Folk Remedies for Herpes Zoster: Any Effective Treatments?

Herpes zoster is an acute infectious skin disease. After becoming ill, especially in children, it is prone to develop chickenpox. Generally speaking, as long as children are vaccinated when they are young, the incidence of herpes zoster can be reduced. However, once the disease occurs, it can also be treated with drugs. Although some folk methods can alleviate the discomfort of patients, they should not be chosen blindly. It is best to choose safe and side-effect-free folk methods. Herpes zoster is an acute infectious skin disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Children who are not immune to this virus can develop chickenpox after being infected. Some patients become carriers of the virus without showing symptoms after being infected. Due to the neurotrophic nature of the virus, it can remain latent in the neurons of the posterior root ganglion of the spinal nerve for a long time after infection. When resistance is low or due to fatigue, infection, or a cold, the virus can grow and multiply again and move along the nerve fibers to the skin, causing strong inflammation in the invaded nerves and skin. The rash generally has the characteristics of unilateral distribution and segmental distribution according to the nerve, consisting of clustered herpes with pain. The older the patient is, the more severe the neuralgia is. This disease is common in adults, especially in spring and autumn. The incidence rate increases significantly with age.

1. Drug Therapy

• Antiviral drugs can be selected from acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir.
• Neuralgia drug treatment includes antidepressants such as paroxetine (Sertraline), fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine, and sertraline; anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine and sodium valproate; anesthetic analgesics represented by morphine; and non-anesthetic analgesics including NSAIDs, tramadol, aconitine, capsaicin, etc.

2. Nerve Block

When severe pain is difficult to control with medication, direct and effective sensory nerve block therapy should be considered. The choice of block localization should depend on the lesion range and treatment response. The general principle should be from shallow to deep, from simple to complex, and from the periphery to the nerve trunk and nerve root.

3. Nerve Destruction

Radiofrequency thermocoagulation for nerve destruction is the most direct and effective method of treatment. Nerve destruction therapy also includes stereotactic radiotherapy of the medial thalamus (gamma knife or X knife), surgical destruction of the dorsal root of the spinal cord in the subdural cavity, pituitary destruction, destruction of the sympathetic ganglion, etc.