Effective Home Treatments & Natural Remedies for Shingles

I'm on my second week fighting the Shingles and am on meds now. Used the recipe for putting on the rash and did help some, but switched to Calamine lotion to dry out the pimples and that worked. Now the pain started, but I put a super magnet the size of a penny on it and the pain disappeared. Thanks for the good tips! Magnets work for me.

Most of the immune system is in the Gut Flora. It is my theory that gut flora may play a major role in these things. Maybe even chronic meningitis. I notice when I took amoxicillin too long, the shingles would show itself. I have low level chronic infection. Maybe a sign of gut flora abnormality. Just something to ponder.

My 3 prong approach to treatment of shingles:

I have never had shingles before but I had chicken pox when I was 2 years of age and I am now 51 years old in good health. On Sunday night I felt my upper back was itching so I scatched it as well as my upper chest. That morning I woke up to red blisters and scratch marks on my back, shoulder, and chest. I went to the dermatologist and she diagnosed with contact dermatitis and gave me steroids by mouth and a topical steroid ointment. I used that and my lesions spread and got worse. So I went to another doctor 2 days later and he diagnosed me with shingles.

Although I was now 96 hours out of first lesions he prescribed me Valtrex and Keflex for the lesions also looked like they had a superinfection of bacteria in addition to the shingles. I also was told to take benadryl for the itching which I took for a day then stopped after I started my 3 prong approach.

I went home and researched shingles and decided to create my own treatment plan that combined western medicine and homeopathic remedies for my lesions were red, irritated, itchy, and spreading.

I have been using this 3 prong plan for my shingles the past 48 hours and I no longer have pain or itching. Also the newer lesions are gone and the older lesions particularly the ones I initially scratched are healing. My plan is definitely improving the shingles.

1. TREAT INTERNALLY: I am taking the Valtrex as prescibed as well as finishing my course of antibiotics. In addition I am drinking Apple Cider Vinegar 2 tablespoons per 8 ounces of water three times a day. I am taking 1000 mg Lysine three times a day.

2. TREAT EXTERNALLY: I soak a gauze pad with full strength Apple Cider Vinegar and place it directly on my lesions for 30 minutes three times a day. The Apple Cider Vinegar dries the lesions up and has gotten rid of the itching and pain. At night I place Virgin Organic Coconut Oil on the lesions and leave them exposed to air. Coconut oil totally soothes my skin and is helping with healing. It has anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.

3. LEAVE LESIONS ALONE: I keep clothing off of the lesions as much as possible (my lesions are on my neck, upper back, shoulder, and upper chest) so I wear a tube top to cover my breasts at home and when at work a lose top. I stopped the steroids all together for I felt the steroids by mouth were feeding the virus and the topical steroids were totally irritating my skin making it more red and burned.

With this treatment plan I feel energized with minimal pain and itching and my lesions are healing quickly.

I recently noticed a spot on my right eye brow. I thought it was a spider bite that had become infected, so I got some antibiotics. 2 Days later I notice small bumps and began to feel a tingling sensation. Then I knew it was shingles. I got the antiviral medicine from the Dr, but I actually started to feel worse after taking it. I did a google search and thankfully found this site. From everyone's recommendations I made a paste and the pain and sores started going away almost instantly.

Paste: 1 Tbs coconut oil

1 Tbs ACV

10 drops colloidal silver

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp DMSO

I put the paste on and let it sit for 10-15min. It burns, but it's a good burn. I think adding in aloe would help, but I didn't have any. Then rinse.

Then I mixed ACV with 10 drops eucalyptus oil and dabbed that on the sores. Again it burns, but it's more like a cooling burn.

Within 2 hours the pain was almost gone and the sores had gone down by almost half. It's been 36 hour now and some of the sores are completely gone and the others are on their way out. This really saved me some anguish. Good luck to everyone!

For Shingles Blisters, use hot bath with EPSOM SALT and bathe 15-30 minutes twice a day first week, second week once per day and away they go. For Shingles Itch, hot water compresses (hot as you can stand) from heated water in pot. A 5-10 minute cycle, once or twice per day as needed and you get relief.

