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Natural Shingles Remedies: A Guide to Pain Relief & Healing

| Modified on Oct 20, 2025
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Geranium Oil for Shingles

Shingles (Herpes Zoster) is a painful reactivation of the chickenpox virus (varicella-zoster) that causes a blistering rash, itching, and severe nerve pain. While antiviral medication is the standard treatment, many find that natural remedies can significantly reduce pain, dry up blisters, and shorten the outbreak's duration.

This guide explores the most effective natural remedies for managing shingles, including foundational supplements like L-Lysine, topical soothers like Apple Cider Vinegar, and nerve pain relievers like Capsaicin.

⚠️ Important Medical Disclaimer

Shingles can have serious complications, including postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) or vision loss if it affects the eye. Always consult a healthcare provider immediately for a proper diagnosis. If your rash is near your eye, seek emergency care. These remedies are supportive and should not replace professional medical advice.

Top Internal Remedies for Shingles

Attacking the virus from the inside is the first step to recovery. The following are the most critical internal remedies.

1. L-Lysine

Why it Works: This amino acid is the #1 rated remedy for all herpes-family viruses. L-Lysine is believed to work by blocking Arginine, another amino acid that the virus needs to replicate. By "starving" the virus of Arginine, L-Lysine can help slow its spread and shorten the outbreak.
How to Use:

  • During an Outbreak: Many readers take a "loading dose" of 1,000 mg 3-4 times per day (3,000-4,000 mg total) for the first few days, then reduce to 1,000 mg twice daily.
  • Maintenance: A daily dose of 500 mg - 1,000 mg may help prevent future reactivations.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar (Internal)

Why it Works: Raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) helps to alkalize the body, creating an environment where viruses struggle to thrive. It also supports the immune system.
How to Use: Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of raw ACV in a large glass of water and drink 1-2 times per day.

Topical Remedies for Shingles Pain & Itching

Treating the rash directly can provide immediate relief from the intense itching and burning pain.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar (Topical)

Why it Works: ACV is a popular topical remedy. Its antiseptic properties help to dry out the blisters, while its astringent nature calms the maddening itch.
How to Use: Dilute ACV 50/50 with water. Soak a paper towel or clean cloth in the solution and apply it as a compress directly to the rash for 10-15 minutes. Repeat several times a day.

2. Capsaicin Cream (Cayenne Pepper)

Why it Works: This is the most effective natural remedy for shingles *nerve pain*. Capsaicin, the compound in cayenne pepper, works by "short-circuiting" the nerve endings. It depletes Substance P, the chemical that sends pain signals to your brain. It will likely burn intensely upon the first few applications, but this is a sign it's working.
How to Use: Apply a thin layer of 0.025% to 0.075% capsaicin cream 3-4 times daily. Crucial: Do NOT apply to open, weeping blisters. Use it on intact skin where the nerve pain is felt. Wash hands thoroughly after use.

3. Soothing Compresses and Baths

  • Oatmeal Baths: Add colloidal (finely ground) oatmeal to a lukewarm bath to soothe widespread itching.
  • Cold Compresses: A cool, damp cloth applied to the rash can help reduce inflammation and numb the area.

Pro Tip: Avoid Arginine-Rich Foods. During an outbreak, try to avoid foods high in Arginine, which can fuel the virus. This includes nuts (especially almonds and peanuts), chocolate, seeds, and gelatin.

What Earth Clinic Readers Say

Our community has experimented for decades. Here are some of the most-reported remedies.

  • BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene): This food preservative is used by many readers as a powerful antiviral. During an outbreak, some report taking 250 mg to 500 mg daily (with a fat-containing meal) to stop the virus. (Note: Consult a provider before using this supplement).
  • Topical Aspirin Paste: To temporarily numb nerve pain, some readers crush 2-3 uncoated aspirins and mix them with a small amount of lotion or water to form a paste. They apply this directly to the painful (but not broken) skin. (Caution: Do not use if allergic to aspirin).
  • Antifungal Cream: Some users on Earth Clinic report that topical antifungal creams, such as clotrimazole, have provided symptomatic relief for shingles. These anecdotal experiences suggest that antifungal creams may help ease discomfort; however, results can vary from person to person, and this use is not scientifically verified. Always follow product instructions and consult a healthcare provider before use.
  • Geranium Essential Oil: A few readers have noted that high-quality geranium essential oil, diluted in a carrier oil (like coconut oil), can be helpful for calming nerve pain when applied topically.

