Post-herpetic neuralgia, a complication of shingles, can be so exquisitely painful that some sufferers can’t stand for clothes to touch their skin during an episode.
So the idea of treating the pain with lots of capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers, might seem odd.
But that’s exactly what scientists, such as Dr. Miroslav Backonja of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, have been studying with some success.