Hi there. I Googled them and read quite a bit about them, but because they cost so much, never tried them. Lydocaine numbs the skin. A less expensive way to go is to get prescribed a lydocaine cream or gel. And if your a cheapskate like me, you can get over the counter benzocaine products that numb the skin a little.
Have you tried the LANACANE yet?

It is a little suspicious when the expensive stuff is touted and the cheap stuff is never mentioned, but that is only my point of view.

hey joyous how have you been?
i have patches and sometimes they help and sometimes they don't if the pain is deeper. with the pain being on the face it is hard to get the patch to stay stuck because of oil in skins and movement of face. so i use alcohol wipes before i stick one on and that helps a lot. once it is on depending where on your face. i try not to talk, chew etc so it stays put. you can cut the patches into pieces so this helps save money. so i can get like three uses out of one, you can leave them on for 12 hrs then you have to leave off for 12 hrs. so putting them on at night is the best use i think.. my pain is atypical so it moves a lot which makes it more difficult to pin point where and how many to place and of course they won't stick on my temple area where my hair is.
i used the gels and creams but it is too miserable rubbing them into my face and i feel like it makes pain worse.
so the verdict i give it a 5 out of ten. because when it does work i am glad i have them handy. blessings for pain free days for you and keep in touch.

Hey, three of use that have PHN on our heads. I found quite a while back that when I get up in the morning and my forehead is screaming, that if I run hot water on a wash cloth, as hot as I can stand it, and put that on the itch/burn area, at first it is worse. But, by the time I pat my forehead dry, the itch/burn is fading into the background. It has become a regular morning routine for me. Has anyone else discovered anything like that? Poor mans replacement for a lidocaine patch I guess.

Another thing I discovered is that my cornea is a little numb from the nerve damage caused by shingles. In turn, I now have reduced tear production. I am just about to have what is called a punctal plug installed that will block tear drainage from my eye. Has anyone out there had any experience with that? Wouldn't mind having some advise before I go get a permanent plug put in.
Can any of you two were a hat? That is a big problem for me here in the frozen north right now.

It sure is nice to hear from others that are all in the same boat.

I've had a prescription for Lidocaine/Lidoderm patches for a few years. I believe you can use up to four at a time. Even with my insurance, they're still $30 a box. Crazy... I've ended up with about 4 boxes. Sometimes the doctor can give you "samples" if you want to try those before you spend your money on them. On my WORST days, I'll use them. But that's only when I'm at my bottom and I don't care if they work or not. When I first apply them, the ice cold feeling is quite painful, but eventually it just feels warm and cold. Similar to aspercreme. I would recommend them to have on hand when you have nothing else to turn to. Hope this helps.

The pad did not work for me.

I'm 15, And I was diagnosed with shingles around 5 months ago. I was prescribed amitriptyline and the lidoderm patches. For shingles, the lidoderm patch was a mistake. As I was taking the patch off the next morning, It actually peeled some of the rash off. It was awful. DO NOT make the same mistake.

Wow pulling any kind of a patch off active shingles blisters has to hurt and may even scar.
FallingIntoSleep, I want you and others to know that Joyous Poyous, jady, kenna21 and I do not have shingles any more. We are suffering from nerve damage caused by the shingles. Our skin looks fine where the pain is. The patches are put on undamaged skin. That numbs the damaged nerves under the skin.

Someone made a bad mistake having you put those patches on blistered skin, but you know that by now.