It sounds like something that sits on top of your house, but shingles is actually the ugly cousin of the childhood illness, chicken pox. The rash caused by the varicella zoster virus leaves painful bumps and a highly uncomfortable rash across the sides of the abdomen. The rash can spread up around the neck and face, and outward toward the extremities. Following the virus' attack, some men and women experience nerve damage in their skin cells, which can create further pain.

We have compiled a list of the most common home remedies for shingles, so that you can get through it naturally.

1. Cool Bath with Chamomile

Chamomile is normally sipped as a tea, and this soothing tea can be quite useful in treating the aftermath of nerve pain left after your rash clears up. Chamomile also makes a wonderful cooling and relief agent in the bath tub. You can purchase it as an oil, which can be added to your bath water, or you can steep it as a tea and add it to the water; either way, you will feel a real difference.

2. Calamine Lotion and Other Topical Solutions

Naturally, when there is a rash or uncomfortable sensation across your skin, the first plan of action is to scratch it. Rather than making things worse by rubbing at skin which is already experiencing discomfort, try using a topical cooling agent to find relief. Calamine lotion has zinc oxide, ferric oxide, and other ingredients to act as antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agents. Dab it onto spots and red marks to ease the pain and itching.

Another topical ointment used in many of the most common home remedies for shingles loaded with capsaicin. This natural ingredient, extracted from the spicy chili pepper, acts as a warming agent which can be spread across nerve damaged tissues to ease the pain. Be very careful that you don't get it in your eyes or an open cut, though, because it can sting and burn. Capsaicin shouldn't be used on the rash stage of shingles, only residual pain caused by nerve damage.

3. Dry Out Your Spots

A mixture of corn starch and baking soda may sound like the ingredients to a school science project, but it can also be used as one of the most common home remedies for shingles. This paste, which is created when mixed with water, can be spread across sores to help dry them out, and hopefully shorten the period of discomfort.

Before using any of the most common home remedies for shingles, even those with natural origins, it is important to discuss treatment of shingles with your doctor. The virus is generally never fatal in otherwise healthy adults, but any infection has its dangers, and shingles is no different.

Be very wary of the sores and spots while they are visible on your body. Don't scratch them, and try not to touch them with fingertips which may be dirty or carrying harmful bacteria. The cleaner the area, the faster it will heal.

For those suffering from postherpetic neuralgia, damage to the nerves in the skin tissues following a case of shingles, there is hope for relief. Speak to your doctor about medicinal remedies, as well as various other home treatments.