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Objective To evaluate the effect of radiant shock wave therapy (RSWT) on postherpetic neuralgia. Methods Twenty-six cases of postherpetic neuralgia were treated with RSWT around the pain point. Before and after the treatment, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS) were used to assess the therapeutic efficacy. Results Twenty-two cases completed RSWT. Two patients who were inconvenient to the clinic and another 2 patients attributed to poor curative effect were transfered to other treatments. After one course of treatment, 22 patients all presented obvious pain relief. The VAS and NPS scores reduced from 8.41 ± 1.11 and 1.88 ± 0.59 to 6.15 ± 1.23 and 1.38 ± 0.60 respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P = 0.000, for all). After completing two courses of treatment, VAS score reduced to 3.57 ± 1.30 and NPS score reduced to 1.04 ± 0.31 in comparison with pre-treatment, and both of the differences were statistically significant (P = 0.000, for all). Conclusion Radiant shock wave therapy may alleviate the pain of patients with postherpetic neuralgia, which is a valuable method for conservative treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]