Can acupuncture be used for shingles?

Herpes zoster is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The clinical manifestation is the formation of erythema and blisters along the nerve segments on the skin surface, often accompanied by paroxysmal neuralgia. Acupuncture therapy is the treatment method of traditional medicine in China, so can herpes zoster be treated with acupuncture?

Can herpes zoster be treated with acupuncture?

Herpes zoster can be treated with acupuncture, which can help relieve the disease by stimulating the relevant acupuncture points to relieve inflammation and pain, dispel wind and clear heat. However, it is necessary to operate under a professional acupuncturist, do not acupuncture on your own, moxibustion can be operated under the guidance of a doctor. The following are common acupuncture points.

Quchi point

Location: When flexing the elbow, the lateral end of the transverse elbow and the midpoint of the humeral epicondyle line. Method: The doctor takes the patient's Quchi point, enters the needle, twists and turns with the diarrhea method for 2 to 3 minutes, retains the needle for 20 to 30 minutes, and moxibustion 5 strong (or no moxibustion), once a day. Efficacy: According to Chinese medicine, the disease is caused by the weakness of positive energy and the invasion of evil toxins, which injures the liver and gallbladder meridians, resulting in stagnation of the meridians and internalization of damp-heat. Acupuncture and moxibustion at Quchi point is good for clearing heat and dispelling wind, and can be used to treat herpes zoster and other skin diseases.

A-Yi Point

Location: Also known as indeterminate points, these points do not have a fixed location and generally respond to localized pain. The points can be taken at the site of herpes zoster. Herpes zoster occurs more often in the chest, abdomen, and lumbar region, often extending the distribution of the intercostal nerve. Method: The physician first disinfects the affected area with iodine, then deiodizes it with alcohol, punctures the affected area with a sterile trigeminal needle to make the skin bleed or yellow water, then cupping the affected area with a sterile fire can to suck out excess watery secretions and a small amount of blood, removing the can after 10 minutes and wrapping the affected area with sterile gauze. Efficacy: Acupuncture of the ayurvedic point is good for unblocking the meridians and relieving the neuralgia accompanying herpes zoster.

Spider point

Location: It is an odd point where the patient is sitting and the practitioner stands at his back, takes a thin thread and measures the patient's maximum head circumference, removes the remaining thread, then wraps the measured thread around the neck from front to back, then aligns the two ends of the thread and pulls it slightly tighter behind the back along the midline of the thoracic vertebrae, and the point is where the combined ends of the thread reach. Method: Using moxibustion, apply moxa cones to the spider point, 1 strong is sufficient. Efficacy: This point is mainly used for the treatment of herpes zoster, which is beneficial for the healing of herpes scab and relieves the pain caused by the disease.