While we are on the other side of COVID for the most part, it’s no secret that the COVID virus has affected people the world over since its inception in 2020. However, people were not expecting to be symptomatic or get sick more often long after they have recovered from COVID. There are a variety of symptoms that patients are still experiencing weeks, months, and even years after being infected. Those with persistent symptoms post-COVID have now been known to have “Long Haul COVID”, and according to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that 1 in 5 people suffer from post-COVID symptoms.
Post-COVID Symptoms
There are surprisingly a good number of symptoms that affect people post infection that linger long after recovery. These symptoms have lasted much longer than with other viral infections, and it is baffling the medical world, and forcing them to looks at alternative treatments to manage.
Various Symptoms Post-COVID:
- Loss of taste or smell – this is caused by inflammation caused by the infection. The interesting thing about COVID is that in many cases, the loss of taste and smell was the first indicator that one had the virus.
- Pulmonary fibrosis – this involves fatigue, dyspnea, cough, chest tightness or pain
- Mind fog – memory and attention loss that is believed to be related to COVID by indirect or direct damage to the brain micro vessels and nerves caused by the virus.
- Muscle and joint pain – people also experience muscle aches, headaches, and joint pain.
Medical professionals are unsure yet why some of these symptoms occur post infection, and they are still learning how it operates within the body during and after.
Acupuncture for Post-COVID Symptoms
Acupuncture works for post-COVID symptoms by strengthening the body in conjunction with conventional medicine or alone. The goal as an acupuncture provider is to move the dampness out, unblock the meridians, and calm the system.
How acupuncture helps with long COVID symptoms:
- Increases immunity
- Decreases inflammation
- Smooths the path for infection recovery including managing the overarching symptoms of cough, chest tightness, headache, fatigue, nasal congestion, and restoration of smell and taste.
- Manage emotions like anxiety and depression
While all of these symptoms are ones that people have dealt with post COVID, the loss of taste and smell is by far the one that has been seen the most amongst patients. Acupuncture treatment can help restore nasal tissue in the nose and decrease inflammation therefore potentially regaining sense of smell.
Additionally, auricular acupuncture can be helpful for those who lost their sense of smell and taste due to nerve dysfunction or cell damage due to the infection. Lastly, acupuncture boosts the immune system. When it comes to COVID, research has shown that people who have recovered from the virus had long lasting changes to the immune system for up to a year. Stem cells were found in those who had severe COVID increased white blood cells which caused more inflammatory signals within the body.
Acupuncture points for loss of taste and smell:
- ST36
- LI20
- GV16
- KD3
- LU9
- GV20
- LU7
Since COVID has become a part of our everyday now 4 years after its onset, the world of research acted to find any way to mitigate post-COVID symptoms, not least of which was acupuncture treatment. There have been many studies since 2020 of acupuncture treating post infection symptoms with promising results both alone and in conjunction with western medicine.
Acupuncture Treatment Research for Post-COVID:
Acupuncture Effects on COVID-19 Long-Hauler Syndrome, 2024:
- The goal of this study was to determine the effects of acupuncture among adults who are dealing with long-haul syndrome post COVID-19 in particular with loss of taste and smell and brain fog.
- A small study of 20 patients most of which not having any other medical conditions other than the after effects of COVID. All patients received 2 sessions per week for 3 weeks utilizing the following acupuncture points: Shen Men on the ear, Yin Tang, GB20, DU20, LI20, ST36, LI4, LV3, and KD3.
- PROMIS scale questionnaire was used to rate their brain fog, Taste Test strip, PTC (phenylthiocarbamide-bitter), UPSIT test, and an 8 item “scratch and sniff” test, and patients rated what they tasted.
- The study concluded that there was a significant improvement for taste, smell, and brain fog after the acupuncture treatment plan. In fact, the results showed improvement in taste and smell after just 3 sessions of acupuncture concluding acupuncture to be a positive treatment option.
Acupuncture in Multidisciplinary Treatment for Post COVID-19 Syndrome, 2022:
- This was a case study with a 50-year-old woman presenting with Long COVID symptoms including 8 months of anosmia, chest tightness, palpitations, fatigue, and other symptoms. The acupuncturist’s diagnosis was Qi Deficiency of the Heart, Lung, Spleen, and Kidney.
- The patient received auricular, scalp, and body acupuncture for 7 sessions.
- Post treatment results showed that the patient’s chest tightness was resolved after just 1 acupuncture treatment, and with the rest of the treatments, she recovered completely.
- This study concluded that acupuncture appeared to help with post COVID recovery, and should be added to a multidisciplinary regimen.
The Role of Acupuncture for Long COVID: Mechanisms and Models, 2022:
- The goal of this study was to solidify the role of acupuncture treatment as an effective treatment to manage long COVID.
- Modern scientific research, literature, and case studies show the value of acupuncture for treating symptoms of “respiratory viral infections” like the flu and COVID. Additionally, it is shown to potentially have disease-modifying benefits.
- This research concluded that acupuncture is a legitimate, safe, and effective adjunctive healthcare modality for symptom management of Long COVID patients. Also, acupuncture treatment showed to modify the duration and outcome of these symptoms. This warrants more extensive use of acupuncture treatment in clinical settings for Long COVID symptoms.
Case Report: Acupuncture is an effective treatment for olfactory dysfunction in the post COVID-19 condition, 2022:
- This article outlined two different cases of olfactory dysfunction post COVID that showed improvement with traditional acupuncture.
- Acupuncture treatment was performed on two patients 6-7 months after the COVID diagnosis stimulating the Yingxiang point (LI20) 1-2 times per week. LI20 was stimulated on the left and right sides “until patients felt the de qi sensation” and left needles in for 15 minutes.
- It was found that after treatment the symptoms of olfactory dysfunction was reduced with the improvement lasting 2 – 4 days. However, as more acupuncture treatments were administered, the time between reoccurrences of olfactory dysfunction was prolonged.
- This article concluded that it is a good adjunct modality, but also may be the option for those individuals who are resistant to modern medical treatment options due to side effects or wanting a natural option.
Acupuncture treatment is a favorable treatment option for patients. Acupuncture has helped a wide variety of post COVID issues, and is hopefully the opening for more research to be done on Eastern medicine treatments to work together with modern medicine for post COVID treatments and beyond.