Can Acupuncture Help With Shingles Pain

However shingles is caused by a virus which cannot be cured.

Can acupuncture help with shingles pain.

Please can you tell me if acupuncture would benefit me. Acupuncture stimulates the body to produce an anti inflammatory response and switch off over active nerves which may give relief from shingles pain. Acupuncture works for the treatment of shingles because it speeds up the resolution of the rash and reduces pain itching. Patients who have come to me due to the pain associated with shingles were very satisfied with the reduction to elimination of pain.

This ancient practice uses very thin needles to balance your qi. This new research confirms the efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of nerve pain related to the sequela of shingles. Acupuncture relieves pain due to shingles reduces the need for painkillers speeds the healing of herpes zoster lesions and reduces the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia phn. The treatment of shingles has historically been treated by acupuncture within the traditional chinese medicine tcm system for well over 1 000 years.

But where there is sufficient clinical experience for us to believe that where we can treat early in the presentation of the condition there may be some good possibility for reducing the severity of the outbreak. Acupuncture points can be needled to clear any heat and move the qi and thus reducing any pain and swelling there may be. As you might imagine we have been asked about this many times over the years. Yes acupuncture can treat the pain associated with shingles as well as to help boost one s immune system.

The treatment of post herpetic pain is an area which has been heavily researched in china as our factsheet. I have an available appointment for tomorrow. July 25 2005 a new study offers insights into what helps and what does not help relieve long lasting shingles pain. People get it to ease or stop pain from any number of causes and it may help with shingles.

How can acupuncture help. A latent pathogen is a virus or other infection that lodges in the body. In chinese medicine shingles is viewed as a latent pathogen and external heat. Doctors call it postherpetic neuralgia or phn.

Tianjing university of traditional chinese medicine researchers combined acupuncture with standard drug therapy. The acupuncturist is able to determine which pattern of shingles the person has and use the precise acupuncture points to treat the underlying imbalance that allowed the virus to rear its ugly head in the first place.