Preventing Future Shingles Outbreaks

Once the outbreak is over, the goal is to keep the virus dormant.

  1. L-Lysine Maintenance: Taking a daily 500-1,000 mg dose of L-Lysine is the most popular preventative strategy.
  2. Stress Management: Stress is a primary trigger for shingles. Practices like meditation, yoga, or gentle exercise are crucial for immune health.
  3. Support Your Immune System: Ensure you have adequate levels of Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and Zinc to keep your immune system strong.
  4. Vaccination: The Shingrix vaccine is highly effective at preventing shingles and is recommended for adults 50 and older.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the very first thing I should do if I think I have shingles?
See your doctor immediately. Antiviral medication is most effective if started within 72 hours of the rash appearing. While you wait, you can start taking L-Lysine and using ACV compresses.
Is my shingles rash contagious?
Yes. You cannot give someone shingles, but you can give chickenpox to someone who has never had it or been vaccinated against it. Keep the rash covered and avoid contact with pregnant women, newborns, and immunocompromised individuals.
What's the best thing for the lingering nerve pain *after* the rash is gone?
This is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Capsaicin cream is the most-reported natural remedy for this. L-Lysine and B-Vitamins may also help support nerve healing.

Share Your Story!

Continue reading below to learn which remedies helped our readers heal shingles.

Did you battle shingles? What natural remedies worked for your pain and itching? Please share your story below to help others!

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.
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Acidophilus

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Posted by yearningtobreathefree (Tennessee) on 10/19/2021
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

My wife's grandmother, when in her early 70s, had had chronic shingles for a couple of years. Kroger started carrying acidophilus milk. She started buying it once a month, and each time would be shingles free for a week. She started buying it twice a month, and would then be shingles free for 2 weeks out of each month.

Finally, she found she could buy acidophilus in capsules, and as long as she continued to take them she had no more shingles.

Acupuncture

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Posted by Susan (California) on 07/01/2017
 ★★★★★

Thank you Chrissy (August 2011 post)! I awoke to what I believe was the onset of shingles with intense pain on my big toe, across my foot and up my leg. I immediately, after reading your story, contacted my acupuncturist/herbalist. She surrounded the area of my pain with needles plus a couple on my hand and then muscle tested me to find that echinacea and St. John's Wort would be good for me, including topical echinacea. It's the next morning now and the pain is 99% gone and I'm hoping that's the end of it.

Acupuncture
Posted by Chrissy (Adelaide, Australia) on 08/28/2011
 ★★★★★

I recently had a serious bout of shingles; huge blisters from my clevage under my left arm through to my spine, After taking all the meds the doctor prescribed which did little to help the pain or help me to sleep, I decided to give acupuncture a try. The relief was instant, I have slept like a baby since beginning the treatment and the pain is very much under control. I'm only sorry I didn't get the treatment right from the onset as the acupuncturist says she could have stopped the shingles in it's tracks.

Replied by Marsh
(Colorado)
04/09/2024

I just read a blog by an acupuncturist who had shingles. He recommended moxibustion, Neem creme (Theraneem) for the postherpetic pain (neem surrounds the virus, prevents it from entering and infecting cells, kratom (mitragyna speciosa) for pain relief - it's an anti-inflammatory - he believes it helps in the healing over gabapentin which has many side effects. (Acupuncture and many of the herbs on EC didn't help his pain. Unfortunately, what works for one, doesn't work for another.)

Shingles visited my RN girlfriend last week. The ER doc gave her 50mg gabapentin - a high dose that she wasn't comfortable with and questioned. She said it helped. So far no side effects.

I spoke to my Rife practitioner who said Rife kills the virus. An RN friend left western medicine and began on a holistic journey. She introduced me to Rife and we both swear by it for just about everything.

As a sidenote, our babbling, happy grandson went blank 3 days after a vaccine; the babbling turn into a high pitched, shrilled singing. Rife helped along with high quality Omegas and B vitamins. He still has some autistic tendencies but is no where near what he was.

Yesterday, a friend was saying 3 out of her 5 grandkids have autistic tendencies - from minimal symptoms to full on. Why, are our babies and toddlers suffering from autism??? No one can tell me it's not the vaccs after witnessing our grandson's immediate change. When are parents and grandparents going to stand up? Sorry... I get so angry at being told vaccs are safe and mandatory, only to see the number of autistic rates increase exponentially. God Bless our children

sarah
(New zealand)
05/04/2024

Get a heavy metal detox spray for your grandson. You can use a product from masterpeace too which is available in the States.

