69. Five element acupuncture treatment of Long Covid symptoms

I am pre-occupied at the moment with thinking of ways in which five element acupuncture can help all those many, many people who have emerged from their bouts of COVID 19 still suffering the side-effects lumped together under the name of Long Covid.  I was prompted to think more about this by an article I have just read in the Guardian newspaper entitled "Don't be fooled.  Covid won't be cured by a wonder drug".  After looking at some traditional herbal remedies, including some from China, it comments very wisely: "It doesn't pay to rule out (remedies) just because there's no clear rationale for how they would do the job."  We could include acupuncture in the list of remedies to be considered when looking at ways of treating Long Covid.  

So how does five element acupuncture approach the treatment of the many Long Covid symptoms?  We know that these range from extreme tiredness, chest pain, heart palpitations to joint pain, nausea and high fever.  One of the things my years as five element acupuncturist has taught me is how effective we can be in treating conditions, such as these, which are described as being non-specific ailments with no obvious aetiology.  In five element terms a variety of symptoms affecting different organs must be caused by some severe attack upon the elements controlling these organs, to the extent that their ability to retain balance has been overwhelmed.  

It is likely that the elements will also have become sufficiently weakened to cause Aggressive Energy to appear, making this obviously the first treatment we should carry out.  We must also consider the possibility of having first to clear IDs, a condition that that might appear when a patient is facing a life-threatening illness.  And then we should look for any of the other major blocks to treatment, such as Husband/Wife, moving on to consider Entry/Exit blocks, starting with the major CV/GV block.  This may occur when severe illness has weakened the elements' connection to their main sources of energy the two great pathways of Conception and Governor Vessels (Ren Mai and Du Mai).  Other Entry/Exit blocks may also need to be cleared, before we move on to treat the patient's element.   I would also always think it advisable to re-check for AE at intervals after this if some of the COVID symptoms persist, because severe illness may have weakened the elements' ability to withstand stress and allow AE to creep in again.

 

I would love us to be able to offer this treatment to as many sufferers of Long Covid as we can, if only the conventional medical world would learn to accept the fundamental validity of what five element acupuncture can do.  But until this happens, all we can do is treat those patients who find their way to us, and hope that these people will spread the word to their fellow sufferers.