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.
Licorice Extract
Posted by Daffodil (British Columbia, Canada) on 07/18/2016
★★★★★
After my husband passed away I got shingles 2 years in a row. I bought a bottle of Licorice Root Extract from the local drugstore. It had a dropper in it and I just dropped some liquid on my fingers and applied it to the shingles sores. This took the pain away and I was immediately able to go back to sleep at night, or be painfree during the day. The shingles seemed to stop spreading at that point and eventually cleared up, although I had raised bumps (nerve endings I think) that still show up occasionally 5 years later.
I also supplemented (to boost my immune system) with Vitamin C (Camu is readily available to the body) 500 mg 3x/day, L Lysine - 500 mg 2x/day and Folic Acid - 1 microgram/day. This is inexpensive and worked for me.
Essential Oils
Posted by Mrsg (Fl ) on 06/29/2016
★★★★★
I am 50 years young and I just had my first experience with shingles. The symptoms started very low key about a week before with loss of appetite, a little nauseous, feeling tired. Then started with a very painful right shoulder pain that made it almost impossible to sleep. Two days later, I felt like I had severe flu symptoms, chest pains, headache, my skin feeling sensitive to touch especially on my right arm. The same morning I also noticed some bumps along my right arm like ant bites. The next day the bumps turned red and the rash was spreading. I still did not think it was shingles because I've never had the chicken pox. By the next day the rash was still spreading, still had pain on my right shoulder and headaches. I was feeling miserable.. Finally went to the Urgent Care (Sunday) to be diagnosed with shingles. Was given three prescriptions including Valtrex and sent home.
I've been reading horror stories about the pain so I called my PCP and got my pain meds ready. After reading the posts here, I wrapped my arm with a small towel and sprayed Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and kept it moist.
At night I mixed coconut oil and tea tree oil and spread it on my arm. To go to work, I put a layer of the coconut-tea tree oil mixture, wrap a soft gauze, then an ace bandage. I also drank water with ACV.
Within four days after the initial rash appeared, my skin was already healing with scabs. No broken skin. Hardly any pain. I still took the prescription Meds, but I truly think the ACV and coconut-tea tree oil mix helped in my recovery time.
Red Marine Algae
Posted by Prioris (Fl) on 03/05/2015
★★★★★
The above post is not very clear. It may cause people to buy the wrong product and think it didn't work.
There are thousands of varieties of Red Marine Algae but only ONE variety works against the shingles virus (herpes zoster). Many bottles say Red Marine Algae but they contain different varieties depending that work against different herpes.
Shingles and other herpes outbreaks can be controlled by the use of red marine algae. The main caution about using any commercial product by that name is to be sure that the appropriate species of red marine algae is in the supplement. The name to look for based on scientific research is Gigartina skottsbergii.
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.
L-Lysine
Posted by Little Wing (Boston, Ma) on 11/08/2012
★★★★★
My mom had shingles and the best thing that worked for her was taking lots of Lysine and applying Salve a few times a day. I know some have been helped with ACV wraps, putting it right on the shingles, but I know that can burn.
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.
Castor Oil
Posted by Junglegirl (Haiku, Hawaii) on 08/11/2009
★★★★★
Shingles treatment: My mother used a high quality pure castor oil slathered on the worst spots. She applied it most heavily at night and wore old pajamas because it's messy, but it worked immediately for her. We found the remedy somewhere online, years ago, so I can't reference it. But it worked.
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.
How To Avoid Shingles
Posted by susanmaria (buffalo ny) on 03/07/2024
For viral infections: lysine 500 mg twice a day plus
iodine 12.5 mg once a day
Take the lysine and iodine until viral symptoms disappear. Then take both iodine and lysine for three additional weeks.
Limit intake of coffee while on the above protocol.
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
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.
BHT
Posted by Lisa (Hawaii) on 03/02/2020
★★★★★
I had a case of shingles (Chicken pox virus) about 35 years ago, since then I have taken melissa oil, vit c, lysine, and b5 when the old pain flares up. (also what I used when I got the shingles long ago.)
About a year ago, I did a course of BHT - 1/4 tsp once a day for several months. I think it is finally cured and I have not had a flare up since. I will be doing another course just to keep it in check, and also as a coronavirus prevention (cure). I have not had to take the other supplements because it has not been a problem.
Coconut Oil, Carrots
Posted by Art (California ) on 04/13/2018 2451 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
