Shingles

[Cheesefreek]

My 80 year old dad is recovering from shingles. Unfortunately, he is in pain, depressed and lethargic. Does anyone know of anything (apart from calamine lotion) that will relieve all/any of these symptoms. I was thinking more of a non-chemical solution. I would be grateful for any tried and tested remedies.

[copippin]

Hi cheesefreek,sorry about your Dad's attack of shingles which is a horrible affliction.I guess that he is suffering from postherpetic neuralgia which often follows the outbreak and for which treatments are varied.Try this http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm , there may be something there to help . I'm assuming that he has seen the doctor for the original diagnosis ,so a further visit to get help with the recovery is advisable.Do hope he gets better soon.

[bracknell]

shingels is painful, but only calamine can relive the itching. You can try tepid salt water. Shingles affects the nerve endings and that is what the pain is. He should be taking some antiboitcs from the Dr if not, call the out of hours dr to get him seen - they won't mind ( i work for one in west london) and if he can take them - either paracetamol and/or ibuprofen to kill the pain and the swelling. Hope he feels better soon.

[mullein3]

try some aloe vera gel and tablets you can get both from holland and barratt..the aloe vera gel will cool and calm it fast the tablets may stop it reoccuring but will take time to boost the system..

[Cheesefreek]

Thanks so much for your answers. I'll pass all this onto my mam so she can read and decided what's best for my poor old dad.

[Solarjunkie]

I did quite a lot of research on this when my father had this and many times I found that acupuncture was recommended.

Good luck, I hope you find a way to ease it for him.

[shopper]

for any kind of skin injury, burns cuts etc. i only ever us either pure tea tree oil or lavender oil. tea tree stops infecton and lavender heals. So when i had shingles 4 yrs ago on my neck, i put tea tree on the blisters in the morning and lavender in the evening. I was still in pain for a couple of weeks, but i never had a twinge since. Maybe once the shingles have scabbed over it is too late for this treatment, but the lavender might be worth a try.