In my three decades of practice, treating Long COVID is one of the most intriguing and challenging disease processes I’ve encountered. Based on what I’ve seen, approximately 30 percent of people experience long-term symptoms. What is interesting to me is that I cannot predict who will be impacted long-term. Certain patients of mine, despite numerous pre-existing conditions, experienced no persistent COVID-19 symptoms. And some of the fittest patients, without pre-existing conditions, are now experiencing long COVID. I have also noticed that COVID-19’s impact seems to correlate with individual weaknesses. COVID-19 can cause excruciating hip pain for those already suffering from chronic hip pain. Another person experiencing gastrointestinal problems presents nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. COVID seems to seek out inflammatory weaknesses in each individual.
Signs and symptoms of Long COVID
COVID is like an inflammation bomb going off inside the body. Systems that can be impacted include cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, olfactory, cognitive, digestive, fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Recent statistics indicate that 65 million or more people suffer from long COVID.
Integrating Western and Eastern Medicine
In my practice of Chinese medicine, I integrate Western medical data like blood tests, scans, and reports into patient care. My investigation methods are Western, but my treatment approach is Eastern. It’s a beautiful combination of the two medicines. While Western medicine offers crucial data, I mainly use pulse diagnosis in formulating my treatment approach. The Chinese pulses are taken by placing three fingers on the right pulse and three fingers on the left pulse on the wrist. I check the Lungs, Heart, Kidneys, Liver, Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Liver, Gallbladder, Spleen, and Stomach. Illness causes disruptions to the pulses. In practicing Chinese medicine, nothing is more magical than taking pulses.
What I’ve Learned
Through my work with Long COVID patients, I’ve learned some difficult lessons over the years. Initially, I believed that a mild case meant they were alright. That’s not always correct. Early in the COVID outbreak, I had a patient who was exceptionally fit and healthy. He was a cyclist, and when he contracted COVID; he did not get a fever. His wife, my patient at the time, told me it barely impacted him. Nine months later, he went in for a minor surgery. When they took his blood pressure, it was dangerously high; they were not able to perform the surgery. He did not have a history of high blood pressure. He immediately called for an appointment. When I took his Chinese pulse, I was shocked to find there was something wrong with his lungs, his heart, and his kidneys. A year earlier, his pulses had been almost perfect. I referred him to his MD for testing. Extensive testing revealed COVID-related lung scarring, heart damage, and early-stage kidney failure. I believe his body did not develop a fever to eliminate the virus.
Diagnosing and Treating Long COVID: My Approach
In my experience with long COVID, mild cases affect the lung pulse, moderate cases affect the lung and heart pulses, and severe cases affect the lung, heart, and kidney pulses. Once my patients recover from COVID, I have them come in for pulse checks. For patients with continuing symptoms, I treat them with acupuncture and Chinese herbs. In most cases, symptoms resolve in about six weeks of treatment. For stable patients, a six-week follow-up appointment is scheduled for another pulse check. The six-week post-infection period seems critical for monitoring pulse variations in those developing Long COVID.
I also treat patients who have had Long COVID symptoms for many years. It’s far more challenging and needs much more treatment time. In most cases, people significantly improve.
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