Shingles Treatment

Shingles Treatment:  There is no known cure for shingles, but there are a number of shingles treatments that can help reduce the length and symptoms of shingles and help reduce the chance of complications.  The sooner you begin shingles treatment the better.  Antivirals are typically used initially and will help mediate the symptoms.  If you have facial, nose, or eye symptoms you should immediately seek medical care.

Your doctor will most likely prescribe an antiviral medicine as a shingles treatment to help manage the pain and enhance the healing process, as well as over the counter pain medicine such as aspirin.

Shingles Treatment – Home Care

There are a number of things you can do at home that once you are aware of a shingles outbreak.  Most importantly, DO NOT scratch the shingles rash as this will acerbate the problem and will increase the chance of spreading the virus to those who have not been exposed.

Besides your prescribed medicine for your shingles treatment, you can use cool water compresses applied to the weeping blisters several times a day.  Done for twenty minutes at a time, they can help sooth and dry the blisters.  Using cool water compresses as a shingles treatment can also help in removing the scabs and helps decrease the potential for bacterial infection.  You can continue to use this shingles treatment until the blisters have dried out, but then stop so that the skin around the infection does not become dry and itchy.  Keep in mind that the blisters contain the virus and when they rupture they are contagious to those who have not had the chickenpox virus.

Shingles Treatment

While there is no known cure for shingles, you and see by the above shingle treatments, there are options.  Before trying any shingles treatment found online, please seek a professional medical opinion on your options.