Shingles Natural Treatment

Shingles Natural Treatment

Clearly shingles is no fun, but the good news is that shingles natural treatment is not hard to do, not expensive and the following suggestions can all be done in the comfort of your own home. Much of shingles natural treatment is aimed at boosting the immune system since shingles is caused by a virus.

Top Foods For Shingles

• Foods high in B-vitamins — The nervous system is under attack by the shingles virus; therefore, it’s important to include foods high in B-vitamins such as grass-fed beef, cultured dairy, eggs, organic chicken and wild-caught fish.
• Water — Adequate hydration is the key to flushing out the virus from your system. Try to drink at least 8 ounces every 2 hours.
• Garlic and onions — Both raw garlic and onion contain allicin, which can help boost immune function.
• Foods rich in vitamin C — Add orange and yellow fruits and vegetables to increase your vitamin C intake, which will help to boost your immune system and speed healing.
• Green leafy vegetables — These vegetables are high in beta-carotene and calcium, which can boost immune function.

Foods to Avoid For Faster Healing

Sugar — Decreases white blood cells that help fight off infection.
Fruit juices — Although orange juice contains some vitamin C, it is not as high in vitamin C as whole fruits or vegetables.
Caffeine — Depletes the body of hydration, so avoid it.
Carbonated beverages — These beverages promote a more acidic system, so try to limit them during the acute illness.

Fried foods — Promotes an acidic environment, so best to avoid these foods.

Shingles Supplements 

#1 Vitamin C (1,000mg 3-4x daily) – Helps with immune system function and boosts white blood cells.

#2 Echinacea (500 mg 3x daily) – Echinacea is an herb known for helping the body fight off infections and viruses.

 #3 Oregano oil (500mg 2x daily) – Oil of Oregano has a powerful antiviral effect.

#4 Vitamin B12 (1000-5000 mcg daily) – Vitamin B12 helps promote faster recovery and reduced pain.

#5 Zinc (50 mg daily) – Zinc supports immune function and has an antiviral effect.  It works best when taken at the first sign of illness.

Essential Oils

Geranium essential oil has been studied and shown to actually reduce pain due to post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) following a shingles outbreak. With topical application, essential oil of geranium has been shown to relieve painful sensations within mere minutes. It even outperformed topical capsaicin, which is often recommended for shingles pain, but can take weeks to improve the pain. (7)

Other essential oil options for shingles natural treatment include: (8)

• Tea tree essential oil
• Lemongrass essential oil
• Lavender essential oil
• Peppermint essential oil
• Black cumin seed oil

You can take 2 drops of an essential oil and mix it with 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil and rub it on areas of shingles pain. It’s a good idea to perform a patch test on a less sensitive area of skin to make sure you don’t have a negative reaction to the essential oil. You can also diffuse these essential oils for their antiviral benefits. 

Other Natural Treatments

Honey

Applying honey topically to shingles rash is another scientifically-backed shingles natural treatment.  A 2012 in vitro study showed that both manuka honey, as well as clover honey, showed significant antiviral activity against varicella-zoster virus. Simply apply the honey directly to problem areas a few times per day. (9)

Colloidal Oatmeal Baths 

A shingles natural treatment that doesn’t cost a lot, but can really help with the common shingles symptom of itching, is bathing in water infused with colloidal oatmeal. Make sure the bath is on the cooler side since hot water will only make itching worse. (10)

Cool Compresses

You can use cool, wet compresses on shingles blisters to reduce their fire. These cooling compresses can help with shingles pain, sensitivity and itching. It’s a shingles natural treatment that only requires some running water and a wash cloth. Just make sure to change the wash cloth with each session.

Stress Reduction

According to Mayo Clinic, reducing stress in your life as much as possible is actually a key shingles natural treatment. This lifestyle change can help to prevent and treat shingles since stress reduction is such an overall immune system and health booster.

For more information about Shingles and how to treat it naturally click this link https://draxe.com/5-shingles-natural-treatments/