Acupuncture Bellmore is the most popular form of treatment for herpes zoster or shingles in China.  Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that shingles is due to an imbalance or deficiency in the body.  Shingles usually affects older people who normally have deficient energy and younger ones who are relatively weak in energy due to exhaustion.  The weaker the person is the higher the risk of complications stemming from this disease and the longer the disease will last.

In TCM, shingles is the result of a viral infection augmented by the damp, heat and wind in the body. TCM acupuncture treatment of shingles varies according to the pathogenic factor and the meridians involved. If the etiology is caused by more or less damp weather, the lesions occur in the bottom part of the body with pronounced fluid discharge from the blisters. If heat is the primary cause, the blisters manifest as reddish and the pain is greater. If it is wind caused, the lesions will show on the upper part of the body and with severe itching.

Where the lesions are usually shows what meridians are affected.  Lesions on the sides and intercostal areas mean the liver and gallbladder meridians are affected while lesions on the head and face mean the yangming and shaoyang meridians are affected.  Acupuncture points along these meridians will be inserted with hair thin needles to remedy the problems.

Ear or auricular acupuncture is the more popular form of treatment for shingles since a lot of liver and gallbladder meridians connecting directly to these organs are located here.  The needles address the yin and yang or cold and heat imbalance caused by environmental factors such as damp, heat and wind.  The needles are manipulated in a way that they regulate and remove excess heat or wind or damp to achieve relative balance of heat and cold or yang and yin in the body.  Acupuncture also removes the energy deficiency of the body by removing the energy blockage caused by the pathogen and environment allowing to body to revitalize itself and strengthen the body’s immune system.  Acupuncture also triggers the release of endorphins to allow the body to heal well and relax.

If the blisters begin to dry up and heal and if pain is still felt due to the blisters, an acupuncture form of treatment called plum blossom needling can be performed to remove the pain.  The needles for this type of acupuncture are short and several and are located at the head of a device called a hammer. The hammer is tapped lightly in the pain area until a slight bleeding occurs.  The area then is cupped to take out the infected blood.  This is just one among many other approaches of acupuncture treatment of shingles.