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Remember that time I got shingles on the face? I know I won’t be forgetting that experience anytime soon…For anyone who has had or currently has shingles, you know this is a pain you won’t soon forget. They call it adult chickenpox, but I can assure you it’s far worse than chickenpox ever was (some of us actually got chickenpox pre chickenpox vaccine!).

I’m going to skip over the whole medical diagnosis part since your doctor should probably be the one doing that but instead describe my personal experience with shingles i.e. herpes zoster or varicella zoster virus and how to recover from shingles quickly.

The first thing I did when I got diagnosed, was immediately take to the internet to see if anyone had helpful tips for healing shingles fast. I read a lot of shingles horror stories, some not-so-horror stories but also some really productive tips. I’m hoping this post can be that for some of you. Or if you have a friend or family member suffering, feel free to pass onto them. We got this!

So, first things first…

Trigeminal Nerve Shingles and healing shingles naturally
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SHINGLES DIAGNOSIS

A couple days before the infamous shingles rash appeared, my lymph nodes on the left side of my neck and ear were super inflamed and I felt like I had a fever. I then developed a lot of pain in my ear with a monstrous headache, so the next day I went to the doctor to see if I had an ear infection. That morning I noticed two huge zits on my forehead which I thought was strange (because I never breakout on my forehead) but they didn’t occur to me as anything but zits. You know those huge underground zits you get? They looked and felt like those.

My doctor looked in my ear, felt my lymph nodes and informed me I did not have an ear infection but likely some kind of virus that my body was trying to fight. Neither of us thought anything of the zits and I went home feeling pretty crappy but relieved it wasn’t an ear infection.

Over the next few hours is when the rash really started to develop. A few more bumps on my forehead, one on my eyebrow and those big “zits” also known as “shingles blisters” started to become really painful. The pain I felt in my ear started moving into my head and my swollen lymph nodes made it difficult to turn my neck. I later found out that the pain in my ear was likely caused by the fact that the shingles on my face developed in my trigeminal nerve which is right next to your middle ear.

I knew pretty much as soon as the pain migrated to my forehead that I had shingles. People have been shocked to discover that you can a) get shingles under the age of 60 and b) get shingles on your face. I knew both were possible because my Mom had them on her face when I was really young. Thankfully that situation clued me into what was happening with my own body but for any of you out there who don’t know this, you can get shingles at any age and they can happen at any nerve root in your body, including your face!

Shingles recovery and tips and tricks for how to heal your body when diagnosed with shingles

SHINGLES RECOVERY

Because I pretty quickly tuned into what was happening, I was able to get started with my shingles recovery fairly quickly. According to the CDC, if you manage to diagnose shingles within 72 hours of the blisters appearing, the antiviral medications (typically acyclovir, valacyclovir/valtrex, and famciclovir) are most effective.

I’m lucky I caught it within that window and am certain I was able to recover from shingles fast because of this. Of course, not everyone will know right away, but if you have a gut feeling or any of the symptoms I described above, go to your doctor!

Besides my antiviral 3x a day I was also prescribed pain meds, which I honestly didn’t end up taking. Heavy pain meds make me feel sick and groggy so except for the first two days when the pain was pretty excruciating, I used advil/motrin (ibuprofen) and tylenol (acetaminophen) to help manage the pain.

Eventually the pain dissipated and was followed by itching as the scabs dried and healed over. This is the typical course of shingles in which it starts with pain + tingling and then the rash appears. Once the rash scabs over you are no longer contagious.

Of course, I also turned to diet and lifestyle choices to also help manage the symptoms. I’m fairly confident that in addition to the antivirals, these choices helped to decrease the span of my shingles experience. So let’s get into that…

Healing shingles through supplements, diet and lifestyle changes - these are the best tips for healing your shingles and aiding in shingles recovery

HOW TO RECOVER FROM SHINGLES QUICKLY

I think the most important piece of this post is this section. Of course, catching it early and taking the antivirals helps a ton but shingles is so much more than just popping some pills and hoping for the best. I’m not here to throw conventional medicine under the rug. I don’t think I’d have had such a quick turnaround if it hadn’t been for the full course of antivirals I took, but there are a lot of home remedies you can incorporate to also help speed up the process and the pain and itchiness that typically ensues.

CBD/THC

In addition to OTC pain meds, I used CBD and THC to help manage the pain. I’ve been playing around with different types of CBD and found the Calm pen from Dosist to be most effective. For THC I used topical salve on the rash itself and it was literally a godsend to help manage the pain. It was basically like a more effective calamine lotion.