Agree. A friend of mine got diagnosed with Lymphoma after a severe case of shingle.The only problems with it that it adds fear, the cause of many body malfunctions itself.

Laurie: Alpha Lipoic Acid or Thioctic Acid would very likely help as a nerve protector as well as heavy metal chelator (many vaccines contain small amounts of mercury which is very toxic to nerves). The compound BHT, the herb St Johnswort is anti-viral.

Chronic or recurring Shingles is a definite sign of immune dysfunction or sometimes cancer. Definitely do some detox remedies found here on E.C. Immune boosting remedies fallowing detox will be necessary. Purify your air & water. Alkalizing remedies will likely be necessary as acidosis is both the result of many conditions as well as further aggravating any condition.

Try and get some basic cancer screenings for safety sake.

Licorice extract by Natures Answer...Put in on three times a day all over the infected area. It will be gone in 3 days...If you get it the first day it appears, it will dissappear the same day...Cheap fix for $8.95

To Laurie,

From Poplar Springs,

Re shingles.

Of course caused by a virus...and the things you are taking have some anti viral value. But for shingles I have successfully taken colloidal silver and added in DMSO and applied topically. Three applications using the combo as a poultice for 20 minutes on affected area. If condition is long term, there may be nerve damage and so even though the virus is killed, the damaged nerves continue; in which case I use Calcium AEP (google "nutrition review calcium aep")... Dr Robert Adkins' favorite go to for his MS patient's neuropathy and nerve rebuilding capacity. Acts on the cellular level.

I am 53 years old and have shingles 5 times. The Dr convinced me to have the vaccine which I did 4 months ago. I did not break out with the rash this time just fever blisters around and in mouth, but have had EXTREME nerve burning pain that is nearly debilitating at times. I have tried acupuncture, lysine, coconut capsules, ACV, so far NO relief.The Pain IS horrible in the middle of my back clear around to front of ribs, my naturopath says it is my gallbladder channel (which I had my gallbladder removed 3 years ago) ANY suggestions would be appreciated.

UPDATE - I ADDED liquid vitamin B12 by Now & it includes B-Complex also- 2x/day. This has made a significant difference.

I should mention, I DID NOT have shingles. Just pain in spine and throat area.

Since shingles virus live in the spine, if I had shingles I would rub from the base of my skull to my lower back down the spine, with a few drops of clove oil. I do not know if this will help or not. But I have in the past had very bad pains in my spine and in my throat and rubbed both places with clove oil and it went away very over night. If I had sensitive skin, I would maybe dilute the clove oil. I don't have sensitive skin so I use full strength.

I believe somewhere on here Ted speaks of spinal virus and clove oil.

I am 62 and I believe my shingles are from stress. I immediately stated the L-lysine and vit c - 1000 mg each 3x/day. after 2 weeks of very little sleep, I added vicks vapor rub to the area of pain and then wrapped it snugly with a wide ace bandage. Also I added homeopathic remedy phosphorus 30c. finally in the middle of the 3rd wk I have actually had less pain and 6.5 hrs of undisturbed sleep! I think due to intense prayer and the above remedies I am on the upside of this nightmare. I hope my post is helpful to someone. Blessings.

I just submitted a post in gratitude for the suggested remedies. However - I didn't realize that I wasn't signed in - since I had just registered. So please review my post as a registered participant. There was only one suggestion of the many that I printed out that recommended eucalyptus oil. Someone suggested V-Vax years ago and it was amazing in healing a damaged toe. So I dug it out and tried it again. It was so much more effective than apple cider vinegar. I like ACV as a remedy for other ailments but there was no comparison on my skin. I am so grateful to have been able to eliminate the pain within a week and heal my skin so quickly. At the age of 63 I have resisted getting the shingles vaccine even though I've had a couple of friends who have suffered from Shingles. I am so happy to have found a remedy that I can easily share with others :)

