Long COVID

Patients recovering from COVID who’s symptoms persist for months after they’re clear of the infection, are known as having ‘long COVID’ or ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’. 

They often experience : 

• shortness of breath

• Fatigue

• Myalgia (muscles aches)

• Unrefreshing sleep

• Reduced exercise capacity

• Headaches

• Difficulty concentrating

COVID-19 whilst being a multi-organ infection is characterised primarily as a respiratory infection. 

Studies are now starting to look at the breathing patterns of those recovering from COVID and noting that almost all the patients (88%) exhibit abnormal breathing patterns.

“These findings suggest that in a subgroup of long haulers, hyperventilation and/or dysfunctional breathing may underlie their symptoms. This is important as these abnormalities may be addressed with breathing exercises or ‘retraining…”

Furthermore there has been insight that manual therapy is beneficial in reducing heart rate and improving the ease of breathing. 

At More Pathways, we are treating post COVID patients with evidence based methods to improve breathing and quality of life with:

• Breathing retraining

• Manual therapy

• Inspiratory muscle training

• Biofeedback

Breathing is the pathway to altering the nervous system in ways that improve the immune system and physiological resilience.

Breathing techniques can help build a more robust immune system that offers resilience to flues and colds. Improving nasal breathing can also help resist viral infections, protect and improve our lungs and recovery from illness. 

These breathing techniques are open to people to build their resilience even if they have not post covid to help build tolerance in this current pandemic climate.