Blood cupping is a method of external treatment in Chinese medicine. In the case of herpes zoster, blood cupping can be used as an adjunctive treatment when the rash is small. However, herpes zoster is mainly a viral infection, and generally speaking, the first thing to emphasize is effective antiviral treatment, while all other treatment modalities are adjunctive. Blood cupping can be used to unblock the meridians and is therefore relatively effective in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. However, some patients should not undergo blood cupping because if the rash has deep blisters and large vesicles, the use of external treatment may aggravate the skin infection and worsen the rash and inflammatory manifestations. There are many other external treatments in Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, waxing and moxibustion, all of which can have a warming effect on post-herpetic neuralgia and have a better effect on relieving both acute pain and post-neuralgia in herpes zoster. Western medicine is mainly antiviral treatment, available vaxilovir, famciclovir and other drugs, with a course of medication about 7-14 days.