I found this site via Google and was very grateful for all the ideas on how to relieve the painful symptoms and rash associated with Shingles. I'm normally very healthy but had become run down about 2 weeks ago when I discovered I had a rash, then pain - after considerable research on medical and holistic websites it became obvious I had shingles, given my age, photos of rashes and a drawing that explained the nerve pain in my skin. Thanks to the ideas from this site and dietary guidance I have skirted this scourge by using the following suggested remedies - L-Lysine, Vitamin C, Multi Vitamin B, Beta Glucan (immune booster), Olive Leaf - all taken internally in large doses without delay. The tip on eucalyptus oil prompted me to use V-Vax which friends who are nurses urged me to get years ago. It was amazing - reducing the pain, redness, blisters and healing the skin on my right hip and low back. Though I like apple cider vinegar, it didn't compare to eucalyptus oil. So in gratitude to those who shared their stories, I contribute mine to help those who are similarly afflicted by Shingles. We don't need to suffer - there are remedies that can alleviate both the painful symptoms and bring us back to health sooner than later.

I have been suffering with shingles for a couple of weeks now, using various treatments from this website, such as dabbing ACV with a cotton ball, which stings, but also soothes. I've also tried mixing baking powder and cayenne with a little ACV to make a paste and rubbing that on and letting it dry. That really gave me the most relief until a friend suggested colloidal silver. I was not familiar with it, but was desperate for some relief, so, after reading up on it on this site, I have been taking 1 tsp. 3 to 5 times a day, as well as dabbing it on the areas with a cotton ball. I'm also drinking ACV in filtered water, and taking goldenseal, lysine, B vitamins and Vit. C. I am finally getting some relief and some much needed sleep! The patches are no longer thick and hard, but are much softer and not as raised. Some areas have almost completely disappeared, no more lumps, just reddened skin. I'm not sure which of the treatments are making the difference, but I will continue to do all of them until this is gone! I hope this helps anyone else who is suffering from shingles!

To Kilee;

Re Shingles aftermath; your comment to me...

Also you could apply topically anti burn liquids; A high quality Aloe Vera mixed with a little DMSO to help penetration. And I've lately been working with Papaya and had one experience where application of Papaya liquid (just squeezed Papaya) de sensitized a burn very effectively.

And not only apply topically; but Kilee, take these anti-burn liquids orally as well. Ingest a cup (of either) daily for a month.

If the burning you are feeling is equivalent to a "burn" then it stands to reason that anti burn items will give relief. Remember; I've warned you that the virus may still be alive and so the topical application of CS with DMSO to kill the virus is essential.

Kilee from Ontario, Canada to Dave from Fountain Inn SC Thank you for your feedback regarding the nerve pain and swelling I am still experiencing four and a half months after shingles out break. I will look into the use of Calcium AEP. My last blood work showed higher than normal levels of calcium in my blood, but my para thyroid test came back normal. Guess they were worried it was leaching out of the bones. Will try to do some research to see if I can try the Calcium AEP. I don't think the medical community, has any idea what to do with those of us suffering from this horror. My Dr. prescribed Oxycodone , which I won't take and Lyrica which, out of desperation, I do take. The swelling on the right side of my abdomen, all the way around to my spine, is so severe my navel is almost an inch off center.The Dr. has no idea what else to try. Thanks Dave for taking the time to try to help those of us who are suffering and to all the other posters who post info that might help. It is much appreciated. Kilee

Hello Kilee,

Re Shingles

You might also consider this: The ongoing nerve pain might be that the virus is still working. That is the virus has not been killed. Look under the Shingles (Ailment Section) on Earth Clinic and you'll see numerous remedies to deal with Shingles.

I have a post there and relate my experience with Shingles. I used a combo of Cayenne and Vitamin E and DMSO and Colloidal Silver as a salve. The CS and Cayenne were used to kill the virus; the E to make sure the Cayenne did not burn the skin and of course the DMSO was the carrier. And it too is anti viral.

