Shingles and Other Herpes Virus
Cause of Shingles
Shingles is caused by a re-emergence of the Herpes Varicella Zoster virus. This is the virus that causes chickenpox. It is often called Herpes Zoster. It appears as a painful skin rash with blisters that are red and become puss-filled. This rash can occur on the back, around the waist or over the head and onto the face. It is typically on one side of the body, not crossing the mid-line.
The virus lives in a nerve root and travels out to the ends of that nerve to replicate. The rash normally heals in 2 to 4 weeks, but the lingering nerve pain can last for years. This pain is referred to as PHN or Post-Herpetic Neuralgia. The only pharmaceutical treatment for shingles is the oral administration of anti-viral drugs. This has shown limited efficacy.
To achieve this limited efficacy, it must be administered within the first 3 days of the emergence of the rash, but realistically, the rash is rarely recognized and diagnosed in this short a time.
Treating Shingles or any Herpes virus with herbs again requires the three-pronged approach.
- First, one must address the symptoms,
- Next, one must inhibit the viral replication
- Third, the body must be supported in its effort to repair the damaged skin.
The appropriate combination of herbs and natural substances that is used to treat this condition must be designed to accomplish all of these functions.
Additionally, it must be designed to address the lingering nerve pain of PHN by providing nerve quelling and analgesic herbal constituents. This treatment can again be delivered transdermally.
White Willow Bark, Arnica and Meadow Sweet are excellent herbal tools for helping to reduce the pain of the rash and lesions. These three herbs provide significant pain relief through prostaglandin blockers and analgesics. St. John’s Wort, Lavender and Passion Flower act to calm and quiet overactive or irritated nerves.
The combined actions of these six herbs, serves to relieve the symptoms of Shingles and PHN. Next, Poke and Humic Acid stop the replication of the Herpes virus. This slows or halts the progress of the outbreak. Lemon Balm and Chaparral are also considered potent anti-herpetics (Herpes fighting agents). These herbs inhibit the replication of the Herpes virus.
Finally, Comfrey and Aloe Vera serve to facilitate repair of the damaged skin cells. They increase the rate of new skin generation and ensure that healthy skin cells are produced.
The Shingles Relief Lotion can be applied multiple times during the day and night. The skin should be gently washed between applications so that the herbal constituents have an easy and unaltered path of migration through the skin to the site of viral replication.
Interesting Sidebar about Humic Acid
Humic Acid, a key ingredient of the Nature’s Rite Shingle-eze product, is a derivative of soil. It actually has a surface that appears like a cell wall to the virus. The virus “see” the Humic acid and attach themselves to the molecule where they are held captive and cannot replicate. It actually acts as a “decoy” to keep the virus from attaching to viable cells.
The combination of herbs used to quell overactive nerves is so effective that it has been preferred by many physicians to Lidoderm patches. Further, there are no headaches or nausea side effects and it helps to relieve the pain a great deal.
Treating PHN
After the shingles outbreak is relieved, there is very often a lingering form of nerve pain called Post-Herpetic Neuralgia. This PHN can last for years and can severely affect the comfort of the patient. The powerful anti-neuralgic herbs of Shingles Relief Lotion address the PHN problems directly by calming the nerves and relieving the pain. Then, the anti-viral herbs, over time, will reduce the lingering pain by soaking-up the virus that remain in the area.
Genital and Oral Herpes
Cold sores, fever blisters and genital herpes are all similar in that the virus which causes them behaves in a similar manner. This same combination of herbs can be used equally well on all of these conditions.