Outside of Asian countries like Taiwan and China as an example, Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are practiced mostly by non-physicians.
As the pandemic continued and non-essential health care workers were either prohibited nor restricted to see patients, most Chinese medicine practitioners did not see actively infected Covid-19 patients.
This post is a summary of my own experience treating my family member while the disease was active. As well you can find references for relevant research and treatments on corona virus.
The new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease has knocked on my family’s door.
During weekend, my wife started to feel sick and had common cold signs which included: sore throat and cough, slight fever, headache and body aches.
However, this time her symptoms looked different. It was much stronger than usual so after the self-test showed positive on Sunday, she went to the GGD (The Dutch version for CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to do a PCR test which was also found positive.
It is important to disclaim that this post does not substitute the need to consult with your General Practitioner or replace his instructions or the guidelines of the GGD for COVID-19 disease. It’s is based on my own personal experience, which I think should be shared for the benefits of the general public’s health.
Patient’s summary – clinical facts:
Female, 39 years old, married +2 ,not taking any medication on a regular basis, with a background of allergies, which include asthma and atopic dermatitis. She tends to recover slowly from viral infections and on average gets sick every other month. Due to medical reason, she was not vaccinated to COVID-19. Upon Saturday (04/12/21) she started to have common cold symptoms of sore throat and cough, slight fever, headache and body aches. During this day she took one Ibuprofen tablet and was able to manage the day without any aggravation in her condition.
During Sunday, the disease’s manifestation changed and she suffered from severe aversion to cold and chills without sweat, fever (which was not measured but from subjective feeling was not very high), severe fatigue and body aches. After she returned from the GGD test-center, she took another Ibuprofen tablet and rested at bed the entire day. Upon Monday, she started to feel chest pain which lasted for two days, cough with phlegm, runny nose, severe aversion to cold and chills, severe fatigue and body aches. During Monday, the fever decreased and these were her main symptoms. The loss of smell and taste happened later in the week on Wednesday. She took 2 Ibuprofen tablets a day to ease the pain from the headache and sore muscles (200mg/tablet)
Natural treatment:
This is a summary of what we did in the past week:
Monday: 1 liter of fresh orange juice, which was mixed with 14g of Vitamin C and 7g Magnesium in a powder form. She drank 100ml every hour on that day.
Tuesday: Oil massage with doTERRA Air (mainly on the upper back for 15 minutes) and Acupuncture treatment in the upper back region to strength her immune system and Lung and Kidney systems. Points that were used were: GB20, DU14, DU12, BL13, BL12, DU4, BL23.
Wednesday: She started to take the following dietary supplements: Vitamin C capsule 1000mg per capsule, 1 capsule per day; Vitamin D-3 2000IU per capsule, one capsule per day; Zinc 50mg per capsule, one capsule per day. All the dietary supplements were products of Swanson natural health and were online purchased from here.
Friday: Oil massage (mainly on the upper back for 15 minutes) and Acupuncture treatment to strength her Lung system and treat the loss of smell. Points that were used were: Ling Gu Da bai (22.04+22.05); Tu shui points (22-11) with press tack needles for several hours; Er JIao Ming (11.12); Sima (88.17 88.18 88.19); Men JIn (66.05) and Liu xi. Zhen Jin (1010.08), Shang Li (1010.09) in the face region were blood-let.
Overall recommendations:
- Positive thinking: Although I was concerned during the first few days about the disease manifestation, I kept encouraging and reassured her that everything will be alright.
- Ventilation: Everyday her room was ventilated for 1-2 hours and sometimes she was resting and sleeping with open windows, which helped her to breath better (Although its very cold now in the Netherlands).
- Rest: She had 100% rest for 3-4 days, lots of sleep, early bed time and daytime naps. She propped several pillows when lying down for elevation.
- Diet: Our diet is always vegetarian. Her appetitive was not good but when she did ate, it was mainly vegetable soup, miso soup, boiled rice, heathy grains like quinoa, lentils and fruits.
- Essential oils: the following essential oils blends were used on a regular basis: doTERRA Air (Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Lemon, Ravensara, and Cardamom essential oils), doTERRA On guard (Wild Orange Peel, Clove Bud, Cinnamon Leaf, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus Leaf, and Rosemary Leaf/Flower essential oils). doTERRA Air was used in a massage on the chest, upper back, neck and shoulders (5 drops of the blend in a spoon of almond oil) and doTERRA On Guard was used in a massage on the lower back, feet and wrists (4 drops of the blend in a spoon of almond oil) up to 3 times daily. Moreover, she kept inhaling essential oils every day to try and stimulate her sense of smell. She used peppermint oil which has a very strong fragrance.
- Steam inhalation: using hot water and stream inhalation to fill the lungs with warm, moist air via the nose and throat; the second week she did that twice to get the mucus out and relive her nose congestion.
Note: Never take essential oils orally and avoid all contact with the mouth area and eyes. Essential oils should never be applied undiluted to the skin as they can cause irritation.
Results:
On the third day of the disease, her chest pain was gone.
On the fifth day her appetite improved and she was a bit more active.
On the sixth day she improved significantly and besides of the loss of teste and smell most of her symptoms were gone.
On the eighth day she returned to work from home and she was able to smell a hint of the essential oils she’s been inhaling daily.
Note: On the eleventh day she started to feel foggy sensation with heaviness in her head and headaches, nose congestion and fatigue. The next couple of days she again rested and received two more Acupuncture treatment for her headaches and phlegm accumulation, which resulted significant improvement of her condition.
**The second phase of the treatment will focus on restoring her smell and taste using Acupuncture.
More readings about the importance of Acupuncture, vitamin C, D, Zinc and healthy diet on COVID-19
Read the research Current state of research about acupuncture for the treatment of COVID-19: A scoping review
Read the research Vitamin D Deficiency is associated with higher hospitalization risk from COVID-19: a retrospective study.
Read the research Diet quality and risk and severity of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study
Read the research Zinc for the prevention or treatment of acute viral respiratory tract infections in adults: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Read the research Vitamin C an adjunctive therapy for respiratory infection, sepsis and COVID-19
Credits and bibliographies
- https://www.custom-med.net/guidelines (Hebrew)
- Notes from a webinar שיח מטפלים אודות קוביד-19 by Ofir Vogel, September 2021, Israel.
