This page contains some affiliate links. Please review my disclosure policy.

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
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!

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!

DON'T WANT TO MISS A LIFE UPDATE? Join the THM Community!

Join 10,000+ members of the THM Community to stay up to date on the latest life happenings and behind-the-scenes of The Healthy Maven!

Powered by ConvertKit

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.

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

246 Comments

  1. https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/hair-skin-nails/shingles/
    *#* Capsaicin cream is sold over-the-counter as Zostrix or Capzasin-P. *#* Another way to deplete substance P and potentially *gain relief from the itching is to expose the affected skin to hot water for 30-60 seconds.* This works very well for contact dermatitis from plants like poison ivy, and may be effective here as well. *#* A third topical therapy is *turmeric  paste.* To make this Ayurvedic remedy: use:
    1/2 cup of turmeric powder, with
    1 cup of water
    add 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of ground black pepper, (optional), then 
    boil this mixture into a paste for at least 8 minutes (you may have to add more water). Let cool before using. Then, apply to affected area.

    Be aware that turmeric can stain clothes and plastic container, so be careful when applying to affected area.

    In addition, a vaccine to prevent shingles has been recently approved by the FDA for use in people age 60 and older. The new vaccine, Zostavax, isn’t perfect – it works about 50 percent of the time. However, people who developed shingles despite receiving the vaccine seemed to have less severe cases than did those who got the placebo. Zostavax did prevent postherpetic neuralgia in 67 percent of the people studied. The vaccine seemed to be most effective in people 60-69 years old but also provided some protection for older groups. Side effects were mostly redness, soreness, swelling or itching at the injection site and headache. The vaccine is somewhat expensive – typically between $150 to $200.

    Having had an unpleasant case of shingles, Dr. Weil is inclined to recommend the vaccine for those at risk.

  2. I am just wondering if anyone has any help for the stiff neck and jaw pain? (I’m sure there’s a specific term for this troubled area of pain) I am coming out of shingles today is my last day on prescribed medication —day 7. I feel like I’m almost back to normal but I would really like to shake off the feeling of being sore on my neck. Any help would be appreciated.

  3. I am very happy to read this article- dr told me today whatbi thought was just a burn from my blow dryer and some extremely swollen glands on my neck was also shingles. Hoping for the best, I just got back from store and picked up some komucha and probiotic water and some alkaline water and bone broth, and now that I am reading your article I am def getting that lemon balm tomorrow. Started vaulters and an anti viral cream hoping it stays put and does not move to my face ear or eyes. I’ve been super stressed, under brought this upon myself I’m 38 and this is def a lesson in better self care and mindfulness is a must.

  4. I like how you mentioned that it’s very important when you have shingles to relax because it is usually brought on by stress in your life. My husband has shingles right now, and I have no idea what to do for him because I’ve never had them before. I will definitely keep all of your great tips and information in mind when trying to take care of my husband and his shingles.

  5. Suffering from HERPES VIRUS is a terrible experience because i was told it has no cure,the good news am happily sharing now is the great power behind herbal medication i got diagnosed of herpes virus in the year 2014 and in 2016 i started having outbreaks and it became more terrible for me to bare,One blissful morning i came across a blog comment posted by a man call Thompson on how he was cured of herpes simplex virus type 2 with the herbal medication of (Dr LOSA)who is a specialist in curing all kinds of std virus and chronic disease with herbs,i immediately copied out his contact via whatsapp number +2348121742613 and i explain all my problems to him, he was very honest with me and also kept his promise to get me cured with his herbs if i follow the prescriptions he gives along with the medication which i did exactly as he prescribed, to God be the glory My herpes simplex virus i have been suffering from got cured in just 2 weeks after completing the dose of his herbal cure. once again thank you so much sir for restoring my health back and most especially my skin.
    He cure listed diseases
    CANCER
    HIV
    ALS
    HEPATITIS A AND B
    DIABETIC.
    HERPES

  6. thank you all for all these stories and experiences, i hope you are all better now or getting better. i recently also got diagnosed with shingles and im only 22. the pain is unbearable but im ACV medication course.

