Certain anti-seizure medications, including gabapentin (Gralise, Horizant, Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica), can lessen the pain of postherpetic neuralgia. These medications stabilize abnormal electrical activity in your nervous system caused by injured nerves.

Can PHN be permanent?

Although there is no cure for PHN, it can be treated. For most people with PHN, pain improves with time and eventually goes away. For most people, the pain goes away in one to three months.

Can PHN last a lifetime?

PHN can persist, in some individuals, for months or years after the HZ rash has healed, causing suffering for the patient and a burden of economic cost on patient, care givers, and healthcare providers. Studies vary widely in the reporting of the duration of persistent pain [31]. Helgason et al.