Acupuncture for Shingles & Post-Shingles Pain

How Chinese medicine understands shingles

In Chinese medicine, shingles has vivid names: “snake-string sores” or “fire belt around the waist”. The acute rash is seen as Heat and Damp, often driven by Fire in the Liver channel, breaking out through the skin along a channel. The burning pain, redness and blisters all fit that picture of Heat.

Nerve pain after the rash heals is seen differently. The Heat has gone, but Qi and Blood stay stuck in the channel, and stuck Qi and Blood cause pain in this view.

The common patterns are:

• Liver channel fire. The acute stage: bright red skin, clustered blisters, burning pain, irritability, a bitter taste and poor sleep.
• Spleen damp. Paler blisters that weep more, with a heavy feeling, poor appetite and loose stools.
• Qi and Blood stagnation. After the rash: stabbing or burning pain fixed in one area, worse with touch, often in older people.
• Qi and Yin deficiency. Lingering pain in someone who is worn out, with a dry mouth, poor sleep and low energy.

The acute stage is treated by clearing Heat. Lasting pain is treated by moving Qi and Blood and supporting the body’s recovery.

What treatment involves

Treatment is support alongside your doctor, never a replacement. Antiviral medicine and pain control come first, and you keep taking everything your doctor prescribes.

The first visit includes a lot of questions: when the rash started, where the pain is and what it feels like, how you are sleeping, what medicines you take, and your general health. I also look at your tongue and take your pulse.

Acupuncture points are commonly chosen around the edges of the affected area once it has healed, along the spine at the level of the affected nerve, and on the arms and legs, with others chosen for your pattern. No needles go into open blisters. The aim is to ease pain, calm sensitive skin, and help you sleep. I treat the whole body at every treatment, not only the area that hurts.

For lasting pain after the rash, moxibustion is a traditional option over healed skin. Chinese herbal medicine can be added, with a formula written for your pattern and dispensed at the clinic. Tell your doctor and pharmacist about any herbs, so they can check them against your pain medicines.

The clinic is in Keswick. Plan on 5–10 treatments to judge progress. Research on acupuncture for shingles and post-shingles pain is still developing.

Between visits

• Keep the rash clean and covered with a loose, non-stick dressing until the blisters crust over.
• Avoid contact with anyone who has not had chickenpox, pregnant people and newborns while blisters are open.
• Wear soft, loose clothing over sensitive skin. A thin layer of cotton can make touch easier to bear.
• Use cool compresses for burning and itching.
• Ask your doctor about the shingles vaccine once you have recovered. It is recommended for most adults over 50.

When to see your doctor first

See your doctor or pharmacist as soon as you suspect shingles, ideally within three days of the rash, and go the same day, or to an emergency department, if:

• The rash is on your face, near an eye, or on the tip of your nose. Shingles near the eye can damage your sight.
• You have eye pain, redness or blurred vision.
• You have weakness of the face, hearing loss, or dizziness.
• The rash is widespread, or you have a weakened immune system.
• You have a high fever, confusion, a severe headache or a stiff neck.
• The rash looks infected, with spreading redness, pus or increasing heat.
• Pain lasts more than a few weeks after the rash heals, so your doctor can offer nerve pain treatment.