AS SO OFTEN OCCURS in diseases for which have no specific treatment, a great number of therapeutic measures have been recommended in the treatment of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia. Since herpes zoster is a self-limiting disorder which usually clears without complication, it is difficult to carry out controlled studies or to evaluate the results of any specific form of treatment. An excellent review of 916 patients with herpes zoster seen at the Mayo Clinic reveals clearly that therapeutic measures can best be evaluated if studied in the older-age group. 1 While pain persisting for a month or more was a rare occurrence in those under the age of 30, the percentage of patients with postherpetic neuralgia increased in direct proportion to age, so that over 80% of the patients beyond the age of 40 suffered this complication. In the age group of 70 years or more, 45.5% of the