What Is The Best Home Remedy For Shingles
Shingles is occurring due to same virus that is causing chickenpox and it produces blisters filled with fluid. These blisters are causing itchiness over the skin and pain that can be relieved by taking a cool bath as well as it can reduce the risk of spreading the infection. The application of cool and moist water through soaking clothing in cold water can ease in pain and itchiness.
Some soothing lotions and cream along with baking soda and cornstarch paste can be applied to shingles rashes to decrease itchiness and scarring and prolongation of blisters. To overcome skin irritation and improve skin healing processes, the application of essential oils such as Chamomile oil, Eucalyptus oil, and Tea Tree oil is also suggested in shingles.
Popular Questions & Answers
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Avoid These Foods If You Have Shingles
You can reduce shingles pain, skin rash, itching, and blisters by limiting or avoiding consumption of the following foods.
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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.
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Is It Safe To Bathe In Salt Water If You Have Shingles
Take good care of yourself. To assist eliminate crusts, bathe the rash three times a day in salt water . Cover the rash with a thin non-stick bandage to help prevent the virus from spreading. Topical antibiotics and sticky dressings should not be used since they may cause the rash to take longer to cure.
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Skin Care And Itch Relief For Shingles
To relieve itching and discomfort, try:
- A cool, wet compresses on the affected skin
- Soothing baths and lotions, such as colloidal oatmeal bath, starch baths, or calamine lotion
- Zostrix, a cream that contains capsaicin
- Antihistamines to reduce itching
Keep your skin clean. Throw away bandages you use to cover your skin sores. Throw away or wash in hot water clothing that has contact with your skin sores. Wash your sheets and towels in hot water.
While your skin sores are still open and oozing, avoid all contact with anyone who has never had chickenpox, especially pregnant women.
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Can Shingles Be Prevented Or Avoided
The best way to prevent shingles is through vaccination. Vaccinate your children for chickenpox. This vaccine reduces their risk for getting chickenpox. You cant get shingles unless youve had chickenpox first.
When you are older, get the shingles vaccine. It is recommended for adults 50 years of age and older. It can prevent shingles. People who have had shingles should get the vaccine to help stop the disease from reoccurring. Common side effects of the vaccine are headache, plus redness, swelling, itching, and soreness at the injection site.
The shingles vaccine is not recommended for anyone who:
- Has had an allergic reaction to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin
- Has an allergy to any component of the shingles vaccine
- Has a weakened immune system due to conditions such as leukemia, HIV, or AIDS
- Is receiving treatment for cancer
- Is being treated with drugs that suppress their immune system, including high-dose steroids
- Is pregnant or might become pregnant within 4 weeks of getting the vaccine
What Happens If You Have It
The most common manifestation of shingles is a rash. The rash of shingles may have an unusual distribution, because it follows the pattern of nerve roots, explains Dr. Golden. A typical feature of shingles is that the rash usually stays on only one side of the body. If untreated, the rash will typically heal on its own, though it may leave scarring and be accompanied by residual pain.
Depending on where shingles develop, other symptomslike hiccups or loss of visioncan occur, per the NIA.
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Heal Your Inner Ecosystem To Support Your Immunity
A diet that builds the immune system and doesnt feed a virus is essential. Our highly effective Antiviral Protocol is ideal for times when you suspect a viral exposure or when you feel an outbreak coming on.
On a daily basis, the Body Ecology Way of Living provides a great way to strengthen your body against viral and fungal infections by cultivating a robust and balanced inner ecosystem of beneficial microbes.
With a focus on adding specificfermented foods and drinks, following the Body Ecology program populates your intestines with probiotics that help aid digestion, increase nutrient absorption, and improve your immunity making you less susceptible to infections of all kinds.
Obtain your protein from these sources:
Alkalizing is key:
- As soon as you feel the slightest sign of a potential viral outbreak, stop everything you are doing. Sit down, put up your feet, and slowly sip on a 12-ounce glass of water with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar added to it. If its too sour for you, then add a few drops of BE Sweet to taste.
- Eat mostly veggies, especially raw because raw is cooling. Use them to make smoothies. But avoid sweet veggies like baked sweet potato.
