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.
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Pam N. (Kent, WA) on 03/03/2021
★★★★★
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.
DMSO and Magnesium Oil
Posted by JJ (Australia) on 11/10/2020
★★★★★
I got one of the worst cases of shingles my doctors had ever seen - head, neck, throat, tongue. Nearly killed me.
As a medical scientist, I researched and tried everything. By far the best thing was dmso (topically and orally), better still combined with MgCl (Magnesium Chloride) oil. You just need to know how to use the dmso ie with clean hands, and it needs to be good quality/pure, glass bottle etc. See on youtube 'dmso 60 minutes Dr Jacobs'. It's natural and good for you anyways. If pain is bad can apply the combo several times per day. The mgcl is also calming/ good for sleep. Cheers.
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.
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.
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! ).
Apple Cider Vinegar, Lysine
Posted by Earthgurl (Northern Virginia) on 06/02/2015
★★★★★
I had to tell you my experience curing shingles. Organic apple cider vinegar on a cloth compressed onto the area. I also took L-Lysine. My doctor was blown away! No thanks Big Pharma. Thanks to this community! Keep in mind that is what worked for me. Everyone is different.
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!
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.
Corn Starch
Posted by Kenneth (Great Falls, Montana) on 09/25/2008
★★★★★
My mother is 90 years old and has been suffering horrible pain from shingles. After using everything the doctors had to offer including morphine pills and other suggestions, I came up with the following:
Took corn starch and very cold water and wash cloths. I applied them to the area that was in pain. Within about 10 minutes I could feel the cold cloth becoming as warm as her skin. I kept changing the cloth about every 15 minutes. In addition, took a hot water bottle and put it in the freezer. It is now day two and she is coming out of it without itching and the unbearable pain. Don't know why, but it works.
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.
Folic Acid, Lysine, Vitamin C
Posted by Kristin (Oklahoma City, OK) on 07/23/2007
★★★★★
I get shingles a few times a year. My wonderful pharmacist told me of a 'cocktail' that works even better than prescriptions. If I feel an outbreak coming I take 800mg of Folic Acid, 1500mg of Lysine and 2000mg (minimum) of Vitamin C. Over the past three years I haven't had any bouts that ended with blisters. The important thing to remember is to take it the second you feel it coming, but even if you don't it doesn't last as long.
Cayenne Pepper
Posted by Henry (New Jersey) on 03/02/2006
★★★★★
mix small amt. of cayenne pepper and mostly aloe vera gel. I applied several times daily on infected area relieved the pain and never blistered- found in Herbal Drugstore book.
L-Lysine
Posted by June (Cincinnati) on 08/27/2025 29 posts
★★★★★
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.
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 Rodney (Qld ) on 03/08/2022
★★★★★
I have had a shingle on my forehead for about 4 years. I have tried most of the remedies mentioned to no good result, I did get a little improvement using Probiotics. I tried to get Lacto Bacilus but couldn't get any.
One post mentioned Neem Cream so I got a jar from India but it took a couple of months to arrive. Well, I've been applying it with my index finger three to four times a day for the past week. Just a slight amount on my finger. Well. it has worked miraculously! It seems that it will be gone within another week. It seems oily but no more than a good quality facial skin care which the skin absorbs enhancing the effect.
In my infection I had quite a large scab. Neem reduced the scab and broke it up into several small scabs and clear healthy skin arrived between the scabs. It was somewhat tender at first but that has reduced significantly.
It's been several years since the horrific fire I was caught in that caused the shingle.
