Shingles pain can be relieved by a combination of treatments, opioid painkillers, over-the-counter medicines, antibiotics and antidepressants. Shingles is a viral infection of the nerve roots that causes a rash and pain on one side of the body. The rash can appear in the form of a strip, band or region. Shingles begins with the chicken pox virus, herpes zoster. After a patient gets chicken pox, this virus does not go away but lies dormant.

Herpes zoster can either lie dormant forever or lead to shingles. The exact cause is undetermined, but injury, stress or certain medications can cause shingles. The infection is not contagious, but a shingles patient can give chicken pox to someone who has not had it. Shingles is most common in older people and in people with weak immune systems.

The rash that shingles victims experience is painful, ugly and leaves scars. Some breakouts are worse than others, and foods high in sugar, salt and artificial sweeteners can trigger breakouts, as well as stress and anxiety. Shingles pain does not go away after the rash does. This is a condition known as post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), and it is difficult to treat.

To treat the rash associated with shingles pain, the recommended medications include over-the-counter medicine such as aspirin or ibuprofen, antibiotics applied to the skin and antiviral medicine. To treat PHN pain, stronger medication is usually required, such as opioids, antidepressants, topical medicine and anticonvulsants. Common opioids include morphine, codeine and oxycodone. The most widely used antidepressant is amitriptyline.

Studies have compared antidepressants with opioids as shingles pain relievers. According to a study at John Hopkins Medical School, 30 percent of patients reported pain relief from opiods, while 32 percent reported relief from antidepressants. 54 percent, however, said they preferred opioids for shingles treatment, compared with 30 percent who preferred the antidepressant. The side effects of opioids include nausea, constipation and dizziness.

For non-medicated relief from the nerve pain caused by shingles, patients can place an ice pack on the sores, which will momentarily stop the burning and itching. Scrubbing the sores hard with bar soap hurts at the time but relieves the long-term pain and dries the blisters, allowing them to burst and the healing process to begin quickly. The most effective shingles treatment is to keep the sores dry. When the clusters of blisters dry up, they eventually go away.

For painless relief of shingles pain, put nail polish remover on the blisters to cool and dry them. This will take longer, but they will disappear with time. Calamine lotion can also be applied with a Q-tip.