So many of you won't know, but my early specialisation as a physiotherapist was in the management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I worked to develop a research based rehabilitation program in conjuction with a Professor of Immunology and Psychologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital in central London.

 

The patients I saw in this job had developed CFS (and a number of other symptoms – pain, vertigo) for a variety of reasons, but one of them was due to viral infection – a post viral fatigue syndrome. One of the viruses you might be familiar with from your (or your children's) youth was Ebstein Barr Virus AKA glandular fever or mono (the kissing disease, 'cos teenager's got it through kissing!) Do you remember many young people took around a year to recover from it?

So Long Covid isn't the first post viral illness and there is much we can draw on the management and further, ideally the prevention of it from our understanding of the development of CFS. So having seen over a thousand clients in my CFS career I'd say the most outstanding feature common to most was a tendency to push on and not give the body the time it needed. Sometimes from the outside the body was grounded, but the minds' were still in a state of grasping to do more; to get back to work; to care for the family; to regain their fitness and so the Immune and Endocrine system was still at the mercy of an activation system – the Sympathetic Nervous System. This is the opposite of where we want to be to heal – that is, the Parasympathetic Nervous System. You can google those!

So to keep it succinct then my tips when recovering from Covid, to prevent the onset of Long Covid are:

1. Nourish your immune system with healthy foods and maybe consider supplements like Vit C, zinc and Vit D. This will aid early recovery. Sit in the early morning or late arvo sun (more Vit D) and sip lemon (Vit C), ginger (dries the damp) tea to soothe the sore throat. Periods upright will keep your blood pressure normal.

2. Move limbs and spine gently with breath in lying or sitting and as your symptoms allow keep gently active around the house.

3. Rest enough. Do not try to push on. Rest as much as your body tells you it needs and coerce your mind to surrender to that. Fantastic that the government is imposing isolation as this also enforces rest.

4. Delete all deadlines. This is a difficult one, especially if work is wanting you back asap because of staff shortages. At least in your mind give yourself all the time in the world to recover. Let folk know you will not be taking calls!

5. Don't exhaust yourself in front of a screen, working or watching TV or even reading.. this will be a strain if you have a headache and keeps the body in Sympathetic mode. Instead put on some relaxing music, enjoy a warm, candle lit, Magnesium bath. It's seriously time to nurture the Parasympathetic.

6. Consider your attitudes and what you know of Covid. The media has presented us with the catastrophy of the pandemic, but for most healthy people they will experience mild symptoms or at worst a bad flu. Don't be carried into feeling sicker than you are.

7. Listen to meditation or Yoga Nidra to relax and focus how amazing the body is at healing. Enjoy and be mesmerized by the powerful immune response in your body to bring you back to health. After I had Covid in early January, I felt better than ever.

8. Practice gentle Pranayama (breathing exercises).. for instance in lying with hands on the belly observe even length inhale and exhale. Visualizing alternative nostril breathing is also good. Because Covid is a respiratory virus, maintaining the breath is important.