Acupuncture, the Immune System and Long Covid #BOP top tips
We have long been aware of the importance of looking after our immune systems but the events of 2020 have sadly given us a very sharp lesson in how vital it is to look after our health and our bodies’ ability to fight disease.
There is plenty that we can do to help ourselves. Important lifestyle habits include getting plenty of sleep, eating healthily and taking regular exercise, as well as avoiding smoking, not drinking alcohol to excess and maintaining a healthy weight. Looking after our mental health is essential too, whether it is spending time outside, meditating, keeping in touch with friends and family or whatever works best for us.
Prevention of disease has long been the primary goal of acupuncture treatment and there is a growing and increasingly convincing body of evidence showing that acupuncture is able to balance the activity of our immune system. Balance is the key word when it comes to immunity as in the context of Covid-19, an overreaction of the immune system can lead to severe complications.
Studies have shown clear evidence that acupuncture increases the body’s ability to fight infections, while at the same time calming the body’s occasional tendency to overreact. In addition, acupuncture has been evidenced to reduce chronic pain, anxiety, depression and stress, all of which have a detrimental impact on our immune system.
As well as boosting people’s resistance to future infection, there are some promising indicators from the British Acupuncture Council that acupuncture may be a real help with people suffering with ‘Long Covid’, (long-lasting symptoms following Covid 19 infection). And many of the common symptoms including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, COPD, heart arrhythmias and nausea have been shown in the past to respond to acupuncture.
The symptoms of Long Covid appear to be quite complex and varied. With acupuncture treatment, patients are treated using a holistic approach, helping to support their own self-healing rather than focusing on one symptom at a time. And by helping to balance the immune system and inflammatory processes discussed above, acupuncture may in turn may play a part in treating long Covid, just as we believe it can in preventing infection.
Fiona Bullock Lic Ac MBAcC
Bramhall Osteopathic Practice
0161 440 0298
www.stockportacupuncture.org.uk
NB:There is existing evidence of acupuncture’s benefits for various symptoms that may be seen with Covid, but no substantial research as yet to support it as a treatment for people with Covid.
Contact Fiona for details of the studies referred to above.
