How to Reduce Pain From Shingles

by Dr Susan Jewell MD

Shingles are caused by the chickenpox virus called Herpes zoster and can appear many years later in certain individuals. It is still uncertain what triggers the shingles, but stress, illness and a compromised immune system could all play significant contributing factors to its appearance.

Shingles presents itself as painful, red blisters on the skin surface and the pain is often described as burning, tingling and/or with numbness. Even after the blisters have cleared away, the pain can persist for many months in certain people.

This article will give some tips and advice on how to reduce the pain from shingles.

1 Use over-the-counter medications like Tylenol or aspirin to help reduce pain in the initial to early stages.

2 Use pain relieving ointment or cream. Certain herbal treatments have pain-reducing properties, for example, St. John’s Wort possesses antiviral properties as well as the ability to reduce pain.

3 Get plenty of rest and try not to become too stressed. Avoid adding more stressors to your life since you need to build up your immune system to combat the virus and to help the condition clear up as fast as possible.

4 Once blisters have formed in the second stage, there are ways to find some relief. The one thing you should not do is scratch or break the blister skin, as this will increase the risk of infection and could make the condition worse. It is better to leave the blisters alone to heal. Keep the skin clean and wash often with soap and water to kill the bacteria.

5 If you are not allergic to aspirin you can make an aspirin paste and apply it to the blisters. Leave it on for 10 to 20 minutes to allow it to absorb into the skin. It will give temporary relief for a few hours from severe skin eruptions.

6 Look for redness on the skin around the blisters. This could be an early sign of infected skin, so you will have to treat it quickly to prevent it from getting worse. Use antibiotic ointment or clean the infected blisters with hydrogen peroxide.

7 Even after the shingle blisters have healed and cleared from the skin surface in the final stage, the pain can still persist. One way to help reduce the pain is to use Zostrix, an over-the-counter ointment. The active ingredient is capsaicin (derived from red chilli powder). It works by inhibiting the transmission of pain impulses along the pain fibers.

8 Use ice packs or calamine lotion on the sore, painful skin areas.