Shingles is a brutally painful infection from the varicella-zoster virus known as chicken pox. As the acute infection from chicken pox fades, the virus remains dormant in the body, sleeping inside nerve cells. Later in life the virus can reactivate in the form of shingles.

The condition is most likely to develop in people with a weakened immune system, those receiving chemotherapy, or those over 50 years old who have been ill, under stress or experienced trauma.

When activated, shingles can cause burning, itching, stabbing, shooting or excruciating pain that patients often describe as “zingers.” Then, within a week, a nasty rash may appear as a band of blisters or patches — little bumps filled with milky white pus. The rash is generally on one side of the body as the virus travels along specific nerve roots. It can occur anywhere on the body, but typically wraps around the torso or chest from the back to the breast, on the neck, or above and around the eyes.

The varicella-zoster virus is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact with the fluid that oozes from the open blisters. Those with shingles can’t spread the disease to another person, but they can spread the chickenpox virus.

In the field of western medicine, shingles is treated with anti-viral medications such as valacyclovir (Valtrex) or acyclovir (Zovirax) and with gabapentin and opioids for nerve pain.

When I was studying to become a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), I worked in Guang’anmen Hospital, an intercostal neuralgia clinic in Beijing. There, I treated shingles, or “she chuan chuang,” with treatments dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In TCM, shingles is treated with acupuncture combined with herbal concoctions. Examples of external herbal applications are Herba Polygoni Perfoliate, an annual flowering plant with anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties and sometimes licorice root.

Through my studies and clinical practice, I have learned that positive results rely on applying the principles of “same treatment for different diseases” and “different treatments for the same disease.” As such, consideration of the individual patient’s characteristics and clinical symptoms is essential to determine treatment protocols.

When the affected skin is bright red with a burning quality of pin-prick pain and accompanied by irritability, dry mouth, thirst and constipation, the condition is what TCM calls “the pathogenic fire” accumulating in the blood system. It should be treated by clearing heat and cooling the blood to purge the fire. Acupuncture treatments would focus on clearing heat and TCM would recommend
heat-clearing herbs.

When the pimples fill with milky fluid, TMC calls this “toxic damp heat” in the spleen channel. A patient will often have poor appetite, loose stools and bloating. Acupuncture treatments would then focus on venting heat and resolving toxicity and dampness; herbs to drain toxic damp heat are recommended.

A central factor in TCM is Qi, the vital energy and life force within us. When Qi and blood are weakened by illness or old age and cannot rid the virus, then the lesions will be partially erupted. Severe electric pain that radiates and shoots along the nerve pathways can develop as a result, and movement can worsen the condition. This is called Qi and blood stagnation, referred to in western medicine as postherpetic neuralgia. It can last one to six months or more, sometimes longer depending on the individual.

Shingles can be a serious and life-altering condition. Vaccinations recommended for those aged 50 and older do not completely protect from shingles. However, they can reduce the severity and duration of the disease.

We must remember that shingles can be prolonged by a constitutionally weak immune system and medications such as immunosuppressants. To maintain a strong immune system, I always recommend avoiding alcohol and sugar, eating plenty of bitter greens, leafy vegetables, radishes and ginger and drinking lemon water every day. These remedies help fight against shingles and are recommended by both western and eastern styles of medicine alike.

Diane Sheppard is a licensed acupuncturist and doctor of traditional Chinese medicine with AcQPoint Wellness Center. She can be reached at (760) 345.2200. For more information, visit www.acqpoint.com.