Anyone who has had the shingles disease or who has known anyone suffering from the shingles disease knows how painful and debilitating an outbreak of shingle is. Even if you haven't had shingles yourself, or known anyone with the disease, you probably can remember the maddening itch of your childhood case of chickenpox and the red spots that accompanied the disease - that should be enough to clue you in to the discomfort of the disease.
People who have shingles however, get to relive this all over again. If you have or have had shingles (herpes zoster virus), it means that the same virus that attacked you with the chicken pox earlier on in your life, has found it's way into your nervous system as an adult, lying dormant until reactivated when the immune system is weakened by age, disease, or stress.
In fact, you may not even remember having had the chicken pox, as your case may have a mild one.
Shingles is most common in people over the age of 50, however it can attack at any age.
Shingles quite often begins with pain or tingling. Then a red rash appears that is followed by blisters. These blisters may last from anywhere from five days to four weeks, then crust over and disappear.
Once the blisters burst open, they heal within a week. Light scars will be left, which will disappear in a short time.
An indication that you have shingles is that the rash will appear on one side of the body, most commonly on the trunk, buttocks, or face. If the blisters from the shingles appear close to the eye, or occur on the tip or side of the nose, see a doctor immediately. Shingles can cause vision problems if it involves the nerves around the the eye.
There are home remedies for shingles that can provide relief to the sufferer while the blisters are broken out. In fact, if you do a search on the Internet, you will come up with so many home remedies it can become quite confusing.
The best thing you can do for the blisters is apply Emu Oil to them. The presence of essential fatty acids along with the hyper-oxygenation of Emu Oil naturally increases the blood flow to the applied area which is why Emu Oil works so quickly to heal.
The application of Emu Oil allows the essential fatty acids to penetrate the epidermal layers of the skin down to the basal layer where it enhances new cell proliferation. Emu Oil soothes the itching and heals the blisters in record time. Emu Oil is also anti-bacterial and hypo-allergenic. The routine application of Emu Oil to your outbreak of blisters will reduce the time it takes for the blisters to heal while reducing the chance of infection.
When experiencing a shingles outbreak, the nerves themselves are inflamed. Emu Oil also has anti-inflammatory properties, and will give soothing relief to nerve inflammation as well.
However, if you are a vegetarian, Emu Oil is not for you, so pick and choose from some of these other suggestions instead:
- Powder two aspirin tablets and mix it in 2 tablespoon of chloroform or alcohol. Apply this paste on the affected area. Make sure you use aspirin and not something else like Tylenol, or some other product.
- You can apply a wet dressing to soothe the burning sensation.
- Avoid being in humid areas. Aways keep yourself cool.
- When blisters get infected, dab them with hydrogen peroxide.
- Keep blisters open and dry, do not burst the blisters by scratching.
- To provide relief, make a solution by mixing 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar in 2 cups of water. Use a cotton wash cloth to moisten the affected areas by using an upward movement.
- To prevent itching and to reduce pain, you can dust with colloidal powder.
- You can make a solution by mixing aloe vera gel, raw honey and leek juice to be applied to the rash.
- You can also sponge the blisters or rashes by use of vitamin E oil, apple cider vinegar, cool goldenseal, mugwort or peppermint tea.
- Baking soda and water solution can also be applied as a cold compress.
- Apply a mixture of yogurt and zinc oxide along the particular nerve path. If it is applied before the outbreak it will curb the outbreak of blisters.
- Avoid food which contain amino acid such as chocolate, cereal grains, nuts and seeds.
- Eat pears as pear juice in ample amounts is good, it has a great supply of antiviral caffeic acid.
- Oatmeal baths or the use of oatmeal soap can help soothe the burning sores.
- Calamine lotion (the old standby) or any kind of lotion designed to deal with burns or insect bites will help. Put the lotion in the refrigerator first for cooling relief.
- Frozen bags of peas or corn applied to the area for 3-4 minutes at a time will also bring short term relief.
- Aloe vera gel for sunburns may also help if it has benzocaine or lidocaine in the mixture. Put it in the refrigerator as well.
- St John's Wort is an antiviral, anti-inflammatory herb that can also help strengthen the nervous system. St John's Wort is available in health food stores. Drink the tea, and gently massage the tincture directly on the affected areas. Do check with your physician before taking St John's Wort.
- Lysine may help stop the spread of the herpes zoster virus. Take lysine pills, available at health food stores, or eat flounder.
Do not use any of these suggestions if you are allergic to any of the ingredients. Also, be aware that these are home remedies and not medical advice. While these remedies will help relieve the pain of shingles, medical attention should always should be sought first in order to lessen the severity of the shingles outbreak.
Submitted by: Stephanie Rawlings 