Objective：To compare the clinical effect of herpes zoster（HZ） treated by routine dose and high-dose valacyclovir（VCV） classical antiviral drugs. Methods：Research source comes from the patients with herpes zoster admitted to our department from June 2011 to February 2012. Based on the principle of voluntary，patients with onset time <5 d were treated by high-dose antiviral therapy（observation group） and those with onset time <5 d were treated by normal-dose antiviral therapy（control group A） and those with onset time ＞5 d were treated by high-dose antiviral therapy（control group B）. Clinical effects and incidences of postherpetic neuralgia（PHN） of herpes zoster in the three groups at the end of treatment were compared and analyzed. Results：Pain relieving time，cessa－tion time of new lesion，beginning time of skin lesion crusting，50% lesion crusting time and subsiding time of skin lesions were sig－nificantly shorter in observation group than in control groups（A and B） during the treatment of herpes zoster，with statistical signifi－cances（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in incidences and pain degrees of PHN of herpes zoster within the first six months after treatment between observation group and control groups. Above factors were not compared between two control groups because of no comparability. Conclusions：In the treatment of herpes zoster，high-dose antiviral therapy at early stage should be advocated in the clinical treatment as it has significant treatment effects. But how to make PHN of herpes zoster occur less and lighter needs further clinical study.