Exploring Natural Remedies and Supportive Care for Shingles

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.

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.

Aspirin in Water Based Cream

Posted by Beth (Dc) on 06/08/2018
★★★★★

My mother has a very bad case of shingles and crushed aspirin in a moisturizer lotion is helping ease the incredible pain. Thank you! It needs to be reapplied every few hours but is definitely helpful. Has anyone ever tried BHT for shingles? I am wondering if that will stop the virus from replicating. Such a difficult battle for the elderly once they have this virus in their system. Looking for advice. Thank you.

Coconut Oil, Carrots

Posted by Zander (Oh) on 04/08/2018
★★★★★

CARROTS!

This site has gotten me through two bouts of shingles, preventing the eruption phase entirely the second time, I might add.

The first time I had worn myself out, lots of stress holidays, estranged from family. I woke up one morning any my right eye felt incredibly dry, as though it had been kept open all night & had a hair dryer blown on it. ACV (apple cider vinegar) with "the mother" is always on hand in my home so I made an eye wash. I used that throughout the day, every day just leaning over a little round dish with a teaspoon or so of ACV in filtered water a opening & closing my eye with it immersed in the water. This helped & turned out to be the right thing to do to normalize the pH & mitigate the spread to & severity of the shingles in my eye.

At this point I did not know what I had, mind you. Days wore on, such fatigue ~ finally I had the incontrovertible sign ~ a band of small, raised blisters on my right side waist in the back, right where a belt would rest. "Shingles actually derives from Latin, "cingulum" meaning girdle or BELT.

I began lysine, vitamin C & I was getting better but still not winning. Then I saw a post on here (p.5 last I checked) from an Australian fellow which saved me, COCONUT OIL. Viruses defend themselves from our immune systems with their own viral walls. Coconut oil permeates their defense, allowing our own immune system to fight them where they live. I took 2T of unrefined virgin coconut oil every day. The first time I took it, it knocked me out ~ I'm guessing this was from a die- off effect as my immune system finally had broken through the virus' defenses & was killing it very efficiently now.

COCONUT OIL saved me. Within a few days of taking the coconut oil daily, I was cured.

Fast forward two years, hard work, holidays, friend died. The fatigue, fever, dry eye, burning & tingling were back on my right side. I began the lysine, Vit C, coconut oil regimen at once. Nary an outbreak. When my body burned (ear, neck) somewhere, I spread coconut oil with DMSO & cayenne there externally as well as taking internally.

I was able to "manage" the shingles this way (0 outbreak) but I just couldn't seem to shake them! This went on for nearly 3 months!

One day I bought a frozen carrot dessert tray (12 servings or so) at a Indian grocery store. The dish is called GAJAR HALVA

I began having a serving a day. By the 7th day I was feeling 95% better. Hmmm...what have I been doing differently? I thought of the carrot dessert...full of vitamins no doubt. I wonder if...sure enough, Vitamin A kicks up white blood cell FIGHTERS in your arsenal!

This is what saved me this time.

Shingles is incredibly depressing when it lingers, particularly. It's telling you something's are really out of balance.

Try the remedies, do what you can to avoid or transcend stress and sleep, sleep, sleep. Your body heals during sleep.

The Gajar Halva I bought frozen recommends heating it in the microwave. Please do not declare nuclear war on your food. Microwaving blasts open the cellular structure of foods, making them something like cancer cells.

Take the 5 mins to heat up as much as you want each time on the stovetop. I poured coconut milk over mine ~ nirvana!

Get well.

ACV, Aloe, Tea Tree and Coconut Oil

Posted by Allison S. (Thomas, Oklahoma) on 03/17/2018
★★★★★

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!

Supplements

Posted by David (Indianapolis, In) on 02/19/2017
★★★★★

Shingles:

Cut out all sugar, good diet, lots of Vitamins B-12 liquid, lots of Lysine, and 6 to 7 Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C (accept NO substitutes-$1k a pack) packets on an empty stomach ...do this for up to 3 days and Shingles will be gone....use a shingles cream too you can purchase on amazon. It easier to get rid of by doing this than a common cold.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Kathy W (Waddington, Ny) on 08/23/2016
★★★★★

I discovered 3 drops of Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide purchased at the health food store in 8 oz of water actually kills the nerve pain associated with shingles!

