Objective: To observe the therapeutic effect of acupuncture combined with Chinese medicinal herbs for treatment of zoster. Methods: A total of 28 zoster outpatients were treated with focal encircling needling method and with the interval between every two needles being about 1～2 cun. The needles were retained for 1 hour

with 10 times being a therapeutic course. A piece of gauze immersed with polyinosinic acid was placed on the focus skin in the middle part of the inserted needles and then the focus was irradiated with a TDP lamp for 1 hour

once every day. A mixture of Xionghuang (Realgar) 1 g

Bingpeng (Borneolum and borax) Powder and some milk solution was applied to the focus and Chinese medicinal herbs used for oral administration were Yinhua (Flos Lonicerae) 15 g

Lianqiao (Fructus Forsythiae) 30 g

Bohe (Herba Menthae)15 g

Difuzi (Fructus Kochiae) 30 g

Tufuling (Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae) 20 g

Yuxingcao (Herba Houttuyniae) 30 g

Danpi (Cortex Moutan Radicis) 30 g and Pugongying (Herba Taraxaci) 30 g. Results: After one course of treatment

of the 28 cases

18 (64.3%) were cured

5 (17.9%) had remarkable improvement

4 (3.5%) had improvement and one (3.55) had no effect

with the total effective rate being 96.5%. Conclusion: Acupuncture combined with Chinese medicinal herbs is fairly effective in treatment of zoster.