BONE BROTH

There’s a reason your body craves broth when you’re sick. Bone broth is super anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting. It contains vitamins and minerals that help support gut health and reduce pain and inflammation. Generally a good idea to consume bone broth with a weakened immune system.

I’ve had two cups of bone broth every single day for the last two weeks. Currently obsessed with Kettle and Fire and especially their mushroom and chicken broth! Use code THEHEALTHYMAVEN to save 20% off your first order.

KOMBUCHA/PROBIOTICS

When they say “it all starts in your gut”, they’re not kidding! After my bout with SIBO I had to eliminate and then slowly add in fermented foods and probiotics. It’s been almost 6 months since then and I am now happily back to taking my daily probiotic and guzzling my Healthade kombucha. 5:00 PM became my “kombucha happy hour”.

SUPPLEMENTS

Pretty much everyone under the sun will recommend a different supplement to you when they hear you have shingles. Truthfully, there are many MANY out there that could benefit you, shingles or not. I decided to stick with what I had from my Care/of packs and add in one that was consensus amongst everyone, L-Lysine.

Zinc – supports immune function and has an antiviral effect

L-lysine – an amino acid that helps reduce the spread of the shingles virus

Rhodiola – an adaptogenic herb that’s shown stress relieving properties

Astragalus – another herb that helps support immune function and has an antiviral effect

LEMON BALM

I wasn’t sure which category to put this under, so instead it gets a category of it’s own. Lemon Balm is an herb that is known to help reduce pain from shingles specifically, both internally and topically. I pretty much got all my hydration from drinking 6-8 cups of Lemon Balm Tea a day and once the initial couple of days of pain went down, I used a topical lemon balm cream to help reduce inflammation, reduce pain and help promote healing.

Someone on Instagram told me to order this Lemon Balm Salve from Amazon and it was literally the best advice I got from everyone. It’s kind of like one of those thick lotions that you put over the fluid-filled blisters. Within a week the rash had gone done and had begun healing. Some people swear by capsaicin cream but I haven’t tried it.

DIET

I am a true believer in the healing power of food. Now I don’t think eating perfectly “clean” replaces other lifestyle habits or conventional medicine, but it is a great tertiary care to support your body. And truthfully, when you’re sick (at least when I’m sick), I’m not craving the same foods I normally do. I think when you really tap in and listen you’ll realize that the foods you crave like bone broth and vegetables are actually your body’s way of supporting you.

In my case I literally wanted all the warm, green veggies in broth. Particularly kale and bok choy. Interestingly my acupuncturist told me that bok choy is a common healing and cooling food in Traditional Chinese Medicine and that because shingles is excessive heat in your body, bok choy was a great cooling choice. Our bodies are crazy!

In addition to plenty of veggies, I also found myself gravitating towards antioxidant fruits like berries and lots of bananas. I didn’t intentionally do it, but I pretty much ate zero refined sugar for a week. As I started to feel better I was like “give me the brownies!!!” but while I was still heavy in the pain-zone I didn’t want any of it.

I also consumed more turmeric that I ever thought I could and especially loved it in my morning Matcha and Turmeric Latte. My body was NOT craving coffee so my morning matcha really did the trick.

ESSENTIAL OILS

I’ll be honest, when I’m sick I often turn to essential oils for primary support, but for shingles they definitely played second fiddle. I rubbed fortify on my chest and neck lymph nodes to support my immune system and diffused grounding and soothing blends like unwind, spa spirit and tranquility to help stay calm and promote self-care and relaxation.

I personally didn’t do this because I had shingles on my face but if you have shingles on the side of the body (the most common) or somewhere you can soak in a bath, people swear by oatmeal baths to help relieve pain and improve symptoms as well as using a cool compress to provide some relief.

Note: After about two weeks I began seeing an acupuncturist to help with some postherpetic neuralgia (post-shingles nerve pain) that remained even after the rash had healed. I highly recommend if you’re still dealing with pain but are out of the itchiness and scabbing phase.

Kombucha and how probiotics help in shingles recovery

THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP FOR SHINGLES

I know that this is a lot of information so give yourself time to take it all in. Perhaps, more importantly take this one piece of advice: RELAX. Shingles is usually brought on by stress in your life. While I didn’t think I had a lot of stress (I’ve become a lot better at managing it!), when I listed everything on my plate it’s easy to see how my body was overburdened.

