Ask Dr. Lo

Shingles

Shingles is an infection caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. The virus can remain dormant in your body and reactivate itself, causing shingles, an illness characterized by red skin rashes, blisters, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and headaches.

According to the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC), about one in three people will experience shingles at one point in their lives.

If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus may remain in your body for years and can reactivate as shingles at one point.

Like chickenpox, shingles is characterized by a red skin rash that causes burning and pain. It usually looks like a stripe of blisters on one side of your body, typically on your neck, torso, or face. It usually clears up within two to five weeks, depending on the person. Symptoms of burning and pain will be the most intense for the first five days. Within a few days, your rashes will turn into fluid-filled blisters that will dry up and crust over within seven to ten days. It will take another couple of weeks for the scabs to completely clear up.

In rare cases, shingles can lead to the following symptoms and complications:

    Rash or pain around the eye, which needs immediate treatment to avoid permanent eye damage.

    Loss of hearing, earache, dizziness, or loss of taste, which may be the symptom of Ramsay Hunt syndrome that needs immediate medical attention.

    Bacterial infections, causing redness, warmth, and swelling of the skin.

Risk Factors for Shingles

Shingles can develop in anyone who has had chickenpox, but there are certain risk factors that may increase your chances:

Being age 60 or older.

Having had chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

Taking medications that weaken your immune system, including steroids, immunosuppressants, and medications given after an organ transplant.

Having any health conditions that weaken your immune system, including HIV/AIDS and cancer.

Conventional Treatments

To avoid complications and speed recovery, it is generally recommended to start treatment within 72 hours of the occurrence of symptoms.

Conventional treatment strategies for shingles include a variety of medications, along with a few simple natural methods for symptom relief.

Oral antiviral medications may be prescribed to reduce pain and speed recovery. Oral medications or analgesics may be used for pain relief. Oral antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) may be used for itching. Topical numbing gels, creams, and patches, such as lidocaine, may be used for pain. Topical capsaicin may be prescribed to reduce the risk of postherpetic neuralgia, a nerve pain that may occur after the recovery from shingles.

Natural Support Strategies

If you get shingles, you can use natural support strategies to help you feel better. The following are a few ideas.

A weakened immune system can increase the symptoms and risk of complications of shingles. Following an antiviral nutrition plan that is rich in anti-inflammatory and antiviral foods can improve your symptoms and support your recovery.

Lysine is an essential amino acid that plays an important role in collagen formation, calcium absorption, cholesterol regulation, and growth and development. It also helps to support the immune system and suppress viral growth. A 2017 review published in Integrative Medicine (Encinitas) has discussed the antiviral benefits of lysine when it comes to the herpes simplex virus.

Arginine is an amino acid that stimulates viral growth. Clearly, eating a diet high in lysine and low in arginine is important when you are dealing with viral infections.

Foods high in lysine and low in arginine include wild-caught salmon, grass-fed dairy (cheeses and yogurts), pastured and organic poultry, and grass-fed beef. Additionally, you can eat plenty of lemons, limes, cranberries, and avocados, as well as lots of organic vegetables, herbs, and spices, and healthy fats like avocados, olives, coconuts, grass-fed butter or ghee, and coconut oil.

Avoid refined sugar, refined oils, processed foods, junk food, artificial ingredients, gluten, and food additives.

Intermittent Fasting

Fasting is a great way to support your recovery from viral infections like shingles.

Intermittent fasting is a way of eating that involves periods of eating and not eating within a day. 

According to a 2016 review published in Ageing Research and Review, intermittent fasting can improve your health and reduce the risk of disease. Intermittent fasting stimulates cellular autophagy and reduces inflammation.

If you are new to fasting, you may want to start with a simple fast, which involves 12 hours of fasting (including your overnight sleep) and 12 hours reserved for meals within a day.

After one or two weeks, you can start decreasing the eating window to eight or ten hours a day.

Intermittent fasting can be a good strategy even if you don’t have shingles to support your health and reduce your risk of health issues.

Reduce Stress & Improve Sleep

Whether you are dealing with shingles or any other health issue, reducing stress and improving your sleep are key. To reduce your stress levels, try meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided visualizations, and breathwork. Practice a positive mindset. Move your body. Even if you are sick, it’s important that you stretch, or walk if you are up for it.

Make sure to sleep seven to nine hours a night. If you are sick, honor your body by resting, sleeping more, or taking naps as needed.

Develop a relaxing nighttime routine. Support your circadian rhythm by going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day.

Use a Cold Compress

The symptoms of shingles can be painful and uncomfortable. To reduce pain, use a cold, wet compress on shingles blisters. The cooling feeling can reduce pain, sensitivity, and itching.Just wet a washcloth under cool water and use it as a compress over your blisters. Use a new washcloth for each session to avoid spreading the virus. Use it as needed throughout the day.

Take a Healing Bath

It is important that you cleanse your blisters daily to lower the risk of spreading the shingles infection.

Take a cool bath or shower. Cool water can reduce pain and calm itchiness.

Take daily healing baths to reduce your symptoms of itching, burning, and pain by adding one to two cups of colloidal oatmeal or cornstarch to a bathtub full of lukewarm bathwater. Avoid hot water, as it can increase blood flow and worsen your shingles. But make sure that your water is not too cool to sit in it for a while. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes, then dry yourself completely.

Make sure to wash your towel and use a new towel for your next bath to avoid spreading the virus to others or across your own body.

Baking Soda and Cornstarch Paste

To relieve the symptoms of a shingles rash or blisters naturally, try a baking soda or cornstarch paste.

Add two parts baking soda or cornstarch and one part water into a cup. Mix it well until you achieve the desired consistency.

Apply the paste on your rash and leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse it off and dry it well. Repeat it several times a day, as you feel it’s needed. Make sure to use a new towel each time.

Immune Support Nutrients

In addition to the prior strategies, it is a good idea to support your immune system.

Studies have shown that vitamin D deficiencies can worsen your symptoms of shingles. To optimize your vitamin D levels, get some sunshine daily; eat foods rich in vitamin D, such as oily fish, liver, and egg yolk; or take a high-quality vitamin D supplement daily.

Zinc deficiency may also make your experience with shingles worse. According to a 2019 study published in Advances in Nutrition, zinc plays a role in antiviral immunity in a variety of viral infections, including HIV and hepatitis C.

Eat a variety of foods that are rich in zinc, including oysters, red meat, and seafood.

Vitamin C may also be helpful for shingles. According to a 2020 review published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, vitamin C has antiviral properties.

Load up on vitamin C-rich foods, such as lemons, limes, oranges, other citrus, strawberries, kiwi, and bell peppers. If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation. Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health. The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www.doctorlo.com