Next, consider the possibility that the virus has damaged the nerves. So even if you do kill the virus, some shingles cases continue to hurt because of nerve damage. To help with nerve healing I use "AEP" and it's called Calcium AEP. (NOT just calcium.) The AEP is what you are after. Google; nutrition review calcium AEP. Great article. Dr Robert Adkins used it as primary item in treating his MS patients.

For $8.95 it's certainly worth a try...I have always recommended "Natures Answer.' I have not tried other licorice extract...I got rid of my shingles in 3 days about 1 1/2 months after it surfaced...Then beat it twice more when it hit the same day...In one hour! I still have the bottle a couple of years later and it's 1/2 full.

Mr Ree from Usa Thank for your suggestion that I try licorice extract for shingles. I am over four months into this , left with the horrible scarring and the nerve pain that just goes on and on. Do you think the licorice extract will still work this late in? If you think so , I will definitely give it a try. thank you , Kilee

For shingles.. Ok pure and simple 1/8 cup of coconut Oil, 10 drops each lavender, teatree and euclyptus oil. Apple to areas that are infected with shingles. Feel the relief of taxing your immune system with the pain and discomfort of the virus. Also, applying peppermint oil with coconut oil to your feet will also help with getting a restful sleep.

I was looking for an internal solution to the Shingles problems for my older mother.

I very quickly cured the external shingles with geranium oil after reading some scientific papers about geranium oil. It worked far better than anything I tried, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, etc so I thought I would pass that along. Geranium oil appears to be the magic bullet for shingles externally if my mother's case is typical.

As far as reducing the stress on the internal organs, body due the virus, I tried common antiviral organics on her after the doctors prescription antivirals failed to do anything, externally or internally, and he refused to prescribe anymore for her, even though she has an expensive private plan. The 'kind' physicians told her to go home and die more or less. He must get a bonus for not prescribing

I have her on...

• 2000 mg day of neem leaf extract -very, very safe strong antiviral , antibacterial, useful to fight cancer as well
• 2000 mg a day of olive leaf extract, strong antiviral
• 2000 mg a day of elderberry extract, strong antiviral, safe
• 6000 mg equivalent of garlic oil, strong antiviral, safe
• 6000 mg a day of time released buffered vitamin c,
• also vitamin e, d, b-complex
• and Cayenne extract

That provided some significant improvement to the stress on her, but I think I need to dose her higher on the cayenne extract. I was not watching her carefully enough on the Cayenne and she was not dosing her high enough.

There are other antivirals out there that are strong like licorice root but they can't be taken for a long time at higher doses. I had her on 2000 mg a day of licorice root for about a month.

Had shingles on head, in hair, but it began with an odd red welt looking like a mosquito or spider bite on my neck (painless, itchless). They say if they diagnose it within a day or two, from this welt, they have a treatment to lessen it. I have my doubts, though. Acupuncture through an acupuncturist/herbalist that knows Chinese herbs would be something I would try right away, also, if living where there was one.

I tried apple cider vinegar on it once, but it did not work. The scalp was soggy already. I used rose water which gave temporary (only) relief. Getting a bonnet for your blow dryer to dry it if usng Apple Cider Vinegar would be a plus. Maybe internally, but I feel if I had not been run down and maybe short on vitamin c and others, but stressed and run-down from the stress, it would not have taken hold in my case. Drying the scalp might have helped, Also, to protect hair follicles, taking remedies and vits. to help hairloss if it occurs later. Then, getting to bed early can do wonders to combat being run down. Hair-skin vitamins.

Vitamins for hair are a must if it is on the head. I made the mistake of getting the new shingles vaccination about 2 years later. That was about the time I started losing hair. The vaccination made me feel a little like I had it again. I cannot blame my hair loss all on one thing. It could have been partly from vit. C deficiency and Fukishima fallout. It has been largely stopped with vitamin and even culinary herb supplements and oil treatments (castor oil). Also, plus various things I can do to increase circulation in the scalp.

The vaccination for it was probably the final straw as far as the alopecia coming on. I would definitely not ever take another.

