Abstract:Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN) is the most common complication of herpes zoster and the most difficult to control.Chronic pain not only affects the quality of sleep and life,but also leads to anxiety and depression,even suicide. At present,analgesic is the mainly treatment of PHN,but the effect is not significant. With the deepening of research,the risk factors of PHN are increasingly valued. Age is currently recognized as a high risk factor,the degree of pain and skin lesions in the acute phase of herpes zoster are also important in clinical. In addition,there are still undetermined factors that need to be further studies,such as the state of immune function and the change of inflammatory factors. Those provide theoretical basis for early prevention and intervention of PHN. In this paper, the domestic and international studies of the risk factors of PHN were summarized.