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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…
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
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…
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.
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.
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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!
Thanks for this post! I woke up on my 39th bday on Tuesday. I thankfully recognized the symptoms right away because my dad also had shingles on his eye when I was a kid! I don’t feel stressed at all, but clearly it came from somewhere. I’m on antiviral 800mg 5x per day. I’m only on day 3 and the rash is thankfully not getting bigger- here’s hoping it doesn’t last too terribly long.
I had forgotten about L-lysine!
Thank God I found this post. I am feeling hopeless. My rashes also appeared on Tuesday night around 10:30 PM before that I had a terrible headache for three days and then after that my right ear also started to hurt like hell and then I felt some a few lumps on my right side of my ear and on my neck everything was on the right side and my face was in pain. days before that my face was numbing, my jaws were so painful. I couldn’t understand what I was feeling I was miserable and I kept telling my husband that maybe I should see a doctor already to get checked. he told me that I just needed to rest some more and so we didn’t see a doctor. the pain continued and that night the rashes appeared on my forehead and on and on my temple and then the next day we decided to see an EENT and that doctor first diagnosed me with lymphadenopathy, but after that we showed him the rashes on my temple and on my forehead. when he saw them he told us to go see a dermatologist, so the dermatologist diagnosed me with shingles and they gave me all these antiviral medications and cream, prednisone. it’s so tough because I’m a breast-feeding mom and I don’t know what to do I’ve been reading and reading a lot about shingles because it’s my first time to know about shingles. my family had no history of shingles.
Oh my goodness!!! Was just diagnosed today and like others have said thank you for sharing!!! I thought at 40 I was too young for shingles but obviously not! Appreciate the info, making my shopping list now. Hoping for a speedy recovery for all who are in the thick of it!!
Sending lots of love and healing! Hang in there!
Thank you for this..I was really searching for someone who had shingles at 35s age and on head..i am in my 5th week..everything healed in 2-3 week for me and eye is good too but still have some mild inconsistent pain on rash and feel like bit stretchy skin there when i raised my eyebrows..i am back to my normal life but yes i started the same way with full green veggies juice , antioxidants, fruits ..it all helped me..not sure when this mild pain going to end, let me know if anyone had same situation? Also can shingle come back ? Any experience?
Hi Tina. Would highly recommend acupuncture to help with the postherpetic neuralgia (the residual pain after the rash goes away). As for if shingles can come back? Unfortunately it can but it’s not very common that it does. It exceptionally rare that it would occur at the same nerve root but it can happen. It’s been three years since I had shingles and I haven’t experienced it again since. Sending love and healing!
Wow! Thanks for this. I found it through a google search and I just came through shingles on my face and head. I’m 35. I honestly thought I just had a severe reaction to something and I didn’t do anything to support my body. I was miserable and kept telling my husband that something was wrong with me. Well. Two weeks later and my kids have chickenpox! So I did some research and I had shingles.
So sorry to hear this, Larisa! thinking of you and sending you lots of love and healing!
Omg. Same here! I had terrible headaches first and I felt like my jaws and my face were numbing and just so painful. I was miserable and also told my husband I needed to see a doctor because something was clearly wrong with me. He said, ‘you just need to rest more”, so we didn’t see a doctor. My right ear also hurt like hell and Iymph nodes were swollen. Fourth day, I was still in a lot of pain and around 10:30 pm some red rashes appeared on my forehead and temple. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something I had eaten. We went to the doctor the next morning and was diagnosed with Shingles.
Thank you so much for mentioning the trigeminal nerve! My shingles are on the right side of my neck, ear, chin, and back of my head with what seemed like a strange headache just in front of my ear. The doctor checked and the infection was not in my ear so that pain was worrying me until, Bingo!! I googled “trigeminal nerve” after reading your post and now it makes sense, which goes a long way towards helping me relax about it!
I am so thankful for you all posting. I first went to the doctor in July. I put it off because of Covid. The first thing I noticed was a lump on my rib cage under my boob. I had a slight rash but I thought it was heat rash. I also had a rash on my chest that looked more like heat rash but that went away. My main complaint by the time I saw the doctor was the severe band like pressure around my chest/ribs. Burning and tingling down both arms and my abdomen. Well this opened a can of worms. Doctor never examined me – ordered blood tests and sent me to gyno for mammogram. Blood tests showed high cholesterol so now I am on statins. Mammogram was good but they also did a vaginal ultrasound finding cysts, fibroids and endometriosis. They want to do a hysterectomy. Still no answer or relief for original complaint. Ordered chest X-ray. It showed degenerative discs in thoracic spine. I am 57 – this is common. Sent me to Spine Clinic. Finally – the PA there examined me and came up with the possibility of shingles. He did prescribe the gabapentin for pain but I opted not to take it when I read about side effects. He sent me back to primary. Just this week – last week of August – my primary saw me and prescribed an antiviral. She still didn’t examine me! Plus it sounds like it is WAY too late for that to help. I am guessing it may have been too late by the time I went the first time. Do I have the post neuropathic damage? I still have the rash. Any words of wisdom appreciated.
I don’t know if you will see this, but it is time for a new PCP. Or at least to go forward from experience and demand better care. Sorry you have other health issues, but it may be a blessing to have found them.
Just a note that might help someone: My wife had the shingles along her waist. As soon as she was diagnosed (she already had the bumps there, which she said were painful to the touch) we rubbed Silver Hydrosol on it (Sovereign Silver brand) and she took the maximum recommended dose orally.
Miraculously (I swear! And I have no connection to the business of Sov. Silver) her pain and sores went away and she had no more symptoms, after like 2-3 days.
I had used the Silver on colds and found it to work well so we just tried it for the Shingles and we were amazed how mild her case of Shingles was after that.
Hi! In my second day of taking the anti-viral medicines and the thing that is making me go crazy is the pin and needles feeling!! Can’t sleep and I wake up tired. Please help!
Did anyone experience stomach upset or like a wave like feeling in their stomach with Shingles? I’m around Day 12 of my ordeal and the scabs have formed and the sharp stabbing pain has lessened but I have stomach upset and I wonder if it was the 7 days of anti-viral or just part of the process?
Thank you to all who have posted over the years this thread has been active. Very validating. Just diagnosed yesterday. Originally thought I had bug bite on chest, and realized there were more bites under armpit and back of arm. Wondered if it was poison oak as it worsened. Made connection to some shoulder pain (under scapula… all same side of body) and skin sensitivity on arm a few days prior. Bingo! Really appreciate the suggestions for natural treatment to supplement antiviral. The journey begins. Guess I’d better buckle up here! The encouragement helps. If you all go through this, so can I. Our bodies are powerful.