Stefano had been complaining recently (last week) about a strange sort of pain/ache in his back that began more or less last Wednesday. We thought he’d pulled a muscle or some such thing. But the pain wasn’t going away. When he’d come home from work, and in the morning when he got out of bed, it was ouch-ouch-ouch. I suggested he at least call our GP, but he didn’t want to bother him. He really thought it was a pulled muscle. Then, on Saturday morning, he asked me to take a look. I found a little rash on the left side of his torso, but he said it wasn’t where the pain was.

And so I didn’t make the connection. Nor did he. Not until the rash had spread a bit, which it had by Saturday night. At that point, we both knew what it was, since his father and both of my parents had had it.

Shingles.

UGH!!!

In Italy it’s called Fuoco di Sant’Antonio in Italian, or fire of Saint Anthony.

Unfortunately, we had no way of getting in touch with our GP during the weekend, and my rather stubborn Stefano didn’t want to go to the ER. So he “lost” a day, since, without a prescription, I wasn’t able to get the antiviral drug (acyclovir) for him until Monday morning, after we’d contacted our fantastic GP. And by Monday morning, let me tell ya, the rash had spread all around his torso, in back and in front, and he was in a lot of discomfort.

Well, I didn’t wait until Monday to take action. On Sunday morning I made a paste with organic turmeric and a bit of water, which Stefano spread over the rash. Incredibly, the rash stopped burning and itching. It did NOT stop the rash from spreading, BUT the area covered by the turmeric paste didn’t burn or itch at all, whereas any new bumps that developed  during the night itched and burned like crazy. Once he’d covered those bumps with the turmeric paste, though, the burning and itching disappeared completely.

This is how we knew it really worked.

And that’s why I’m writing this post today, with Stefano’s permission…because it’s a bit of good information that can be given to anyone who has shingles. As I noted, the turmeric + water paste will NOT stop the internal nerve pain caused by shingles (you need antiviral meds for that…), but it might stop the superficial burning and itching. I use the conditional tense “might,” because of course we all react differently, even to the same drug or treatment. But his case is a rather nasty one, and his skin should be itching and burning like mad. It’s not. Not at all.

The first few days (from Saturday night to yesterday morning) have been the most difficult. Last night he managed to sleep without any trouble. So I think the acute phase is over…And we can relax a bit…

Anyway, I’ve found another use for turmeric! Of course, it’s nothing new to Ayurveda…but it was to me! 🙂