Herpes zoster virus or shingles can be a very painful condition. The virus is the same as the one that causes chicken pox and, after the infection has settled, lives on in one of the nerve roots near the spinal cord. Later in life, the virus can re-emerge, but this time it causes a very different rash e.g. as seen below. This rash erupts around the distribution of the nerve under the skin causing blistering, inflammation, pus formation and quite often, severe pain. This pain can persist for years or even indefinitely in some patients.
The rash is most commonly limited to one side of the body and only affects one nerve root in most cases. Although not a life-threatening condition, if the nerve near the eye is affected, herpes zoster can cause blindness.
Standard treatment is antiviral medication such as acyclovir which can disrupt the life cycle of the virus. However, it can also cause significant, and sometimes, lethal immunosuppression. It is also quite expensive. By comparison, the wheatgrass spray is quite safe to drink.
The patient below had moderate pain on day 4 of his illness, but after using a wheatgrass-based spray three times a day, his pain subsided in just 2 days.
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| | Day 4. No treatment. Note marked redness (inflammation) and
widespread pus-filled areas. Treatment was commenced with wheatgrass extract (spray) three times a day.
| Day 6. Two days later, with no other treatment, there is significant
reduction of inflammation, the pus-filled areas have disappeared and there is general reduction of activity of the rash. The patient's pain had also ceased.
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