Shingles: Home Treatment

You may reduce the duration and pain of shingles by:

* Taking good care of skin sores.
* Avoid picking at and scratching blisters. If left alone, blisters will crust over and fall off naturally.

* Use cool, moist compresses if they help ease discomfort. Lotions, such as calamine, may be applied after wet compresses.

* Apply cornstarch or baking soda to help dry the sores so that they heal more quickly.

* Soak crusted sores with tap water or Burow's solution to help clean away crusts, decrease oozing, and dry and soothe the skin.

* Ask your doctor about using topical creams to help relieve the inflammation caused by shingles.

* If your skin becomes infected, ask your doctor about prescription antibiotic creams or ointments.

* Using medicines as prescribed to treat shingles or postherpetic neuralgia, which is pain that lasts for at least 30 days after the shingles rash heals.

* Using non-prescription pain medicines, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to help reduce pain during an attack of shingles or pain caused by postherpetic neuralgia. If you are already taking a prescription pain medicine, talk with your doctor before using any over-the-counter pain medicine. Some prescription pain medicines have acetaminophen (Tylenol), and getting too much acetaminophen can be harmful. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.

If home treatment doesn't help with pain, talk with your doctor. Getting your pain under control right away may prevent nerve damage that may cause pain that lasts for months or years.

Will My Shingles Come Back?
If you've had shingles once, you probably won't get it again.

That doesn't mean it can't happen, it's just unlikely. Also called herpes zoster, shingles can come back a second or, rarely, a third time. But you can take steps to help prevent it, or ease it the next time around.

How Often Does Shingles Return?
Experts don't know exactly how many people get shingles more than once. They do know it comes back more often in people with weakened immune systems.

If your immune system is healthy:
* Your short-term chances of getting shingles again are very low. One study of people over age 60 found that only 1% got shingles again within about 3 years. Having shingles once lowers your chances of getting it a second time, at least for a while.

* Over time, your chances of a second bout go up. Another study found that within 7 years, the odds of getting it again may be almost 6% in people 22 and older. That's about the same as the odds of getting shingles the first time.

Who Is Most Likely to Get Shingles Again?
You're more likely to get it again if:
* You had severe pain from shingles that lasted more than 30 days. This is called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN).

* You are a woman.
* You were 50 or older when you had shingles the first time.

* Your immune system is weak from conditions like leukaemia, lymphoma, or HIV, or you take medicines that suppress your immune system.