ACV, Aloe, Tea Tree and Coconut Oil

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Posted by Allison S. (Thomas, Oklahoma) on 03/17/2018
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Shingles helped with ACV, Aloe Vera and Tea Tree Oil

This is for Shingles for a help to heal: First padded down area with Apple Cider vinegar with a round flat cotton pad. then I put this mixture on top:

I took a jar with a lid and added 1 cup of Aloe Vera pure 100% liquid. then added several drops of Tea Tree Oil, Melaluka is so wonderful for healing. Finally added 1 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil. Stirred with each use. Applied with round cotton pads. Please just play with the amounts to suit you.

My Shingles were so horrible that I would only get an hour to 2 hours of sleep at night. So weak and tired. This mixture really helped stop the itching pain and I finally got some sleep!

Alcohol, Distilled Water and Fastum Gel

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Posted by Michael (South Africa) on 09/12/2006
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Half each 90% Alcohol and distilled water. And Fastum Gel a non steroidal anti inflammatory. Fixed my shingles in a week. Blisters all dried and healing. Pain still there in the nerve. Good news!

Aloe Vera

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Posted by Awagner3216 (Albuquerque, Nm) on 12/07/2011
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I tried some aloe from the plant that I have and it made the itching and pain worse! I'm going to go to the store and get some Apple Cider Vinegar and Tea Tree and Eucalyptus oil.... Hopefully it will work, I'm only 22 and this is the first time that I have ever dealt with this. I hope that this is not a life long thing that keeps coming back!

Replied by Tiffany
(Texas)
08/23/2020

There are different varieties of aloe. Make sure it is aloe vera baradenisis miller. You must also drain the cut leaf of yellow liquid in a large cup of fresh water after harvesting for at least 30 minutes before use.

Aloe Vera
Posted by Susan (Sulphur, LA) on 04/28/2008
 ★★★★★

April 24th, 2008 I came down with shingles again. This is something I have dealt with for the last 13 years. In the past I have tried antibiotics, cortisone, etc. anything that I thought would bring relief. I was at my mothers and she told me to try the gel from an aloe leaf. To my surprise it brought great relief. I have done this 2 or 3 times a day. She also told me that once the blisters burst to apply honey to complete the healing process. I fully intend to try this at that time. It has been wonderful to have relief from this awful disease.

Aloe Vera
Posted by Mafri (Zurich, Switzerland) on 10/04/2007
 ★★★★★

Another wonder of the world to be added-YOUR SITE! For 20 years my Fiance has been suffering with horrific Shingles, he has been to every skin Specialist there is, tried every cream, every oil and every natural product on the market. His feet are so bad, and so painful, causing more pain with certain foods- We have noticed that the worst are garlic, onions and spicy foods. 3 days ago, I was looking on the internet for a certain cream, very expensive especially after you have bought and tried almost everything. I came to your site and read all the posts, while doing so I looked what ingredients I had in the house, Aloe vera Gel - YES! Cayenne pepper- YES! Corn flour -YES! I went to the kitchen mixed it all up in bowl , got my fiance's feet and pasted it with the above, Now what? How does he go to sleep with all this on his feet? I took plastic wrap and wrapped his feet up, looking like a Astronaut he went to sleep with the paste and plastic.......... In the morning............. there was such a huge difference,are those really his feet. WOW! We are now on the 3rd day of nightly pasting and wrapping, the blisters are gone, the hard scaling skin is almost away, the only thing left is the redness. This is amazing!!! My only concern is with the plastic wrapping----- the feet don't get fresh air during this time, Thank you so much, I will keep you posted of the complete results in the future.

Replied by Waltraud
(Arkansas ( Usa ))
09/30/2016

Corn flour or oatmeal flour? There is a difference between the two, yet I have found that some people use both to mix with aloe vera and cayenne powder!!!!!! Can you comment please? Thank you Waltraud

Replied by Mama To Many
(Tennessee)
10/01/2016

Dear Waltraud,

It may be that the corn flour or oat flour are just to help the mixture thicken and stick easily to the skin. I do think that oat has something particularly helpful to skin conditions. (Thus, oatmeal baths.)

French green clay would be another dry ingredient that I think could be used to make the aloe and cayenne into a paste.

