Educational guide

Shingles Treatment, Medication, and Prevention: Pain Relief, Antiviral

The virus that causes chickenpox also causes shingles. It’s called varicella zoster. It can lie quietly in your nerves for decades after causing chickenpox but suddenly wake up and become active. The main symptom of shingles is a painful rash that comes up on

Written by Peptide Therapy Guide Editorial TeamPublished September 4, 2026

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This guide cannot diagnose a condition or recommend a personal treatment plan. Discuss medical questions with a qualified professional.

The virus that causes chickenpox also causes shingles. It’s called varicella zoster. It can lie quietly in your nerves for decades after causing chickenpox but suddenly wake up and become active.

The main symptom of shingles is a painful rash that comes up on one side of your body or face. See your doctor as soon as you can if you think you might have this condition.

Your doctor may want to put you on medications to control your infection and speed up healing, cut inflammation, and ease your pain. They include:

Antiviral Medications for Shingles

These medicines may slow down the progress of the shingles rash, especially if you take them within the first 72 hours of having symptoms.

They can also lower your chance of having complications. Your doctor may prescribe:

Acyclovir (Sitavig, Zovirax)
Famciclovir (Famvir)
Valacyclovir (Valtrex)

Talk with your doctor or pharmacist about side effects to watch for if you take one of these drugs.

Painkillers for Shingles

Shingles causes inflammation and pain. Your doctor can suggest over-the-counter medicines to relieve milder discomfort. They include:

Acetaminophen
Ibuprofen
Naproxen

These may also help you stave off postherpetic neuralgia, which is a burning pain that some people get after the rash and blisters of shingles go away.

Other Medications for Shingles

If you have severe pain after the rash clears or an infection during your shingles outbreak, your doctor might prescribe:

Capsaicin cream: Be careful not to get it in your eyes.

A numbing medicine: You might get lidocaine (Lidoderm, Xylocaine) for pain. It can come in a variety of forms, such as creams, lotions, patches, powders, and sprays, among others.

Antibiotics: You might need these medicines if bacteria infect your skin and rash. But if bacteria aren’t involved, then antibiotics won’t help.

Tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants: These medications might help ease the pain that lingers after your skin has healed, such as amitriptyline (Amitid, Elavil, Endep), desipramine (Norpramin), gabapentin (Neurontin, Gralise), nortriptyline (Pamelor), and pregabalin (Lyrica). Your doctor can tell you what the risks and benefits are.

If your pain is severe, your doctor may need to prescribe steroids or strong pain medications such as oxycodone for a short period of time.

Alternative Treatments for Shingles?

Some studies show that various alternative treatments, from acupuncture to supplements, can offer relief. The research isn’t complete, but some show promise. Check with your doctor before you try any of these: TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). This therapy uses tiny electrical pulses to relieve pain. A TENS unit is about the size of a smartphone and comes with small patches called electrodes. You put them over the painful area and turn the unit on and off as your pain comes and goes. Traditional Chinese medicine. These treatments aim to restore balance in your body. They include acupuncture, the ancient practice of inserting very thin needles into your skin at specific points. Also, moxibustion and cupping, two types of heat therapy, are supposed to draw out toxins. These treatments may be done in combination. Creams and other skin treatments. A mixture of liquid dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and idoxuridine, an antiviral drug, has been proposed as a way to reduce swelling and the number of blisters you have when you put it on your rash. And chlorophyll, the chemical that gives plants their green color, is sometimes used directly on the rash as a cream or saline solution. Supplements. You’ll find a long list of herbs, pills, and oils that claim to relieve shingles. Most have no research to back them up, but there are a couple of exceptions. Papain, a protein found in papayas, is sold in capsules. And manuka and clover honeys can be put directly on your skin. Very early studies on both show they might be helpful.

Self-Care for Shingles

There aren’t home remedies for shingles. But there are things you can do to help your skin heal.

Keep the affected area clean, dry, and exposed to air as much as possible.

The itching can be maddening at times, but try not to scratch or burst the blisters.

Soothe the rash. Your top priority is to find relief for the pain and itching that the rash causes. You might try:

1. Oatmeal baths. Dip into a cool tub of water. For extra relief, add colloidal oatmeal, which is made of oats that have been ground to a very fine powder. This soothing bath may help calm your itching.

