Alternative Ways of Treating Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 20 million people in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands have died. Most people that recover from COVID-19 return to normal health, but some suffer long-term effects which range from mild to severe and can last weeks or months after recovery from the acute stage. There are several beneficial alternative healing methods that can help ameliorate these long-term symptoms.

Commonly reported long-term COVID symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain and chest pain. Others are brain fog, depression, muscle pain, headache, intermittent fever and heart palpitations. More serious long-term cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, dermatologic, neurological and psychiatric complications have been reported. Here are four integrative treatment approaches for alleviating the long-term symptoms of COVID-19.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): For more than 5,000 years, TCM has been using acupuncture and herbal medicine to address respiratory (chronic cough, wheezing, phlegm, asthma), cardiovascular (palpitations, tightness in the chest), dermatological (rash, hair loss), renal, neurological (loss of taste/smell, neuropathy), insomnia, poor memory, psychiatric (depression, anxiety, changes in mood) and all types of pain. TCM works well as a complement to Western medical therapies. Herbal medicine can also be a viable alternative to prescription medications.

Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET): A non-invasive, drug-free therapy, NAET integrates techniques from multiple healing modalities such as acupuncture, acupressure, allopathy, chiropractic techniques, Applied Kinesiology, homeopathy and nutrition. NAET works to rebalance the body to bring it back to a homeostatic state. This modality is beneficial for those with allergies and sensitivities prior to contracting COVID-19 that have noticed an increase in reactions since then.

Meditation: In particular, deep, diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve and calm the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight). It also helps to increase the oxygen within the cells.

Reiki: Reiki has been shown to lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels and may also have a positive effect on depression and anxiety by calming the nervous system.