How to relieve pain in the mouth from shingles

Hello. Thank you for posting.

It is possible to develop shingles in your mouth and oral shingles can be incredibly painful. The same virus (varicella-zoster) that causes chickenpox causes shingles. Anyone that had chickenpox as a child can develop shingles. Unlike chickenpox, you can get shingles more than once.

Common antiviral drugs prescribed to treat shingles include Valacyclovir (Valtrex), Famciclovir (Famvir) or Acyclovir (Zovirax). Antiviral drug therapy is highly beneficial but must be started as soon as possible to counteract the virus. It’s best to start within 48-hours of symptoms. If taken too late, the antiviral may have little to no effect on recovery time, but many patients still opt to take it in hopes of some relief.

You can help reduce discomfort caused by oral lesions by using soothing mouth rinses and/or topical anesthetics. Pain medications are often prescribed as well, such as Benadryl.

Helena