Herpes zoster is an acute infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Elderly people are at high risk of developing the disease because of their poor physical condition and immune function, and are prone to develop the disease after cold weather, colds, exertion and emotional distress. Before the onset of the disease, there are often symptoms of low fever and weakness, and localized pain and burning sensation on the skin. After a few days, irregular or oval-shaped erythematous spots appear on the skin in the painful area, which soon form blisters that gradually increase and can merge into large blisters – in severe cases, they can become bloody blisters, or pustules if there is a secondary infection. After a few days, the herpes gradually becomes smaller and eventually becomes a scab, and the scab will be removed in 1-2 weeks, and the pigmentation left behind will gradually fade, and the rash will gradually disappear, usually leaving no scar. This disease appears on only one side of the body. Because the varicella-zoster virus invades the sensory nerve cells and causes damage or necrosis of the nerve endings, the patient will experience cut-like or electric shock-like pain in the skin of the rash area, or persistent burning severe pain, which can be intense and unbearable even with light touch, and the pain will be significantly worse at night. If this pain is not relieved for more than three months, we diagnose it as: postherpetic neuralgia. The goal of shingles treatment is to eliminate the skin herpes and at the same time prevent the development of postherpetic neuralgia. The earlier the analgesic treatment, the less chance of post-herpetic neuralgia, which is often clinically difficult to treat effectively once it occurs. The longer the pain lasts, the more difficult it is to manage. At present, the treatment of such pain in medical institutions at home and abroad is generally based on a comprehensive treatment approach: firstly, oral medications are used, including effective oral analgesics. Gabapentin is recommended, which is currently the first-line drug for the treatment of herpes zoster neuralgia in China. The analgesic effect will be better with the addition of antidepressants, such as amitriptyline and dalexin. Nerve-nourishing drugs such as methylcobalamin and vitamin B1 can promote the repair of destroyed nerve fibers, but they need to be taken orally continuously for three months. If the analgesic effect of oral medication is not good, or more serious side effects occur, we should consider applying the method of nerve block and applying the operation technique of anesthesia for about 3 weeks of continuous analgesic treatment, which can basically relieve the pain. When other methods fail to relieve postherpetic neuralgia, nerve disruption can also be considered. However, nerve disruption is rarely used because of its side effects and its tendency to recur. The current treatment of last resort for intractable postherpetic neuralgia is spinal cord electrical stimulation. This treatment has an efficiency of 70-80%, but has the disadvantage of being too expensive for the average patient to afford. If central herpes zoster neuralgia develops, only cortical electrical stimulation implants can be used, which are more expensive. Even with these methods, it is still difficult to guarantee a complete cure for this pain, but only to provide maximum relief and to reduce the negative effects of the pain on life and psychology. This shows the difficulty of treating postherpetic neuralgia. All current treatments can only provide the maximum relief and alleviation of this pain. So again: to avoid postherpetic neuralgia, patients should receive complete and standardized analgesic treatment at the beginning of the rash in the pain department!