Post-COVID syndrome, often referred to as "long COVID," encompasses a constellation of potential symptoms experienced by patients four weeks or longer following infection with SARS COV-2. In terms of prevalence, the Mayo Clinic states: "Research suggests that between one month and one year after having COVID-19, 1 in 5 people ages 18 to 64 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19. Among people age 65 and older, 1 in 4 has at least one medical condition that might be due to COVID-19."
In other words, if you're not already seeing patients with post-COVID syndrome, you will be. Fortunately, a new case report1 details successful multidisciplinary treatment of post-COVID syndrome with acupuncture.
Published in Medical Acupuncture and featuring researchers from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the case involved a 50-year-old woman who presented to an outpatient hospital-affiliated acupuncture clinic on referral from a long-COVID clinic. Her history included fatigue, anosmia, chest pressure, dyspnea on exertion, palpitations, dry cough, and brain fog eight months following COVID-19 diagnosis; with diagnostic testing confirming "multi-system inflammatory involvement."
The patient's TCM diagnosis: heart, lung, spleen, and kidney qi deficiency. Two licensed acupuncturists administered six total acupuncture treatments over a nine-week period to five primary acupoints (ST 36, LI 4, LU 7, TB 5 and GB 41). Additional points were added per visit based on patient presentation and differential diagnosis.
According to the research team in their summary of findings, "The patient's chest pressure and palpitations resolved after 1 acupuncture treatment. With 6 additional treatments, spanning 9 weeks, overlapping with PT-led SPTA [symptom-titrated physical activity], she recovered completely and resumed her normal exercise."
The researchers note that while the independent effects of acupuncture on long COVID remain unclear because treatment was provided in conjunction with physical activity training, they suggest: "Acupuncture is an intriguing prospective therapy for PCS given acupuncture's holistic, individualized approach, which parallels the varying symptoms and organ involvements of PCS. ... [There] may be some commonalities in TCM approaches to COVID/PCS, as 2 acupoints used in this case are among those most commonly used in acute COVID-19 (LI 4 / ST 36)."
Reference
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