Effective Natural Treatment for Shingles

 Shingles.

If you’ve ever had them before, you’re cringing at just the name.

Think: extreme pain.

My husband had a bad case of them a couple-three years ago. They were on his chest and back. It was bad enough that he actually missed several days of work (and if you know my husband you know how strange that is).

Shingles is a virus connected to chicken pox. If you’ve had chicken pox, you can get shingles. The medical world freely admits there’s little they can suggest to help with a case of shingles. The best they can do is steroids and morphine; a route we weren’t gonna go.  Even the vaccination is no guarantee. So, we were on our own in figuring out what helped with the pain and brought healing.

Recently, our son-in-law came down with a case of shingles. Thankfully, I’d written down the herbal steps we took in treating my husband, and when our daughter and son-in-law applied these same steps, his shingles lasted only a few days and never did get too painful. Of course they caught them early, and that made much difference in the pain and duration. 

Since it’s been successful twice now, it seems good to share our findings with others, in case you ever have to deal with a case of shingles (which I hope you don’t).

Internal for Healing –

Vitamin D3 – 40,000 units per day (throughout the day)

(Start low and work your way higher gradually over the course of a few days. If lethargy or weakness sets in, it means you’re at your max and should decrease your dosage. The best way to get D3 is in the sunlight between 11a-2p. Stay for 20-30 min. If you feel yourself starting to burn it’s time to go in).

L-Lysine – 3000 units per day (throughout the day)

B vitamins – regular dosage in the mornings

All these supplements have to do with healing the nerves which is what shingles is attacking. The mega dosage of D3 is key. When my husband started feeling it flare back up recently, we prayed, and then we started him back on high doses of D3. Thankfully, no rash ever developed and the pain subsided after a couple days.

Internal for Pain –

Devils Claw capsules as needed, or White Willow Bark capsules. Ibuprophen helped too.

Different herbs work well for different people. Devil’s Claw was what worked for my husband. White Willow Bark for our son-in-law. Ibuprophen might help too, but I wouldn’t recommend it for long term treatment because it’s been shown to cause liver damage.

Topical for Healing –

Fill a 2oz bottle with:

1 part colloidal silver

3 parts apple cider vinegar (with the ‘mother’)

20 drops tea tree oil

5 drops lavender oil

5 drops eucalyptus oil

This was very effective at drawing the blisters and scabbing them up. Use aggressively every hour for the first day, then back off to every 3 hours.

Topical for Pain –

Brew strong tea of St. John’s Wort and Licorice Root, let cool.

Fill 2oz spray bottle with tea and 2 TB of raw honey (must be raw and unheated).

Spray every hour or as needed. 

As you might imagine this was pretty sticky, so we did it in the shower, which made clean up simple.

Topical for Pain while sleeping and/or while at work – 

Applied raw honey (must be raw) sprinkled with cayenne powder to non-stick gauze pads (trust me, you want non-stick ones otherwise it’s torture), and then wrap with an ace bandage.

Might seem like an odd combo, but the honey is soothing and so is the heat from the Cayenne Pepper. Both are very healing.

Well, there you have it. As always, this is what worked for us, and there’s no pressure that others must do as we do. We just wanted to share the info in case someone out there might need it someday. 

It seems like so many illnesses that were previously thought of as something which only happened to ‘old’ people, are now afflicting the younger generations too. Even heart attacks and strokes are on the rise amongst the younger. Shingles too isn’t confined to the over-50 age group any more. There’s many other examples on the web of young people who’ve contracted it. Our son-in-law was only 26. 

So, anyway, there ya go.  🙂 Here’s to good health and no Shingles!

<3

~ mary

For more info:

10 Signs and Symptoms of Shingles

http://www.natural-homeremedies.com/blog/best-herbal-remedies-for-shingles-pain/

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The purpose of Jordan’s Crossing Herbal Connections is to promote the sharing of information about healthy, natural products and dietary supplements. JCHC’s views and opinions are INFORMATIONAL ONLY and are not intended to constitute medical advice. If you are sick, injured or pregnant, please consult a licensed health care professional.