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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. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I thought a spider had been nibbling my tummy in the night! I am 36 and last week, I had run 12km and felt a bit sluggish and more tired than normal. I am in Toronto and got my first Pfizer dose (yayyyy!) this past Tuesday and was knocked off my feet for a few days. Finally got an appointment to see a doctor a few days back and the spider bite is low and behold, shingles! Taking it easy now and thankfully haven’t been in much pain but the shingles\ COVID vaccine double whammy definitely forced me to slow down & chill. Very interesting your readers are mentioning shingles appearing after getting vaccinated. I believe it! Xo

  2. I received the J&J Vaccine on March 19 and was diagnosed with shingles 3.5 weeks later. Thank you for the article and I hope to find some tips to get better soon.

  3. I came down with shingles after my first AstraZeneca vaccine. I looked up the results for the clinical trials, and sure enough, 145 people in the clinical trials contracted shingles. This is statistically significant, IMO. I do not believe that this many people, plus all the accounts from people now falling ill are coincidence. They knew this was a possibility, but did they tell us? No. I’m now afraid to get the second shot, because it is possible to get shingles twice.

    1. Yes it is possible to get shingles multiple times. I came down with shingles after my first Moderna shot. It was my third case 2007, 2018 now 2021. The first two times were mild. I took the antiviral + lots of L Lysine, Zn and used lemon balm salve (I grow lemon balm for home use . The tea is excellent for sleep too but apparently too much tea can relax muscles contributing to acid reflux according to my ND, so I don’t use it internally except with caution now.) This third case of shingles came on slowly. I had a band on my midsection when I got my second shot but my husband and I thot it was farm bug bites besides who would get shingles three times and I had zero symptoms? The next day after the shot the rash came with lots of pain. I have been miserable even with antiviral. I did not have to worry about side effects from the second shot the active shingles took care of that! lol A friend told me, her MD recommended no shingle shot for her because it could contribute to shingles again since she already had shingles once and was getting her covid shots. I will research shingle shots before I take one. I’m a fairly healthy active 68 yr country woman but have low platelets and malformed legs from a near fatal auto accident 40 years ago which makes me rely on a cane. I am aware that L Arginine which even comes in many healthy foods sets up conditions supporting shingles. I watch my intake of the following examples: most grains, corn and rice, pumpkin seeds, cassava, chia, gelatin, broccoli, most berries, grapes, rutabagas, carrots, oranges, winter squash, nuts, coconut, mustard etc. L Lysine helps our bodies against shingles: milk products – I use healthier goat milk, beets, mangos, apricots, apples, pears, figs, avocados, salmon, beef, cod, turnips, chicken, bananas, kale, bok choy, celery. spinach, lettuce. mung beans (sprouts are excellent), adzuki beans. Best to health! Lorna

  4. I, too, contracted shingles after my second covid vax (Moderna). I am currently in week three. The pain is not as excruciating, but it is persisting. I am growing very tired of it all. I am a teacher and I cannot work with constant pain!

  5. HI,
    I think your article is amazing. It is been a week since I was diagnosed with it. More than physical pain I am experiencing lot of mental stress and emotinal unstaibility. I tried walking and listening to music and all kinds of things to distract. I am still feeling emotinally stressed. I am not a very expressive person but now a days even drop of spoon from my hand makes me well up. I do not know if it is related to shingles at all but any feedback would be appreciated.

    1. Hi Shelley-
      I see you posted this last Spring. I feel very anxious and jumpy too. I’m thinking perhaps this may have been the reason I broke out in the first place but I don’t recall felling so jumpy. Did yours go away?

  6. Thank you for their great article. I was first diagnosed with ear infection as well, and after 2 days of suffering enough headaches I happened to check my blood reassure on Feb 28th, and that was skyrocketing . I went to emergency room and that were I got diagnosed with shingles- face, ears, scalp, tongue, teeth, throat all on the right side. My chin was covered with large boils. After a week of antivirals and narcotic pain meds, I bought a lot of orajel for my teeth and alcohol free mouth wash. I am now having to still take blood pressure medicine. I drink 60oz of water daily, and atleast 20oz of buttermilk to cool my body.

    After month and a half of all that, I’m still suffering from so much headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. I’m hardly able to workout and my hips and legs have gone so stiff and is so painful to walk after sitting down. I want to fight this and I force myself to go for short walks. Today I signed up for a gym so I can work on my muscles. I’ve been such an active person, and love gardening, and I can’t believe this is happening to me… it’s sapping away so much of my energy I want to just scream. I’m almost 55 and menopausal and already going through stuff with that, and now this! I’m told I cannot get covid or shingles vaccination for SIX MONTHS now!

    When will this be over!

  7. Hmm. I came down with a bad case of shingles two days after my second Pfizer vaccine shot. May be a coincidence but I see others have had a similar experience here. It’s pretty bad yes but I’m any case better than covid I’m sure.

  8. Thank you for sharing — your photo and your description of the rash along the trigeminal nerve tell me this is exactly what my wife has. We are going to try your remedies and hopefully get better.

  9. i had johnson and kohnson 3 weeks ago and today i have shingles on my head throat tongue im thinking did i get this from the shot

    1. I asked my doctor the same thing. I got my second Moderna shot on Feb 23 and was diagnosed with Shingles on the 2nd of April. She said it was too far out to be the vaccine, but if I had developed Shingles within two weeks of getting the vaccine, that she may have been suspicious. She said something about the immune system working hard on developing the antibodies for Covid that it could potentially allow the varicella-zoster virus to reactivate (I am paraphrasing) because the virus jumps when it gets an opening. So, she basically said it wouldn’t be caused by the vaccine but that your body’s response to the vaccine could open the door.

      1. I got pfizer (2nd dose) on 3/30 and developed symptoms this past weekend (4/11), officially diagnosed yesterday (4/14). I’m 36 and am convinced it’s related to the vaccine