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.
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.
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.
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.
Mama's Shingles Remedies
Posted by Mama to Many (TN) on 11/18/2019
★★★★★
It took me a week to realize I was dealing with shingles. I had a belt of pain around my lower ribcage on just one side. The pain was so intense I would become short of breath. Once I realized it was not injury or a lung issue, I began treating it as a virus. I was also experiencing itchy skin that felt burned, which was the clue to shingles.
1,ooo mg of lysine each day
2 t. coconut oil a few times a day
vitamin c
1 -2 dropperfuls of cayenne pepper tincture in juice 4 x a day
and...baking soda baths!
They helped more than Tylenol. 1-2 cups each, Epsom salt and baking soda. I recall that those baths helped my children when they had chicken pox. Sometimes I would use pain patches from the dollar store. They have a lot of menthol in them, and capsicum. Salonpas patches were hard to remove and irritated my skin - the generic pain patches never bothered me!
I hope you never get shingles, but if you do, I hope these remedies are helpful for you! ~Mama to Many~
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.
L-Lysine
Posted by Barbara (Ny) on 08/16/2016
★★★★☆
I'm drinking 1/4 c of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of water 3x a day and taking 1000 mg of l-lysine twice a day and my shingles (I've had it before and treated it with traditional pills) is not progressing.... I will keep you updated.It's on the side of my nose above my lip where I had an outbreak before.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
