Capsaicin, the active ingredient of chili peppers, can provide relief in patch form for nerve pain after shingles.

Americans learned recently that leading TV presenter David Letterman is suffering from shingles. What he believed was a painful eye infection turned out to be an attack of the varicella zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. Shingles causes a rash, blistering and pain, which may persist after the infection has cleared.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin now report that post-shingles pain can be relieved by a single application of capsaicin, the active ingredient of chili peppers, in the form of a patch. Capsaicin is known to act on pain-responsive pain fibers. In this new study, patients with post-shingles pain were treated with either capsaicin or a placebo. In the treatment group, 33 per cent reported a significant reduction in pain over the next four weeks compared with just four per cent in the placebo group.

Source

American Academy of Neurology 1st April 2003