Sufferers. One doctor whose husband had early onset Alzhiemers.. reversed his condition, which is unheard of with conventional treatment.


Cayenne Pepper
Posted by Jessaka (Tahlequah, Ok) on 01/10/2011
★★★★☆

Hi, I have been using Tabasco Sauce for years whenever I had a sore throat and always wondered how well it would do on shingles. Then my friend's husband got shingles, and I told her about it. He tried it and felt so much better that he went to his doctor and bragged to him about it. I have tried capazin on certain things, but it doesn't kill the pain as well as Tabasco Sauce.

Niacin
Posted by Lucy (Santa Cruz, California, United States) on 06/03/2010
★★★★★

SHINGLES

I thought this was an old persons disease, not so. The medication they gave me did nothing for the pain, so I tossed that.

Health books always start with a fast to give your system a rest. I went on a 10 day orange, grapefruit and lemon fast with large amounts of L-Lysine three times a day. I still needed something for the pain, that went on for weeks. The pain is so intense, making it almost impossible to even sleep.

Visiting my brother, I found him taking 500 mg of Niacin every morning, was he crazy! His face was as red as a beet, but he didn't seem to care. I never took anything more then 50 mg of Niacin.

I thought if he can take it, so can I. A few minutes later my face started getting hot and tingly, but to my surprise the pain from my shingles was gone, not just slightly gone, it was gone.

I found Niacin only lasted about 4 hours before the pain started coming back. Another thing I found out is that it only worked on an empty stomach in the morning. Every day the pain became less intense. After about a week, the pain was gone. So far never to return.


Folic Acid, Lysine, Vitamin C
Posted by Monika (Poland) on 07/17/2016
★★★★★

"800mg of Folic Acid, 1500mg of Lysine and 2000mg (minimum) of Vitamin C"

WOW! This workes so well! Thank you very much.


Cayenne Pepper
Posted by Mel (England) on 06/19/2024
★★★★★

I mixed the cayenne pepper with a small amount of apple cider vinegar to make a paste and dabbed this on the affected area, this brought amazing relief (I was in immense pain before this) I applied this paste several times throughout the day. Within a day and a half the shingles had gone, the pain subsided virtually straight after apply the acv/cayenne paste.


Neem Oil
Posted by Rita (Merritt Island, FL) on 12/20/2022
★★★★★

Neem Oil works! My husband is 56 and noticed blisters last week. He had them once before in his late teens. I looked here for recommendations and found Neem Oil. I actually had recently purchased some organic cold pressed Neem oil and applied it to the blisters 2- 3x a day. Its not even been a week - today he saw the dermatologist who confirmed its already healing. My husband said its not only helping dry the blisters, but also helps with the pain. So glad I checked on Earth Clinic Website. This is so awesome. A few years ago I searched for a strep throat remedy and the Cayenne pepper gargle took care of that too!


Multiple Remedies
Posted by Deirdre (Earth Clinic) on 04/06/2021

Hi, have you read through all of the posts on EC's shingles page? Also, check out the Reader Q&A page for many helpful replies from people.

https://answers.earthclinic.com/cures/shingles.html

Here's a recent Q&A that received a lot of responses.

https://answers.earthclinic.com/shingles-pain-after-one-year.html

P.S. When I had shingles, an antifungal cream applied to the painful area helped immensely. Found that one on Earth Clinic!


Oregano Oil
Posted by Carolyn (Canada) on 11/20/2020
★★★★★

Shingles -

Hot water made it way worse for me. Oregano oil capsules worked - at first 1 cap with each meal until some relief. Shouldn't take too long and then take 1 cap breakfast and dinner...and then drop to 1 with dinner. Oregano oil kills viruses.


Coconut Oil, Carrots
Posted by Art (California ) on 04/13/2018 2326 posts

Trish,

I have used a topical aspirin lotion that I made myself for a friend with shingles and they found it quite helpful. The aspirin is antiviral and disrupts the replication of the varicella-zoster virus. The aspirin also acts as an analgesic to help with some pain relief and all without causing digestive upset!

Art


Peppermint Essential Oil
Posted by Amy (Florida) on 11/19/2017
★★★★★

I used peppermint oil and it helped the shingle crust over in 2 days. This the second time I had it. The first time it was horrifying but this time it is one single shingle but peppermint oil not only helps the pain but accelerates the healing process!


Maca
Posted by Irene (Pennsylvania) on 09/22/2016
★★★★★

Maca works very well for shingles! Take 4 capsules, it's cheap under $5, take them 3 times a day, then taper to 3 and and 2 capsules, as needed. It takes away pain and itch.


L-Lysine
Posted by Barbara (Ny) on 08/16/2016
★★★★☆

I'm drinking 1/4 c of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of water 3x a day and taking 1000 mg of l-lysine twice a day and my shingles (I've had it before and treated it with traditional pills) is not progressing.... I will keep you updated.It's on the side of my nose above my lip where I had an outbreak before.


Homeopathy
Posted by Pam (Kent, Wa) on 01/19/2015
★★★★☆

I have shingles with no rash, although it feels like I have one because of the severe nerve pain. The left side of my neck from front to back is involved. I use the homeopathic remedy Hypericum for the pain, I use both the 30c and the 200c potency. I take a dose of 30c, if I don't get relief I take again in 20 minutes or so and that usually kills the pain for several hours and repeat as necessary or I take a dose of 200c and that seems to hold throughout the day. It has not cured the shingles, I've had it for about 10 days now, but it makes the pain very tolerable. Hypericum is for any nerve pain.


Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Sadie (Los Angeles, Ca) on 07/13/2014
★★★★★

I recently noticed a spot on my right eye brow. I thought it was a spider bite that had become infected, so I got some antibiotics. 2 Days later I notice small bumps and began to feel a tingling sensation. Then I knew it was shingles. I got the antiviral medicine from the Dr, but I actually started to feel worse after taking it. I did a google search and thankfully found this site. From everyone's recommendations I made a paste and the pain and sores started going away almost instantly.

Paste: 1 Tbs coconut oil

1 Tbs ACV

10 drops colloidal silver

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp DMSO

I put the paste on and let it sit for 10-15min. It burns, but it's a good burn. I think adding in aloe would help, but I didn't have any. Then rinse.

Then I mixed ACV with 10 drops eucalyptus oil and dabbed that on the sores. Again it burns, but it's more like a cooling burn.

Within 2 hours the pain was almost gone and the sores had gone down by almost half. It's been 36 hour now and some of the sores are completely gone and the others are on their way out. This really saved me some anguish. Good luck to everyone!



NEXT 
Advertisement