  7. I’m 28 and in Vietnam for a month with my partner. I thought I was having a weird reaction to a mosquito bite (I normally react horribly to them) but I started to notice the red splotch spreading and then blistering. We were out in the middle of nowhere for the first 3 days of it and by the time we made it to Hanoi to a pharmacy it had spread from one little spot about 3 inches down from my armpit to a band across my back, side and right breast of angry red splotches and blisters which tingled. After the pharmacist gave me a topical cream I burst into tears on the street cause it just felt so disgusting and my gut told me something else was up. We taxied across town to an english speaking doctors office and made an emergency appointment – she had a brief look at it and said it was Shingles and ran a test. I’m on my 5th Acyclovir STADA pill and am taking codine for the pain which has been relentless for the last 5 hours. I have 3 days left of my holiday and then a 12 hour set of flights home to then attend my partners grandfathers funeral. I’m going to hit up the pharmacy tomorrow for some sleeping pills and more pain relief but I can’t wait to find some of the other items you have all mentioned. I’m in so much pain but it’s a small weight lifted to hear about things that have given you all relief.

  8. I was diagnosed with shingles 5 weeks ago. It started with me feeling pain in my shoulders on a Thursday and Friday. I initially dismissed it as a flare up from a previous accident. That Friday evening I also began to feel fatigued and just not well. Woke up Saturday with the pain in my shoulder isolated to my left side. As the day went on I massaged my shoulder and realized a had a rash on my back left shoulder area. Thought it odd, but dismissed that. Later toward the evening noticed blotches on the front chest/ shoulder area. Pain really starting to get severe. Woke up Sunday morning with ridiculous pain and rashes in both areas. I went to urgent care after a painful bout of putting clothes on and was diagnosed with shingles. What in the world…everyone’s first comment is, that’s an old people’s sickness! Well apparently not as I’m 41.
    The pain comes and goes and feels like I’m being stabbed. The worst to me is the itching, burning and feeling like my skin is being stretched.
    I was out on the antibiotics right away, given gabapentin and other pain meds. Every week a pharmacist suggests a different medicine for the pain/itching. The lidocaine patch was terrible and I didn’t last long with that. The other med with pepper just burned and made no sense to me. Calamine lotion has been my bff but only a temporary relief.
    I feel like I’m going to rub my skin off with all this itching trying not to really scratch.
    My skin feels rough and I haven’t had a good nights sleep in 5 weeks! I only missed two days of work though I could have taken off this entire time trying to find relief.
    5 weeks and praying this is it!!!
    I’m sorry that I’m not alone in this but glad that I’m not!

    1. I’m on day 22 of shingles. I have it on my back, left arm, and on my palm and fingers. The pain is unreal, the itching is TORTURE. Other than the anti-viral I was given gabapentin for the nerve pain.

  9. 3 weeks ago I had the flu — what I THOUGHT was the flu. Last week I visited my sister who lives 3 hours from me. The night I got there I was in the ER with what I THOUGHT was a kidney infection. The lower back pain is horrible. I also have fibromyalgia and my shoulder muscles tend to get balled up and I go in for trigger point injections and it goes away. The ER dr gave me a TPI for this and it just took the pain down from an 11 to a 5. I’ve been icing my back, taking Tylenol every 6 hours and bam! A week to the day of the mysterious back pain I get a painful bumpy rash on my upper abdomen. The back pain has turned into a burning, searing pain. I emailed my doctor and he prescribed the antiviral that I started taking the day after the rash appeared. I hope it helps keep the rash small. It’s about the size of a powder compact. The part that hurts worst is the dang back pain; I wish there was something that would make it disappear! Gonna send my daughter to Sprouts for some broth and lemon balm tea!