2. Cold compresses. Run a washcloth under cool water and place it on your blisters for about 20 minutes at a time. Not only can this relieve itching, it also keeps your blisters clean. That can help you avoid a skin infection. If your blisters aren’t oozing anymore, stop using cold compresses. And if you are using any creams or patches on your rash, don’t use compresses at the same time.

3. Loose clothing. You’ll likely find that relaxed fits made from natural fibers, such as cotton or linen, give you more comfort. If you need to cover your blisters, avoid bandages that might stick to your rash. 4. Calamine lotion. Treat your skin with this smooth, cool, and soothing balm.

Treat your body and mind. You can get worn down mentally when you’re in constant pain. Stress can make it seem even worse. Self-care starts with treating your rash, but don’t stop there. Your mind and emotional state need to be cared for as well.

Stick with good habits: Your body is working hard to fight the varicella zoster virus that causes shingles. To give it the right support, you can:

Eat nutritious food and have regular meals. Ask someone to make a run to the grocery store for fresh fruit and such if you’re not up for it.
Try to get a good night’s sleep and rest anytime you need to.
Do gentle exercises, such as walking or stretching. Light activity can help take your mind off the pain. Keep it simple though, and check with your doctor if you’re trying something new.

Distract yourself. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to put your focus elsewhere. Here are a few things to try:

Call a friend.
Listen to music that relaxes you.
Read a book.
Watch a favorite movie.
Work on hobbies you enjoy.

Keep calm. Relaxation can be a big help. With a calmer mind, you can better handle your discomfort. You may want to try:

Meditation
Tai chi
Walking (but keep your blisters covered)
Yoga

Experiment with these strategies as you get through your shingles outbreak. Different things can help depending on how severe your symptoms are and how you feel from day to day.

Can I Prevent Shingles?

The vaccine Shingrix is available in the U.S, to help prevent shingles. It is the only way to help prevent shingles. Who should get it: The CDC recommends that you get this vaccine if you’re a healthy adult age 50 or older, whether or not you remember having had chickenpox, because most people have been exposed to the virus. The shingles vaccine is also recommended if you are age 19 or older with a weak immune system. How many shots do you need? You would need two shots for Shingrix: One at first, with a follow-up in 2 to 6 months. If you have a weakened immune system, your doctor may want you to get the vaccines closer together. What it does: Shingrix reduces your chance of getting shingles by more than 90%. Even if you still get shingles, the vaccine may help it be less painful. I never had chickenpox. Do I still need the shingles vaccine? Yes, you do. Shingrix is recommended for everyone age 50 or older, whether or not you remember having had chickenpox. If I’ve had shingles, can I still get the vaccine? Yes. It may help prevent another bout of shingles later on. If you have shingles right now, you should wait until the rash is gone before you get vaccinated. What are the side effects? The most common side effects with Shingrix include pain and swelling where the needle went into your skin, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, chills, fever, and stomach troubles. With any vaccine, there is a chance of a severe allergic reaction.

Who Shouldn’t Get the Shingles Vaccine?

Don’t get the Shingrix vaccine if:

You’re allergic to any of the ingredients.
You’re pregnant or nursing.
You have tested negative for immunity to the chickenpox virus. Ask your doctor about the chickenpox vaccine instead.
You have shingles now.

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Related questions

01What Is Shingles?

Shingles is a rash caused by varicella zoster, a type of herpes virus that also causes chicken pox. If you’ve had chicken pox, you’re at risk of getting shingles at some point during your lifetime. The first sign of shingles is typically tingling or burning along a particular nerve pathway in the body, progressing to a rash consisting of fluid-filled blisters. Shingles is typically treated with antiviral drugs, over-the-counter pain relievers, and corticosteroids. Healthy people who are treated early usually recover in three to five weeks.

Source: www.everydayhealth.com ↗

02Can EDS cause nerve damage?

Small nerve neuropathy, or damage to the small nerve fibers in your skin, is a common feature of EDS. It can cause tingling or burning in your feet or hands and reduced sensitivity to pain and heat.

