By Tatjana Gretschmann

Many people are now facing the long-term consequences of Covid-19, suffering from lingering and debilitating symptoms often for months after their ‘recovery’. Holistic healthcare and acupuncture can help patients overcome the lingering symptoms of Long Covid.

Long Covid covers a wide range of symptoms which vary widely from person to person. Fatigue is seen commonly, but also shortness of breath, muscle weakness, digestive issues, heart symptoms, chest pain, joint or muscle pain, headaches and brain fog. Apart from the physical symptoms many are suffering with mental, emotional and psychological effects for instance anxiety, depression and PTSD.

Acupuncture that is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine is well placed to help people with Long Covid. Treatment is tailored to the individual and aims to support the body to bring itself back to health. Patients with multiple, chronic symptoms are treated using a holistic approach, helping to support their own self-healing capabilities to provide better sustained, overall improvement, rather than focusing on one symptom at a time. This approach will include the effects on the immune system and inflammatory processes. Acupuncture calms the nervous system, helping to quieten the stress hormones of flight and fright and to turn on the parasympathetic nervous system. It is particularly useful for Long Covid as acupuncture treats both physical and emotional issues simultaneously.

There is existing evidence of acupuncture’s benefits for various symptoms that may be seen with Long Covid; Acupuncture has been shown to improve fatigue and quality of life for sufferers of chronic fatigue, It has also been proven to help with headaches, insomnia, anxiety, depression and pain. Acupuncture also works very well alongside conventional medicine.

As with any chronic condition, it is important to support the system with good quality rest and relaxation, healthy nutritious eating and if possible, gentle exercise. Moxibustion and acupressure are the most commonly recommended Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions for home nursing care after Covid. Moxibustion, a procedure involving the burning of a particular herb over points on the body, has been used historically in China for preventing and alleviating epidemics. There is growing scientific evidence for its effects on immunity. Self-applied acupressure is another very useful tool for situations where face-to-face treatment is not possible. There is supportive research evidence for this across many different types of illness.

Long COVID can be extremely distressing for anyone affected. However, we have every reason to be positive as there is much that can be done to help those suffering from the condition. Although it is still too early for any results from clinical trials, we have already seen promising outcomes from individual cases treated by members of the British Acupuncture Council.