Long Covid
For some it doesn’t seem to matter how bad their covid symptoms had been, they still end up experiencing what has been coined ‘long covid’. Ongoing tiredness, headaches, low mood, lack of motivation and a difficulty getting back to exercise are just a few of the ongoing symptoms being reported.
Within the realm of Chinese Medicine, it has been known for centuries that virus’s can continue to cause problems for their host. The terminology used for this have included, ‘latent pathogen’ or ‘hidden pathogen’.
Of course we are only starting to discover the depths of how the virus covid-19 affects our body. I had the fortunate pleasure to bring my 9 year old son (who I believed had long covid), as a volunteer patient, to see Dr Janice Hadlock who was presenting in Melbourne on the weekend. Dr Janice has done extensive work in the field of Parkinson’s Disease and more recently on the treatment of long covid. Dr Janice is incredibly generous with her findings and offers a free pdf on her website describing how individuals can treat themselves at home by using touch, stroking, acupressure, massage and directing your mind.
Within my own practice, seeing a few patients who have been experiencing long covid I have found the same channels and acupuncture points to be affected and needing attention. What was new to me and incredible to see, was when my son Lucas used his mind to direct Qi through his brain. The intention here was to correct the follow of Qi for the Du channel, which as a result of covid can start to go over the top of the head and not through the brain, which is where it should be flowing in our wakeful state. Now this may seem a little abstract to some, but as his mother, when I had my attention on him while he received treatment I felt within me a surge of energy in my head. Like I said, it was incredible. When the final blocks on an arm channel known as Large Intestine channel were unblocked using massage, Lucas popped his eyes open, arched his back stretching up and started giggling, all of which I couldn’t help but mirror myself. He hadn’t been able to sit up straight like that for weeks. I must also mention here that my son has the western diagnosis of ADHD, which in itself is said to cause chaos in the prefrontal cortex (a part of the brain in which the Du channel runs through within the brain). Lucas had been shown a picture of a head showing where the line of Qi should be traveling, and was asked to imagine that line connecting the acu point Du15 up through to acu point Yintang. Both these points were being pressed by Dr Janice at the same time. I have an instagram post on acupresuure on these two points. Lucas later told me he imagined he face on the picture he was shown.
Acupuncture and the channel systems are amazing and transformative. This here, demonstrates how you can tap into these channels using touch and pressure. Download the pdf Dr Janice Hadlock is offering and give this a try yourself. Please pass this information on to anyone you know who you feel would benefit.
Dr. Jane Ditty (Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture)