[Physical treatment of herpetic diseases. Report of a pilot study with low-frequency electrotherapy]

Standard methods employed in physiotherapy are seldom applied to florid herpes zoster since they bring little benefit. Initial experience with electrotherapy for herpes is reported. Pulsed galvanic current at a frequency of 30 hertz was applied to the region of the affected segmental nerve. In two centres (Vienna and Maribor) treatment was carried out on 32 patients with herpes zoster (recovery in Vienna after a mean duration of treatment of 6.3 days; in Maribor recovery after 20 days of treatment) and 18 patients with herpes simplex (recovery after 5 or 6.5 days respectively) were treated. Follow up of all patients treated in Vienna showed that only one patient out of the zoster group developed post-herpetic neuralgia. Three patients with herpes simplex had a relapse of the disease, but it was less severe than before treatment. The better results in Vienna were explained by the use of strictly monopolar wave forms and the fact that treatment was applied every day, while in Maribor patients received no treatment over a weekend.