- Eat alkalizing, fermented vegetables and homemade pickles. And, please, dont throw away the juice they are fermenting in. That fermented juice is excellent for you, as are our probiotic liquids: InnergyBiotic and CocoBiotic.
What Is The Best Treatment For Shingles
The condition of shingles can be suppressed by the use of medications that can control infection, inflammation, pain and improve the healing process. Medical professionals are generally prescribing antiviral drugs like Acyclovir, Famciclovir, and Valacyclovir within the third day of the first occurrence of symptoms.
Other medications such as painkillers , antihistaminic, numbing medicine and tricyclic antidepressant agents are also given to patients suffering from shingles.
To avoid itchy skin reaction, doctors are prescribing calamine lotion to soothe these skin conditions. For severe pain during this condition, capsaicin topical patch, codeine like narcotics, gabapentin like anticonvulsants, injections of corticosteroids and local anesthetics are also advised to people.
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Shingles And Foods: An Overview
The rashes that occur when an individual has an attack of shingles can be extremely uneasy and annoying. The itching accompanied with it compounds the issue and causes more discomfort.
While there are certain foods that need to be avoided in cases of Shingles but there are certain foods which can be taken which help immensely in calming down the itching and decrease the intensity of the rashes formed as a result of shingles. These food items also fight off the virus that causes shingles and hastens the recovery process for an individual.
Foods You Should Avoid
Coming down with shingles can be an extremely exhausting experience. For that reason, many people find comfort in certain foods that arent exactly the best for us. But while these foods make you feel great at the moment, they actually work against your body in healing you. Here are the foods you should avoid with shingles:
- Foods high in arginine arginine is an amino acid that helps in replicating the varicella zoster virus. This category includes nuts and seeds, chocolate, and gelatin.
- Sugary foods and drinks sugar is downright bad for your immune system, as it slows down the white blood cells that defend against pathogens in the body.
- Refined carbohydrates refined carbohydrates are high on the glycemic index, which means our body digests them much faster than other foods. This rate of digestion expends energy, draining immune response against the virus.
- Saturated fats studies have shown that saturated fats also negatively impact our immune system even before the effects show physically.
- Alcohol theres substantial evidence showing that alcohol disrupts the immune system, worsening and slowing down the healing of shingles. It also messes with your gut microbiome or the collection of gut bacteria, a key element in digestive health.
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How To Diagnose Shingles Without Rash
Shingles is viral infections that may be occurring after being dominant at central nervous system and it is difficult to diagnose it without rash but still, some symptoms can represent its occurrence. When a person is suffering from shingles, he or she may experience symptoms to one side of the body like face, neck, and eyes as well as in the internal organs.
These symptoms can be a feeling of tingling or numbness, itchiness, sensitivity to touch, headache, burning sensations, pain that comes from the spine like dermatomal pain and often laboratory investigations. The laboratory investigation may include immune-fluorescent microscopy of vesicle cells, serological testing, and real-time polymerase chain reaction.
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Is Exercise Beneficial For Shingles Nerve Pain
When You Have PHN, You Should Exercise
When it comes to treating pain and other PHN symptoms, simple, moderate exercise may be just what your doctor prescribes. Exercise has a number of advantages, including increased energy and muscular strength, as well as the ability to decrease discomfort and make daily tasks simpler.
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Types Of Foods To Avoid With Shingles
While they all manifest themselves differently, with somewhat different symptoms, herpes, shingles, and chickenpox all spring from the same varicella-zoster virus. its also known as the herpes zoster virus or the herpes virus.
Shingles manifests itself as a painful rash that may cause blisters, itching, and pain. While there is no known cure for shingles, a shingles vaccine and chickenpox vaccine can help prevent the condition. That said, there are ways to minimize symptoms that you can do on your own, including paying attention to the following list of foods to avoid with shingles.
How Does It Spread
Shingles spreads via contact with the fluid or pus in a persons blisters.
If a person comes into contact with this, they may develop chickenpox if they have never had it or the varicella vaccine, also known as the chickenpox vaccine.
Shingles can transmit via coughing and sneezing only if blisters have developed in the persons oral cavity.
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Top Foods For Shingles
Foods high in B-vitamins The nervous system is under attack by the shingles virus therefore, its 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.
