Natural Remedies for Shingles: Pain Relief and Healing

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!

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.

Homeopathy

Posted by Eva (San Jose, Ca) on 05/03/2011
★★★★★

Homeopathic Rhus tox C30 stops the pain of shingles. I used it years ago, and now a friend of mine got shingles and he healed within a day.

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.

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

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.

Zostavax Vaccine

Posted by Lisa (FL) on 04/22/2024

I would not. Vaccines are loaded with toxins, mercury being the worst. Instead be prepared to take colloidal silver and iodine for infection.

Black Salve

Posted by Kate (Nevada City, CA USA) on 10/16/2008
★★★★★

I have used black salve successfully on many different skin lesions, as well as moles. Two years ago I had an initial, very painful outbreak of shingles on my chest. After several days of suffering I decided to try black salve on the blisters. At first it hurt like heck, but it hurt anyway. By the next day the pain and itching were gone. It took a long time to heal completely, and a couple more spots appeared in the area along the way (which I treated also), but the pain was gone and it eventually healed nicely. I still have scars, but no more problems since.

I haven't seen any other postings for using it on shingles, so I thought someone might find it helpful.

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~

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.

Corn Starch

Posted by Sharon (Pecatonica, IL) on 09/21/2006
★★★★★

I was diagnosed with shingles. My first episode with these horrible things. The leasions were on my left breast and under my left arm pit also across my left back. The pain was bad enough my oncologist thought that I was passing either a heart or lung clot. The test they did came back negative for clots. I tried the medication for shingles and it did nothing. I applied plain old corn starch to the leasions after my shower or when ever they started to hurt or irritate me. I also told my chiropractor about the shingles. After just two adjustments My shingles started to clear up and were gone except for the red color of my skin where they were, in just three days.

Apple Cider Vinegar, Cayenne

Posted by Claudia (Goshen CT) on 04/07/2024
★★★★★

I got shingles a few weeks ago. Initially, I thought the pain was residual from a back spasm I had in the same area, but when it didn't resolve, I took a look and sure enough there was the rash. I got on the antiviral, but had known from this wonderful site that ACV would help with the burning and itching. I dabbed it on with a cotton ball and sprayed it on my back where I couldn't reach it. Instantly the burning subsided! The next stage is the nerve pain which I still had deeply after the rash had cleared. I had also learned from this site that Cayenne pepper mixed with aloe lotion Would help. After days of hoping the pain would resolve on its own I decided to try it. The first application didn't make much difference, but the second and third did. In fact, after the third application, the pain was completely gone! So easy and so worth it . Thank you Earth clinic!

BHT

Posted by Swfowkes (Cupertino, California) on 06/10/2022 46 posts
★★★★★

I can second Lisa's reply. BHT is extremely effective for shingles and can cause pain reduction in hours when used topically.

If you have shingles and want to test this, apply 10-15% BHT by weight dissolved in refined coconut oil (the most stable preparation, shelf-life-wise) to only one side and leave the shingles on the other side untreated. The untreated side is then a control. The BHT from the treated side will distribute to the other side (and through the palm of your hand in applying the BHT/oil solution), but it will take sufficient time for you to see a blatant difference.

Coconut Oil, Frankincense Essential Oil

Posted by Pam B. (Mobile, Alabama ) on 11/24/2020
★★★★★

I've had Shingles a few times. The experts will tell you they last 2-4 weeks. I had an area on my chest. Twice a day I applied coconut oil and a few drops of Sacred Frankincense Essential Oil. It worked for me. The Shingles were gone in 10 days.

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.

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.

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!

Acupuncture

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.