The biggest lesson learned through this process is how important it is to really, truly support your body. People often mentioned how lucky I was to be able to have a job that works from home, but when you’re sick it’s easy to just reach for your phone in bed or work on a project while recovering on the couch. The boundaries are less clear. Though I did the bare minimum I needed to do, I mostly took a lot of time to rest, nap, journal, watch TV and essentially do nothing.

Acknowledging those stressors and putting in plans of action to eliminate or diffuse them is the key to getting over shingles.

And note: there’s no way to cure shingles in 3 days! Anyone who says so is lying, but hopefully using these tips you can get rid of them quickly without any complications.

* * * * *

If you’re over 60 there is a shingles vaccination (called shingrix) to help with the prevention of shingles. You can ask your doctor or healthcare provider about it if you’re interested. And yes, it’s still worth getting even if you’ve had shingles as you can get it more than once!

Have you ever had or currently have shingles? Any tips to add? Drop them below!

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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246 Comments

  1. Hi ! Just came across your post ! I’m literally going through the exact same symptoms as you . Never thought I’d ever experience this . My scalp is super itchy though …. any tips to calm the itchy scalp ? I’m going to try and follow the same routine as you and hopefully find some relief soon ! Thank you so much for all your help !!! Hugs ! 🙂

  2. I didnt realize what I had on my face was shingles until some weeks later. Started around Jan 28th and I still see the pockmarks and redness on my forehead where the blisters were. I thought ti was some kind of allergic reaction! How long before all the redness truly goes away? Any one have experience or suggestions with that? thanks!

  3. Update —. March 4th and I’m maybe (fingers crossed) getting better. Have had shingles since January 25th (rash on throat, under chin, around and in ear, and on back of scalp, which appeared jan27 after two days of excruciating neck pain). I’ve taken two 10 day courses of antivirals, am taking lysine snd olive leaf extract and vitamin B complex snd zinc and vitamin C. Cutting back foods with more l-arginine. I’m vegetarian so I was eating a lot of nuts and seeds and also dark chocolate just before this outbreak. This is the sickest I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t get sick. Yesterday was the first day where my balance and vision seemed better. I had terrible double vision for days. Balance problems and dizziness which have kept me in bed for the last 4 weeks (I didn’t feel sick the first week except for neck pain). I did start the antivirals by the third day of rash, stopped after 10 days, then had another new outbreak, so was started again on them. The rash is gone except on my head where some itchy scabs remain from the second outbreak. Why are so many young people getting shingles now? I’m past 60 and never heard of shingles until a few years ago when the Shringrix vaccine came out. I meant to get that and didn’t. I’m sorry now. I have known hundreds of people and never knew anyone with shingles. It did used to be an “old persons” disease. I wonder why this changed? Thanks for all posting here. I’ve gotten some good health tips from this site. Get well soon to all of us!

  4. I’m only 37….mom / self employed out of house / running own biz which involves taking care of others / 1 young kid distance learning / husband works 40 hours out of house and 2 dogs (that actually bring me so much joy to walk if I have time)…Then throw in a sudden death of my best friend of 25 years…one week later I get shingles, I suppose it’s my body reminding me to rest and relax more. I really hope I caught it early enough and appreciate these tips. I just ordered lemon balm, thanks for all the tips…I feel comfort knowing I’m not alone

    1. I’m so sorry to hear about your close friend and your sickness. Can I ask, was it anytime after she received a Covid vaccine? Thank you and take care

  5. Heyy thank u so much for sharing all those tipsss !!!
    I’m 16years old and I got diagnosed with shingles…I have it on my back, on my armpits and on my chest.It’s 4am rn and I can’t sleep because of the pain and it’s itching meee buuuut I gotta stay positive hahaha
    Tbh I only took my medications but Imma eat more healthily cuz I wanna get rid of it ughhhh

  6. Thank you all for sharing your experiences with shingles. I took shingles on my left side over four weeks ago starting with an itch. I googled rash and went straight to doctor and confirmed shingles. Prescribed cream and antiviral tablets. I rest as often as I can with a cool pack on sore area and I also use cool pack in bed for a lovely soothing feeling. I found baby caldesene powder brilliant for cooling down rash and it is brilliant to heal and dry out rash sores. This worked for me. I still feel a burning sensation down left side sometimes especially after doing shopping or lifting for long periods.

