Homeopathic Treatment of Post Herpetic Neuralgia

Post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a debilitating condition, which occurs in patients suffering from herpes zoster (HZ). The main problem of herpetic neuralgia is persistent pain for months or years with or without activated herpes zoster virus-induced dermatomal rashes, and blisters along thoracic and trigeminal nerve distributions. In conventional therapy, vaccination is most important although it is not widely practiced in countries. Antiviral drugs are also effective, although even after proper treatment sometimes pain may continue. We observed excellent results of these medicines in post-herpetic neuralgia. After that, we studied more than 200 such patients along with control cases treated only with conventional medicines. In this study patients of different ages, sexes and religious groups were included except the gravid mothers with a male: female ratio of about 1.2:1. The vaccination with live attenuated varicella-zoster virus can prevent or reduce the incidence of the disease but there are some limitations of its use. It is contraindicated in pregnant women. It is not used in immunocompromised individuals and is not yet widely used in developing countries. However, homeopathic medicines can also be used for the prevention of PHN in all these conditions.