Abstract:Objective: To explore the efficacy of ozone autohemotherapy combined with subcutaneous ozone injection in the adjunctive treatment of acute herpes zoster in the elderly. Methods: 60 cases of elderly patients with acute herpes zoster admitted to the Department of Pain, East Hospital, Shanghai from January to October 2023 were selected and randomly divided into two groups: the drug treatment group and the drug combined with ozone treatment group, with 30 cases in each group. The drug treatment group was treated with conventional drugs such as oral acyclovir, cobamamide, and pregabalin (control group); the drug combined with ozone group was treated with ozone autohemotherapy combined with subcutaneous ozone injection on the basis of the control group treatment (ozone group). The visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, self-rating scale of sleep (SRSS), and depression anxiety stress scale (DASS) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups, and the healing time of herpes, the incidence of adverse reactions, and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia were recorded. Results: All 60 patients completed the trial. Compared with the control group, the VAS score of the ozone group was significantly lower at 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1 month after treatment (P < 0.05), and the SRSS and DASS scores of the ozone group were significantly reduced after treatment (P < 0.05). The healing time (days) of herpes in the ozone group was significantly shortened (P < 0.01), and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the ozone group was lower (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the incidence of adverse reactions during treatment between the two groups (P = 0.55). Conclusion: Ozone autohemotherapy combined with subcutaneous ozone injection can significantly relieve pain, improve sleep quality, improve emotional state, accelerate herpes healing, and reduce the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia, providing a safe and effective adjunctive treatment plan for elderly patients with acute herpes zoster.