Baking powder might work better than soda because the corn starch is soothing. You can make your own baking powder without aluminum. Recipe is one part baking soda, one part corn starch, and 2 parts cream of tartar. I make small batches and keep them in my old baking powder can. No preservatives and yet I have had none go bad.

I would add be sure what you have is Shingles and not dermatitis herpetiformis. After suffering for several years with what had been diagnosed as Shingles, I found I have a gluten sensitivity/celiac disease.

Gluten sensitivity/celiac disease causes a rash that is often misdiagnosed as Shingles. I read an article by a dermatologist where he found that over 50% of the people he saw complaining from Shingles, had a gluten rash instead. If you keep getting "Shingles" and nothing seems to help, stop eating grains with gluten in them. Wheat, Barley and Rye all have the offending gluten.

I was continually getting"Shingles". Sometimes they would just start healing and then I would get them in another area. I tried everything possible. Lysine, vitamin C, laying off chocolate and nuts, ACV VCO, Aloe, etc. I couldn't sleep, was itching and scratching all of the time. They were painful red and scaring.

I read the article and decided what the heck, I will try eliminating gluten and see what happens. Within 2-3 days the itching had almost totally disappeared. Within 5 days all of the blisters were healing, nearly half were gone. The best part was I didn't get any new ones.

Now I watch everything I eat. Even then it is hard not to get a cross contaminated food item. The food industry puts wheat in everything. Just a little bit causes me to breakout. The good part is that I now can enjoy chocolate and nuts.

Gluten problems according to several experts could affect nearly 70% of the US. Try avoiding gluten for a couple of weeks and see. It may change your life.

Thanks to everyone who posted on here about your shingles treatments. I put together my "super lotion" based on the articles I read. My husband was diagnosed on Friday night w this dreadful illness. His was in his eye (and face and scalp) which was quite frightening, since it could cause blindness.

He has made a remarkable recovery in two days. We did get into an opthalmologist and used eye drops that worked immediately. They were Prenisolene Acetate Ophthamic 4x dayand Neo/Poly/Dexamet before bed. He is also taking Valtrex 500mg 3x daily. Tylenol every 4 hrs for pain. Although this lotion will settle the nerves down. : )

My formula for his skin, which is working awesome is;

• 2 tsp Coconut Oil
• 2 tsp Colloidal Silver
• 2 tsp Aloe Vera Gel
• 1 tsp DMSO
• 5 drops Tea Tree Oil
• 5 drops Eucalyptus Oil
• 5 drops Oregano Oil
• 10 drops Lavendar Oil
• 25 drops Licorice Root
• 1 capful Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix well, put in very small tupperware container and use 2-x a day and before bedtime. Hope it's a blessing to you, it works so well my husbands lesions cleared visibly throughout the day. We also prayed a lot! Feel better!

You might want to try taking the vit C orally and not topically. The herpes virus that causes it targets nerves. Try vit C and Lysine together orally and see if it helps.

Mark - I've posted before on this, but it bears repeating. A few years back my mother had a horrible case of the shingles. Her doctor put her on nerve pain killers, some gross gel and sent her home and said give it a few weeks. I researched and found this solution for her, she was 100% better in less than two weeks. L-Lysine, 3000-5000mg per day / ACV soaked cloth on the shingles 3-4 times a day / and the wonder salve from Durham Bee that everyone is talking about. That probably did the trick best. Please try it and good luck.

Mark, if you want, you can experiment with topical application (try a small area to test) of h2o2. The plain drugstore stuff.

Mark: Get Wonder Salve. Read the reviews.

I have seen other posts here that this product is effective for shingles.

http://www.durhamsbeefarm.com/h/11/wondersalve-shingles-treatment.htm

I hope you get some relief soon. Also, look under the "Ailments" tab on Earth Clinic under "Shingles" and see other suggestions for what has helped others. Best wishes.