What Can I Do For The Pain
To help with the pain of shingles, your doctor might have you take an over-the-counter pain medicine. This could include acetaminophen or ibuprofen .
Applying a medicated anti-itch lotion to the blisters might reduce the pain and itching. Placing cool compresses soaked in water mixed with white vinegar on the blisters and sores might also help.
If shingles causes severe pain, your doctor might prescribe a stronger pain medicine.
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Why Is Chocolate Bad For Shingles
Arginine is an amino acid that helps the shingles virus replicate. Chocolate, nuts and seeds, canned tuna, and gelatin all contain high levels of arginine. Other arginine-heavy foods to stay away from are tomatoes, wheat germ, Brussels sprouts, and some fruits including grapes, blackberries and blueberries.
How Can I Take Care Of Myself
- Take a pain-relief medicine such as acetaminophen. Take other medicine as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
- Put cool, moist washcloths on the rash.
- Rest in bed during the early stages if you have fever and other symptoms.
- Try not to let clothing or bed linens rub against the rash and irritate it.
- You develop worsening pain or fever.
- You develop a severe headache, stiff neck, hearing loss, or changes in your ability to think.
- The blisters show signs of bacterial infection, such as increasing pain or redness, or milky yellow drainage from the blister sites.
- The blisters are close to the eyes or you have pain in your eyes or trouble seeing.
- You have trouble walking.
For the last 3 1/2 weeks, Ive been suffering from shingles and postherpetic neuralgia. It is a terrible condition. There seem to be many cures and treatments for it that are either questionable, or in the case of Western medicine, have a potential for adverse side effects. Most people suffer from post-herpetic pain that can go on for weeks, months, or even years.
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Other Complications Of Shingles
If the shingles rash appears around the eye or forehead, it can cause eye infections and temporary or permanent loss of vision. If the shingles virus attacks the ear, people may develop hearing or balance problems. In rare cases, the shingles virus may attack the brain or spinal cord. These complications can often be prevented by beginning treatment for shingles as soon as possible.
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Foods That Help Heal Shingles Virus
In the medical world, shingles seems like an open-and-shut case. Youve got a patient with the textbook rash, nerve pain on the side or back, and thats all, folks. The truth is that the shingles virus is responsible for millions of peoples mystery symptoms, from rashes that confound dermatologists to neurological symptoms like twitching, tingling, burning, spasms, chronic migraines, headaches, and much more. Varieties of shingles are responsible for Bells palsy, frozen shoulder, diabetic nerve pain, colitis, vaginal burning, burning in other areas, TMJ, Lyme disease, sciatic pain, and even misdiagnosed MS.
What doctors dont yet know is that there isnt merely one type of shingles virus, but over 30 varieties. This matters because different types of shingles cause different symptoms. It also matters because medical communities dont even recognize the majority of shingles cases as being the result of a virus. For example, any of the more aggressive varieties of shingles can cause Lyme disease symptoms yet doctors currently believe Lyme disease is caused by bacteria.
To understand how shingles works in the body, the different types of shingles viruses, and how to heal, check out the chapter on this virus also in Medical Medium.
Green beans contain anti-inflammatory chlorophyll-based compounds that are beneficial for any symptom or condition caused by shingles.
Learn more about how to heal from the New York Times bestselling book Cleanse To Heal.
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Add These Foods To Your Diet To Treat Shingles
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When it comes to calming the angry itching and pain from a shingles rash , you may be able to eat your way to relief. While there are some foods you should avoid that can cause the condition to worsen, there are others that can help ward off the symptoms.
Now is as good a time as any to shake up your diet and hopefully feel better with less burning. The following four foods are things you might want to consider eating even if youre not suffering from shingles, as they are packed with goodness.
Pain Relief For Shingles
The pain after the shingles look better is the part people have trouble with, called post-herpetic neuralgia. It consists of sharp, shooting pain in the region where the outbreak occurred and can persist for years after the initial outbreak. Up to 60% of people over the age of 60 who got shingles go on to develop this chronic condition.
Dont be passive with your treatment of shingles. Keep seeking alternative care options and dont rely on medication to cure your symptoms or relieve your pain.
Reducing stress wherever possible can help you recover from shingles. Using MELT Method can help reduce the daily accumulation of stress. My suggestion is to do the following treatments at least 3-4 times a week:
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