Coconut Oil

Posted by Hot House Flower (Albuquerque) on 07/17/2016
★★★★★

I had shingles about a year ago after a long stressful year of overworking my body. At the time I did not know what was wrong with me. What I was experiencing was tingling and nerve pain in my left arm and I could not figure out what it was. I did not have health insurance at the time so I did not go to see a doctor. But judging from what others have said about the meds that doctors give for shingles it is probably a blessing that I did not go see a doctor. I never had an outbreak because once the tingling and nerve pain began I started putting a mixture of essential oil mixed with coconut oil on my left side of my body, many times a day to calm the nerves. I never broke with anything but I was left with nerve pain and a weakness in the left arm and left leg and also tingling. For the most part the shingles was under control, then about a year later, it began to come back. Then I had a pre-stroke and that really scared me because I was getting electrical shocks constantly. I still not knowing what I was suffering, I did a parasite cleanse which helped a lot and I continued to eat organic. I was no longer getting tingling or electrical shocks but I still had weakness and nerve pain in my left side. By chance, I bought some Frankincense resin and began to make lotions using coconut oil and Frankincense resin. I began putting this on my left side of my body especially on my glands and nerve paths. Slowly over a 5 month period the pain and weakness began to leave my body. I feel mostly recovered.

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.

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.

Antifungal Cream for Ringworm

Posted by Lou (Tyler, Tx) on 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!

Licorice Extract

Posted by Mr. Ree (Usa) on 08/15/2013
★★★★★

I used licorice extract on Shingles lesions and they were gone in 3 days... It came back twice and I put it on the same day and in an hour it was gone... $8.95 a bottle... Dr's told me there was nothing they could do about it but give me percoset... And they said it might last as long as a couple of years... Bright people!

Strengthen Gut Microbiome

Posted by Ann (Deer Park, Wa) on 08/25/2009
★★★★★

After suffering reoccurrence of shingles for about 20 months, I found out that it is a sign that there is a serious underlying medical problem. I worked on healing my digestive problems and as soon as the digestive system started working properly, the shingles quit reoccurring. If you keep getting shingles, look for another medical problem

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.

Eucalyptus Oil

Posted by Pmstar (San Diego, CA) on 06/29/2009
★★★★★

Australian Euculyptus Oil and Aloe Vera gel for Shingles

I've struggled with painful shingles for years now and used Calamine Lotion, Betadine, Alchol (ouch ) and everything imagineable. I discovered Aloe Vera gel to soothe and it works great but it only helps the pain and does nothing to cure. I often use pure ___ Eucylyptus Oil (___) for aches and pains. It works wonders by the way, just rub it in and joint and muscle pain is gone. Anyway I had a backache so hubby rubbed some on my back and I begged him please, please dont get it on the Shingles thinking it would hurt. Well, as he got in the areas near them and not even touching I could feel the pain go away. Could it be ? So I very carefully put it on a tiny spot. NO PAIN. AND I SWEAR IT ERASED THEM. We tried just one area the first night and really massaged it in because it didnt hurt at all to touch them once the AEO was on there. They simply disappeared in that spot. I couldn't wait to put it everywhere the next day. All thats left is a couple very small stubborn spots but with the oil they dont hurt at all ! It does smell strong - like Vicks so during the day I use the Aloe Vera gel to soothe any new breakouts but as soon as I get home from work I rub the ____ on it and massage it in and you can watch them disappear. It's amazing ! I hope there's no side effects. Been doing it for a week now. I'll post if there is any downside.

Aloe Vera

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 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~

Castor Oil

Posted by Renee (Nyc) on 12/29/2024
★★★★★

I had very painful shingles right half of pelvis. Applied castor oil packs twice a day and often slept wearing castor oil pack. Completely gone in five days.

L-Lysine

Posted by June (Cincinnati) on 08/27/2025
★★★★★

My husband had a terrible outbreak of shingles. Thank you, Earth Clinic! He took 3,000 mg of Lysine per day and 2500 mg soy lechitin twice a day. Dried up in 3 days. Then he cut back on the dosage for a week. I think both supplements were important. I saw the soy Lechitin on a different post. It worked too.