Source: www.healthline.com ↗

03This painful condition is unique in many ways. Our expert explains how it works and how to prevent it.

Shingles is definitely an illness to avoid if you can. Known for its blistering rash, shingles is uncomfortable and sometimes leads to long-lasting complications, including a painful nerve condition called postherpetic neuralgia. While it can affect people of any age, including children, it's most likely to strike after age 60. Shingles is also somewhat unusual. It's caused by a virus that has often been living inside the body for decades. That means it differs from most viral infections in how you get it and how you can prevent it. We asked Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School, to answer some common questions about shingles. Below are his responses. Q. How do I get the virus that causes shingles? A. Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which you probably encountered decades ago when you got chickenpox as a child. After your chickenpox infection cleared, the virus stuck around. It took up residence in nerve cell clusters in your spine or at the base of your skull. There it stayed dormant, held in check by your immune system. But it can reemerge as shingles. Q. Does everyone who had chickenpox get shingles? A. No. Although anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for the condition, only an estimated one in three of those people will actually get shingles. It's not clear why some people get it and others don't. It may have something to do with your immune system. If your immune system is compromised by an illness, surgery, or medication, the virus may be able to shake off its slumber and reactivate. When it does, it typically causes a blistering rash, which often appears as a thick stripe across your ribcage or on the side of your face. It may also bring a painful or burning sensation on the skin, headache, fever, and fatigue. Q.Is shingles contagious? A. Yes and no. If you come in close contact with someone who has shingles, you can't catch shingles. But you can be infected with the varicella-zoster virus and develop chickenpox if you aren't vaccinated against the virus and haven't had chickenpox in the past. If you do develop shingles after you were around someone who had a shingles infection, it came from the virus that was already present inside you, not from the new exposure. Q. Can a vaccine trigger shingles? My friend got shingles shortly after receiving her COVID-19 vaccine. Is it just a coincidence? A. There have been anecdotal Internet reports of shingles following both COVID-19 infection and vaccination for COVID-19. But there isn't sufficient statistical or scientific evidence to show a connection. Just because the two events occur near to each other doesn't mean they are related. Any medical intervention, even vaccines as safe as the COVID-19 vaccines, can cause health problems in a very small number of individuals. The vaccine manufacturers and U.S. regulatory agencies track these reactions carefully to determine if there is an association between a particular vaccine and an adverse outcome. Doctors continuously weigh those risks and have uniformly concluded that it is much, much more likely for you to remain healthy if you take the vaccine, despite the super-low risk of an adverse reaction. Q. Can you get shingles more than once? A. Unfortunately, you can. Studies have found that there is approximately a 5% risk of getting a second or a third case of shingles within eight years of your first. This is why doctors recommend that people get the shingles vaccine even if they have already had shingles in the past. Q. How common are complications from shingles? A. A small percentage of people who get shingles experience complications. Approximately 10% to 18% of people develop the nerve pain known as postherpetic neuralgia. About 1% to 4% of people experience other complications that require a hospital stay, such as skin infections or eye-related problems. Q. Is there a cure for shingles? A. No, nothing can cure a shingles attack. However, antiviral medications may help you recover more quickly and reduce your chances of developing complications. These medications, which include acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex), work by blocking the virus's ability to reproduce. When there is less virus present, your immune system has a better chance of getting the reactivation under control. Be certain to reach out to your doctor quickly if you suspect you have shingles, because these drugs work best if they are started within 72 hours of the start of symptoms. Q. What is the best way to prevent shingles? A. The best way to avoid a painful case of shingles is to get vaccinated. The FDA approved the Shingrix vaccine in October 2017. A few years after Shingrix was approved, an older shingles vaccine called Zostavax was discontinued because it was much less effective. Shingrix is recommended for adults over age 50 and is given in a series of two injections, six months apart. Q. Is there anything I can do to help relieve shingles symptoms? A. The most bothersome symptoms associated with shingles are typically itching and pain related to the rash. There are a number of strategies that may help. For pain, try

Source: www.health.harvard.edu ↗

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Peptide Therapy Guide Editorial Team

Editorial team for Peptide Therapy Guide.

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