When you come down with a painful and itchy rash, and you go to the doctor only to find out that you have shingles, you may wonder what you can do to ease your pain and discomfort as the virus works its way out of your system. Your doctor will likely prescribe you antiviral medications and recommend an over-the-counter painkiller, you may be hoping for additional pain relief through natural or alternative methods. Get to know some of the alternative options available to you, so that you can get to feeling better as soon as possible and get back to your daily life.
Chiropractic Care
You most likely wouldn't think of going to the chiropractor as a solution to a skin rash. However, shingles is not just any old skin rash. The virus for shingles actually lies dormant in your system (specifically in your spine) for years until an outbreak. As such, chiropractic care can cause severe back and spinal pain by damaging and injuring the nerves.
Chiropractic adjustments to the back and spine can help alleviate this nerve-related pain. This is because when the spine is out of alignment, the nervous system is already compromised, leaving the nerves pinched and unable to properly heal and repair themselves. You can immediately feel relief from your back pain associated with shingles and can help to facilitate nerve healing.
Oatmeal (Or Other) Baths
If you want to take steps at home to treat your shingles pain and discomfort, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to take a soothing bath. There are a number of ways that you can take a bath to help sooth your pain.
First, you can take a nice, cool bath. Remember not to take a bath in cold water. If your bathwater is overly cold, your skin will react negatively and you will feel more discomfort than you did previously.
If you prefer warm baths rather than cool, you have options in this form as well. Just as cold water will cause you problems, so will hot water. So, make sure you draw yourself a warm bath, not hot. Add an oatmeal bath solution to your bathwater following the instructions on the package and soak for several minutes.
After any bath you take, make sure you dry your skin off completely. Do not scrub your skin dry, however. Pat your skin with a towel gently until completely dry. You can then use lotions that are fragrance and dye-free to help further soothe your problematic shingles rash.
Using these natural and alternative remedies to treat your shingles will help to ease your pain and discomfort as the antivirals your doctor gave you do their work to rid your body of the viral infection. So, give these remedies a try and get to feeling better sooner rather than later.
