At the first sign, herpes zoster, see your doctor, who may prescribe an antiviral medicine. It should start as soon as possible. At the same time, you need something to relieve the pain and burning sensation. Try to take paracetamol or ibuprofen along with the drugs in this chapter. However, if the pain becomes stronger than you can bear, do not be a brave soldier: visit your doctor who can prescribe you a stronger painkiller.
Beat the blisters and soothe the itching
If you have an aloe vera plant on the board of your window, squeeze its leaf and spread it on the goat gel that you squeezed out of it. This milky liquid can help reduce blisters. Or use the aloe vera gel you buy (buy 100% aloe vera if you can).
Baking paste and water will dry out the blisters and soothe the itching. Add enough water to the dry baking powder to make a paste, and then apply it generously on the affected area.
Another remedy that can help dry out blisters and soothe inflammation is a paste made from Epsom salts and water. Place directly on the affected area; repeat this as often as you want.
Make a tea from lemon-grass. Research indicates that this medicinal plant from the mint family fights against the herpes virus. Make a tea by slowly boiling two teaspoons of this dried herb in a pinch of boiling water. Allow to cool and pat it directly on the affected areas with a cotton pad. Some herbalists add tea oil of rose or mint or mint.
Browse the kitchen cabinet for vinegar and honey, the ingredients for another solution for shingles. Mix them to make a paste and pat them on your wounds.
Kill the pain
Soak a face towel or a larger towel in cold water, wring it out and place it over the affected area. You can use cold milk instead of water. According to some people’s experience, milk has a special calming effect.
If you still have pain after the blisters have healed, fill the bag with ice and rub the skin gently. Experts do not know why cold treatment helps, but it really works. According to some people’s experience, spicy foods help with the pain. Capsaicin, a hot substance in chili peppers, is thought to block pain transmission through nerve cells.
Stop the outbreak of disease
Take 1,000 mg of lysine supplements three times a day during the disease outbreak’s acute phase. This amino acid prevents the virus from multiplying and can speed healing.
Take 200 mg of echinacea extract and 125 mg of Canadian barberry extract three times a day to strengthen the immune system and help your body fight infection.
Try taking it cats claw, a medicinal plant that has long been used by Indians in South America for various ailments and is now considered promising for treating viral illnesses, including shingles. Look for a preparation standardized to contain 3% alkaloids and 15% polyphenols, marked as Uncaria tomentosa or U. guianensis. (Many other products are called “Cats claw,” but they are not the right thing to do.) Take 250 mg twice a day.
The power of prevention
No one can get infected with herpes zoster, nor can he pass it on to anyone else. But someone is a herpes zoster could transmit smallpox to a person if they had not previously had the virus. Therefore, to protect other people, wash your hands often and tell anyone you come in close contact with that you have shingles.
Pain after passing the blisters
Many people who get shingles have long-lasting pain in the body’s affected area for months or even years after the onset of the disease. This is called postherpetic non-allergy (PHN). If you have PHN, be sure to see your doctor; he may prescribe an oral medicine, such as gabapentin (Neurontin) or amantadine (Symmetrel / Lysovir) Axsain, a capsaicin cream. You may also be offered an injection of a local anesthetic to block pain signals.
Another type of treatment available individually (but very expensive) is the Lidoderm patch, manufactured by the American company Endo Pharmaceuticals. This patch contains the local anesthetic lidocaine and is designed to release this medicine, which soothes pain, but not through the blood but directly under the skin to the affected nerves. In this way, the pain subsides quickly.