~Mama to Many~

Replied by Lou
(Tyler, Tx)
08/04/2017

BHT AND VITAMIN C

I read in a couple of places today that BHT 250 mg plus Vitamin C cures a host of ailments, including Herpes Zoster (shingles). Here's the link:

http://growyouthful.com/remedy/BHT-butylated-hydroxytoluene.php

It was also posted by someone on Curezone.

Replied by Janet
(In)
08/05/2017

Lou Great article. How to take BHT has always perplexed me. Oscar and Ted talk about it. I tried it a few years ago. I did not do well getting up to take it in the night. This has 2 ways. Very clear and straightforward. Thank you. Janet

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm

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Posted by Carrie (Oklahoma ) on 01/27/2022
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Re: Antifungal Cream for Ringworm Helps Shingles

I thought I had ringworm when it first started on my back. I used a mixture of Tinactin and yeast infection cream to treat it. We raise sheep that give us some hard to cure ringworm, so I use two different meds to treat it. I then broke out in other places and realized it wasn't ringworm and I didn't hit the front with ringworm meds. The patch treated with ringworm early was huge, but it dried up faster and hurt very little but the other non treated patches have been very painful. Also, I ended up going back to the ringworm meds because it controls the pain better than any other patch, cream or soak I used. I use it on the back patch 2x a day since it doesn't hurt any more, but I apply it to the front as often as needed.

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.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by JoS (Florida) on 12/29/2019
 ★★★★★

The anti-fungal cream took away shingles pain on my back. Applied it twice a day.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by Anon (TX) on 10/23/2019
 ★★★★★

Dear god...thank you to whoever posted first on the antifungal cream for shingles pain.

The docs gave me the antiviral pills. Then nerve pain pills. Then lidocaine patches. Then told me if it got any worse they could admit me to the ER for some serious pain control. In total desperation I returned to this site and read EVERY remedy (I had already tried the top ones, several times.) Towards the bottom of the pile I found this gem. And I had antifungal cream on hand since one of the boys needed it for jock itch. It is also good for ringworm...and btw can usually be found in any dollar store. I grabbed our tube and within 2 hours I had drastically less pain. Not NO pain but certainly it knocked about 80% of it gone! I could live with the rest until the shingles subsided. Between the cream and the bleach baths, shingles became a tolerable thing and kept me out of the hospital and back to work the next day.

Again....THANK YOU.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by Lizzy (Asheville, Nc) on 10/16/2014
 ★★★★★

Thank you so much for posting about the antifungal cream for shingles. I bought some ringworm cream at the pharmacy yesterday and applied to my shingles patch. It was the 6th day of my shingles outbreak and even though Dave's wonderful remedies were helping, the blistering area was still painful and red. I can't believe it, in just over 24 hours and 2 applications, the area has almost completely dried up and is no longer painful. Remarkable!

Replied by Lou
(Tyler, Tx)
01/02/2016
★★★★★

After reading your post, I searched for some antifungal cream and didn't have anything but Lamisil on hand. My husband didn't want to try that and then I remembered I bought some soap at Amazon for ringworm. I had about 6 bars of that. He tried it and the pain was gone immediately. He is going to wash with it once an hour to try to kill this. This has been going on for 3 months and we had done the ACV compresses and beverages. We also had the antiviral drugs and steroids. Thanks for your tip! I hope it helps him get over this.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by Jody (Idaho, US) on 10/13/2014
 ★★★★★

I have also used an antifungal cream on my shingles and it seems to accelerated the shingles to blister then completely go away with no scarring in only a few days.

I had thought that I had ringworm on my hip and used the antifungal cream which cleared it up, but 6 months later it came back and my Dr said it was shingles. So I used the antifungal cream the second time and again within a few hours the itching was gone and healed within a few days. I don't know why it worked but I thank goodness it did. I can't imagine having to deal with the pain for weeks!

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm
Posted by Kelly (San Antonio, TX) on 01/02/2009
 ★★★★★

Every year, once or twice a year, I get an outbreak of shingles on my right cheek. I know I am getting it due to pain on the left side of my face accompinied by a tingling sensation on my nose. When I feel this, I immediately start taking acyclovoir (SP) and wash the area with regular ol' rubbing alcohol, applied by a cotton ball. Then while the area is still wet, I apply Goldbond medicated powder and let it dry. It seems to help with the pain and itching. If blisters form, they immediately start to dry up. Try this, it might work for you.


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