Shingles

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Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Randomised Controlled Trial

2025 PLOS One Wrist-ankle acupuncture alleviates pain in the acute phase of herpes zoster: A randomized controlled trial
Pu J, Li D, Luo X, Wang J, Li Y, Lei L, Zhao X, Du H, Yang X, Du X

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

2025 Medicine Efficacy of electroacupuncture on clinical signs and immunological factors in herpes zoster: The first systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial sequential analysis of randomized clinical trials
Zhou Q, Jing M, Ren H, Li G, Wang Z

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

2024 Medicine Efficacy and safety of therapies related to acupuncture for acute herpes zoster: A PRISMA systematic review and network meta-analysis
Liang XY, Chen X, Li XM, Yang S, Wang SY, Ma DD, Guo MM, Zhang H

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

2023 Medicine Comparison of efficacy of acupuncture-related therapy in the treatment of herpes zoster: A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Zhang J, Mou Q, Wang Z, Huang J, Zhang Y, Li F

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Meta-Analysis

2022 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for Pain Control in Herpes Zoster: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
He K, Ni F, Huang Y, Zheng M, Yu H, Han D, Ma R

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, can provide superior pain relief and faster recovery for HIV-related Herpes Zoster compared to regular drugs.

2022 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine for HIV-Associated Acute Herpes Zoster: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials
Jiang Y, Zheng RX, Yu ZY, Zhang XW, Li J, Lan HD, Qiao SY, Han M, Cao HJ, Robinson N, Liu JP

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Long Dan Xie Gan Decoction combined with valacyclovir appears to enhance the treatment of herpes zoster, improving pain intensity, and crust formation time.

2021 Journal of Clinical Images and Medical Case Reports Efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine longdanxiegan decoction combined with val-acyclovir in herpes zoster: A systematic review and mate-analysis
Wang X, , Wu L, Hou Y, Ding S, Wang S, Zhang Y, Zhang G, , , , , ,

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Acupuncture shows potential in reducing pain intensity, alleviating anxiety, and improving quality of life for patients suffering from postherpetic neuralgia.

2019 Journal of Pain Research Is acupuncture an effective postherpetic neuralgia treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Pei, W., Zeng, J., Lu, L., Lin, G., & Ruan, J.

Executive Summary

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Research into Chinese medicine treatment for Shingles" summarising the research below and using language that can be easily understood by patients and avoiding medical jargon using a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Researched Chinese medicine treatments for Shingles" summarising the research below in an objective and easy to understand way, and using language that can be easily understood by patients. Group the article into Chinese medicine treatments first, followed by nutrition and other treatments. Avoid using medical jargon and use a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write me a concise but easy to understand executive summary on the topic of "Chinese medicine treatments for Shingles" based on the following research that I will give you. Your summary should be 2 paragraphs long in Australian English spelling and include references to the studies.

A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2025 in the journal PLOS One found that

A Meta-Analysis published in 2025 in the journal Medicine found that

A Meta-Analysis published in 2024 in the journal Medicine found that

A Meta-Analysis published in 2023 in the journal Medicine found that

A Meta-Analysis published in 2022 in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that

A Systematic Review published in 2022 in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, can provide superior pain relief and faster recovery for HIV-related Herpes Zoster compared to regular drugs. The review began by searching nine electronic databases for randomized controlled trials focused on the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treating HIV-associated Herpes Zoster. Two independent authors extracted data on interventions and outcomes, and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the trials. Meta-analyses were subsequently performed using specific software. Results of the review showed that in general, the use of Chinese herbal medicine resulted in lower pain intensity and shorter herpes-related pain duration. Additionally, patients treated with this type of medicine and combined treatments recorded lower incidences of postherpetic neuralgia. The cure rate, defined as the complete absence of pain and herpes, also significantly improved with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, compared to regular drugs. Notably, four trials reported on side effects, and no severe adverse events were mentioned.

A Systematic Review published in 2021 in the journal Journal of Clinical Images and Medical Case Reports found that Long Dan Xie Gan Decoction combined with valacyclovir appears to enhance the treatment of herpes zoster, improving pain intensity, and crust formation time. For this systematic review, a comprehensive search was conducted in bibliographic databases - PubMed, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan-fang Database until the 6th of April, 2021. The main focus was on Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) that looked at herpes zoster treatments involving the combined use of Longdanxiegan Decoction (LDXGD) and valacyclovir. The quality of these studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and a meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4.1 software. The analysis incorporated five studies with a total of 414 participants. The methodological quality of these studies ranged from low to moderate. The combined use of LDXGD and valacyclovir showed relative benefits in efficacy rates compared to the use of valacyclovir alone. This was reflected in the lower pain intensity noted by a visual analogue scale, decreased incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and shorter time frame to crust formation. However, the safety profile for the combined treatment of LDXGD and valacyclovir remains unclear.

A Systematic Review published in 2019 in the journal Journal of Pain Research found that Acupuncture shows potential in reducing pain intensity, alleviating anxiety, and improving quality of life for patients suffering from postherpetic neuralgia. Methodology: To understand the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating postherpetic neuralgia, six different databases were examined for randomized controlled trials. The data from these studies was extracted and further assessed for quality. A meta-analysis was conducted on a selection of these studies using the software RevMan 5.3. Additionally, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation system contributed towards evaluating the overall quality of the evidence presented in these studies. Discussion: The research establishes that acupuncture has a positive effect on postherpetic neuralgia, such as lowering the intensity of pain experienced and reducing the scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Other forms of intervention like electroacupuncture, fire needle, and bloodletting and cupping also proved effective in relieving pain. The results also indicate an enhanced quality of life for those individuals who used acupuncture. The quality of evidence that supports the use of acupuncture for this type of pain was judged to be moderate.

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