Antiviral drugs only stop further virus multiplication. They don't make a dead nerve cell come to life. Although no agreement has been reached on the appropriate management of shingles, steroids have been tried, as have antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and topical agents such as the anesthetic lidocaine, which has recently become available in patch form. For some, the lidocaine is effective at helping with the chronic pain, but as Oxman points out, it's hard to put it over your eye. Other methods such as electrical stimulation and acupuncture are used, and in severe cases surgery is an option.
Prevention is the key.
Unfortunately, none of these approaches has been proven to prevent shingles. He and his colleagues are trying to enroll 37,000 people at 21 VA sites nationwide. So far, they've enrolled just over 6,000 people but are actively seeking more to reach their goal. To qualify, the people need to be over 60 and to have had chickenpox, but not shingles. The reason for this, dating back to a landmark study in 1965, Oxman says, is that the incidence and severity of shingles apparently increases with advancing age.