Pain relief in herpes zoster.

The severity of pain as a symptom of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia has seldom been emphasized in the literature. In this report on a series of 113 patients, a treatment which gives immediate relief of pain and prevents post-herpetic neuralgia is described. Provided that the steroid solution could be placed accurately in the epidural space adjacent to the affected nerves, the method was 100% successful. Failure to provide relief of pain after the initial effect of the local anaesthetic had worn off was taken as an indication that the epidural injection had been misplaced, and it was repeated.