Treating Shingles Naturally and Holistically with the Use of Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Each month, there are a number of Americans who try out acupuncture treatment for their shingles infection. While there may be a few of them who have a fundamental understanding of what this infection is all about, most only become aware when they themselves get infected with this condition. This article aims to help you understand what shingles is and the means to fight or prevent its outbreak.

What is shingles?

The Mayo Clinic defines shingles as an infection by the varicella-zoster virus that results in rash that is painful and can develop at any part of your body, although it most often occurs around the torso. The varicella zoster is the virus that also causes chickenpox. People usually experience chickenpox once in their lives; however, the virus can still linger in the body and stay dormant in the nerve tissues near the brain and the spinal cord, a trigger and can reactivate the virus although it will manifest this time in the form of shingles.

Each year, around 4 million Americans get infected with chickenpox. Almost all of them (about 96% of them) will experience it during adulthood based on statistics coming from the Center for Disease Control or CDC. Since shingles and chickenpox originate from the same virus, we can now begin to understand why there seems to be a lot of cases for shingles infection occurring each month. There are vaccines that have been made to combat chickenpox but most of them are not designed for the adults who have been infected with the virus.

How common is shingles?

In the United States, roughly 33% of the population will experience shingles once in their lifetime; each year, almost a million Americans suffer from this disease and most of them are adults; people (women and men) who are at the age of 60 years and older, account for half of all the cases of shingles.

Outbreaks of shingles can be triggered by certain factors, and one of the most common of these factors is stress, which is very preventable. When a person is suffering from too much stress, the stress suppresses the immune system making it function less than its normal full capacity giving shingles an opportunity to arise. Seeking ways to lessen stress in your body such as regular exercise or getting adequate can restore the maximal function of your immune system.

Eating a diet with low amounts of L-arginine and high amounts of L-lysine can also help prevent the occurrence of shingles. Shingles is especially sensitive to the balance of L-lysine to L-arginine in the body. These two are amino acids that can be found naturally in the human body, although they can also be derived from foods. In order to prevent the proliferation of the herpes voster virus in the body, the amount of L-lysine should be greater to that of L-arginine in the body. Vegetables, dairy and proteins are rich in Lysine while high amounts of arginine can be found in tomatoes, chocolate and nuts. When you have been infected with the shingles virus, merely modifying your diet can help lessen the severity and duration of your infection. One can also avail of L-lysine supplements during and after a shingles outbreak to help maintain the proper balance of L-lysine to L-arginine.

When it comes to natural and alternative therapies, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) modalities of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture can be very effective ways to treat shingles. Your acupuncturist will usually adopt differential diagnosis to help formulate a plan of treatment in order to treat the symptoms and to make the immune system stronger. Chinese herbs and acupuncture work synergistically to treat the symptoms, lessen the pain and boost the shingles patient’s quality of life right after the start of the treatment.

If you, or someone you know, is suffering from shingles infection, you can talk to a qualified and licensed acupuncturist in Miami to help get rid of your shingles in a natural and holistic way. Getting TCM treatment for your shingles will prevent the use of drugs and provide you with much better results.