WORKED TEMPORARILY

My Wife in looking through burn remedies, (because that is what I thought I had) it turned out to be Shingles. Found 1000mg Vitamin C in eight oz. of water then sprayed or covered with soaked gauze. Well at first I bet I got 90% relief for the pain. and it lasted hours. But for some reason with each application the Vit c ( and we are talking the acidic powder kind) It got less and less affective. I went to 1000mg in 4 oz, to 2000 in 4 oz, to 3000 in 4oz, to 4000 in 4oz water. I think I did the 4000 only about six times, as it gets to astringent to apply. It was extremely helpful at first for the shingles pain and then for some reason it lost it's effect. The spray is a bit brutal as anything cool coming out of a spray bottle is going to make you jump.(I did Microwave for 18 sec at 1100 watts) but think it is more effective a bit on the cool side.t I used the vit-c as a spray for the first week before switching over to applying soaked gauze to the shingles.(easier less shocking) (Letting the gauze rest on the shingles about 10 sec. and then moving on. As the days turn into weeks it becomes almost ineffective. I ended up stepping down with the dosage. But I would say my overall treatment dose was 2000mg in 4 oz of water. It was revolutionary with the first few treatments.( and that was at 1000mg in 8 oz.) And I got to start the first night coming back from the clinic, and had a great reduction in pain levels. Too bad it doesn't last. I think it just starts to act differently, in that it stabilizes the pain, it makes it more at a constant rather than being buffeted by different shingles all at different pain levels. In my 5th week and still in considerable pain.

Dear Tabitha,

So sorry about the shingles!

I do not know how long the person who wrote the post left the cayenne in place. It sounds as if people apply it and then reapply as needed. I know a man who used cayenne to pack a bleeding wound and left the cayenne in the wound. It did not cause a problem to leave the cayenne in the wound. (And it stopped the bleeding and left the ER wondering how he got the bleeding to stop! )

I once made an apple cider vinegar/cayenne liniment to put on a sore foot and just left it on.

If you haven't tried it yet, the cayenne may burn upon contact, but that usually goes away quickly. If it bothers you beyond that, you could wash it off.

You may want to take the cayenne internally as well. I like 1/2 teaspoon in some grape juice or carrot juice a couple of times a day when I need the cayenne.

Let us know how it goes. I hope you find much relief with the cayenne!

~Mama to Many~

How long should I leave the cayenne paste on my rash? Please get back to me as soon as u can cuz im in a whole lot of pain.

I hope you're applying the licorice 3 or 4 times a day...?

The licorice root extract did not get rid of the shingles blisters, though it did seem to help the areas of skin and muscle which only had tiny red spots.

There it made the area generally feel less swollen and more returned to "normal" tissue.

Prior to that what had worked best was calamine lotion. However my initial experience with calamine lotion made me search further:

The initial application of calamine lotion really helped, though it is VERY messy to apply to the calf and shin and ankle. Almost immediately, I got relief and the large ugly blisters stopped weeping and seemed to become inactive and dry up.

The next day the rash was nearly gone. So I spred the lotion over the area again. The result was that the (shingles) infection appeared all over the area covered with lotion, so I stopped using the calamine.

I don't think I knew it was shingles at that time.

I tried apple cider vinegar and various other "remedies" but nothing really helped.

I believe the calamine lotion only seemed to spread the shingles, but really the shingles were just in the middle of blasting my leg with the outbreak.

Since the calamine did dry up the blisters, I tried it again. It provided relief and dried up the blisters, but it also made the areas with only small blisters or sensitive to touch, dry beyond reason.

So while it allieviated the pain from the large blisters, walking made the rest of the area covered with calamine lotion feel as if the skin was being ripped off for a while each time I had to walk.

The licorice root extract does not do that. It made the areas with only tiny blisters or no blisters feel better, with no or little pain when touched. It seemed to make the tiniest of blisters there go away, but it did not get rid of small blisters or the large blisters.

I am now past the 3rd day of using the licorice root extract. I am going to go back to using the calamine lotion, at least on the large blisters.

Arrgghhhh!!!!!

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.

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!