Postherpetic Neuralgia

While postherpetic neuralgia tends to improve naturally over time, there is a risk of it becoming chronic neuropathic pain if it persists for more than two years. At this stage, the key to treatment is alleviating central sensitization and regulating pain signals, rather than structurally repairing nerve damage. If the response to medications such as pregabalin or gabapentin is poor, interventional procedures such as spinal cord stimulation (SCS) are considered. Nevertheless, rather than the complete elimination of pain, we set realistic goals of reducing VAS scores by more than 50% and improving sleep and activity functions. From the perspective of a Korean medicine clinic, chronic post-herpetic neuralgia is viewed as a complex condition where excess and deficiency are intermingled, resulting from the overlapping of long-standing blood stasis and damage to vital energy. In such cases, rather than urgently removing blood stasis, a principle of gradual approach is applied to replenish the deficiency of the liver and kidneys while slowly eliminating residual toxins. Dongjedang employs a method that replenishes Qi and blood with herbal medicine tailored to the patient's constitution, forcibly opens local blood circulation with fire acupuncture, and supports the regeneration of tissues surrounding the nerves with thread embedding. Many chronic patients with over two years of treatment also experience improved sleep and reduced pain frequency after treatment.