Are There At-Home Treatments for Shingles?

The pain, tingling, and blistering rash caused by shingles can disrupt your daily life and send you searching for anything that offers relief. While at-home treatments can ease shingles symptoms, this isn’t a condition you should treat on your own.

At Associated Skin Care Specialists, our board-certified dermatologists provide expert treatment for shingles that can lessen the severity and duration of your illness. However, timing matters, and the best results come when you get medical care as soon as you notice symptoms.

Here, we share safe at-home treatments for shingles that, alongside professional care, can support your recovery.

What is shingles?

Shingles is a painful rash caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus remains inactive in your body, usually settling in the nerve cells in the spine. It can reactivate years later, especially when your immune defenses are down or under stress.

Shingles usually start as localized pain, burning, or tingling in the skin. Within days, a rash develops, followed by fluid-filled blisters. These blisters may break open, ooze, and eventually scab over. It can take 2 to 4 weeks for the rash to clear up.

Some people develop lingering nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia, which can last months or even years.

Shingles isn’t contagious, but you can pass the virus to people who can then get chickenpox if they haven’t had it before and aren’t vaccinated.

Medical treatment for shingles

You can’t completely prevent shingles, and there is no cure, but medical treatment can help you get better faster and reduce the risk of chronic nerve pain.

The primary treatment for shingles is antiviral medication, which is most effective when taken within the first 72 hours of your shingles symptoms appearing. If you think you have shingles, don’t wait to make an appointment; early diagnosis and treatment can make a significant difference now and later.

Medical treatment may also include medication to manage nerve pain.

At-home treatment for shingles

At-home care focuses on minimizing the discomfort from the painful, itchy rash. While it won’t speed recovery, it can help you feel more comfortable as your body recovers.

Helpful at-home treatments includes:

Taking cool baths or showers
Applying cold compresses to affected areas
Soaking in an oatmeal bath
Wearing loose, comfortable clothing
Using calamine lotion
Taking over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers or antihistamines

The goal of at-home care is to reduce itching and prevent scratching. Scratching may lead to open wounds that increase the risk of infections. Keep your rash clean and covered as recommended.

If you have a painful rash or suspect shingles, don’t wait for it to get better on its own. Call us today to schedule an appointment. We provide dermatology care at our offices in Blaine, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Fridley, Coon Rapids, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.