  7. 4 weeks ago I woke up with a stiff achy neck. 2 days later I saw a red bump on my neck. 2 days later I went to the doctor as the spots spread on my right ear, scalp, and under my chin and neck. I knew I had shingles. Yes. Valacyclovir 1000 mg x3 daily for 10 days. Rash was not so bad. Bit itchy, some nerve pain under my chin especially at night. Low fever for a few days. 4 days into the antiviral I had double vision and no balance. Horrible. Finished 10 days of medicine. Saw a neurologist (thought “did I have a stroke.”). No loss of facial muscles, no loss of hearing but ear pain. No shingles in eye or around face. Another 5 days of valacyclovir. Fever is gone, rash is about gone but head itches. Dizziness and lack of depth perception remain 3 1/2 weeks after rash. I’m basically disabled. I can do some simple task for maybe 15 minutes with great effort then have to lie down. I’ve been in bed most of the time for 3 weeks. I’m past 60, have always been very active, even athletic. So this is a shock. Taking lysine, am vegetarian so diet is very good. I hope I recover someday. Feeling so discouraged. Thanks for the posts.

  8. Thank you so much for this post. I’m fairly young and healthy but have been very stressed out lately with all the COVID stuff and some new health issues I’m dealing with so shingles took advantage and hit a couple of days ago. I’m hoping it will be a mild case — only a rash on my abdomen. I”m drinking Kombucha as I write this and would never have thought about that and I will start Lysine asap. Thank you so much for the helpful advice…!

  9. I’m 52 and consider myself to be extremely healthy and health conscious. I am currently being treated for Shingles taking an antiviral. I started with a slight sore throat, ear ache, achiness and just thought I was sore due my workouts. I also got two huge zits on my forehead out of nowhere and don’t ever break out. A few days later I woke up with a huge swollen lymph node on my right side. Prior to that, I developed what looked like a scratch at first on my neck that became very painful and brushed it off by applying hydrocortisone cream on it but it was not going away. I went to see our nurse practitioner and she checked my ears, nose and throat and simply said that my body is fighting an infection. I went home feeling lousy and the back of my head started to hurt. It felt like a huge zit but it involved a large area of my scalp. I had my husband take a picture and it was a very red tender rash near the nape of my neck. I also took a picture of my neck scratch and saw tiny blisters had developed. I did some research and realized it was definitely shingles and was able to start treatment that day. Diet does play a huge role as it turns out foods high in the amino acid arginine, were foods that I consumed daily. I drink coffee, only use nut based milks, eat every nut and seed including flaxseed, chia and hemp seeds, blueberries, blackberries, nut butters, chocolate, soy beans, oatmeal, Ezekiel bread and a few other grains. I had to change my diet completely and incorporate more foods high in Lysine which are lean protein, eggs, full fat yogurt, cottage cheese, Kefir, certain cheeses, bananas, kiwis, pineapple anything citrus will do and I switched to green tea in the morning. Alcohol is definitely off the table as it can interfere with the antiviral meds and cause other side effects. I also started drinking more Kombucha tea. For the pain, I used CBD caplets day and night to help me sleep, continued with my daily vitamins and added 1000 mg of L-lysine. As my rash is starting to heal, I’d read in another post to use a little bactine that contains lidocaine. That would help with the itchiness and pain. I still have 4 more days left of medication but I’m feeling so much better other than a headache I get possibly from the meds. REST is the hardest thing for me because I love to workout, however, it’s incredibly necessary for your body to heal. I use meditation and a little slow yoga or light stretching to calm my nervous system and keep the stress and anxiety at bay. I am grateful for the internet and to have found this post to help guide me through this journey and to anyone who’s suffering currently or past, I hope you can find relief and stay health.

  10. Thank God I found this post and thank you so much for sharing your experience how are you now and how long did it take for you to get better and really heal? We share the same like almost exact experience except mine are on the right side of my face and I also thought at first that everything that I was feeling, that I was in a lot of pain because I got an ear infection and so I went to see an ENT and he checked my ear and said my ear was OK and for a moment I was relieved and he said I just got the lymphadenopathy or swollen lymph nodes. after that we showed him the rashes on my face because at that time my hair was covering the rashes. He told us to go see the dermatologist on the same floor and that doctor diagnosed me with shingles. I’m going to try applying coconut oil on my rashes today. It’s such a coincidence because before I got sick like a week ago, I bought a big jar of virgin coconut oil😄