Shingles (Herpes Zoster)

"Shingles (Herpes Zoster)" Issue / Symptom Connections

Below you will find various relationships to, and potential clinical treatment approaches for shingles (herpes zoster).

It is critical to appreciate that in Chinese Medicine, treatment for "shingles (herpes zoster)" is rarely focused on the symptoms exclusively. Alternatively, a practitioner is looking at the factors that led to the development of "shingles (herpes zoster)" - i.e. the "cause(s)".

For non-practitioners, we recommend reading treating the "cause" and not the "symptoms" for more on the overall approach and the importance of the TCM diagnostic system in formulating treatment approaches.

Related Acupuncture Protocols

When developing an acupuncture protocol a practitioner is very often focusing on the causal diagnoses in Chinese Medicine terms, not on the condition itself. To illustrate and guide developing an acupuncture treatment for someone experiencing shingles (herpes zoster), this issue is referenced in the following acupuncture protocol section:

• View LI 11 (Pool at the Bend)
  
      At the lateral end of the transverse cubital crease midway between LU 5 and the lateral epicondyle of the humerus.
  
      Reduction of high fevers, patients with the 4 bigs, combine with LI 1, LI 2 or LI 4. Damp Heat skin diseases, red, itchy, oozing & inflamed (hives, herpes zoster, acne), may be used with UB 40 for any skin disease. ST Excess Issues, …