Healing from Virus-related Health Issues
February 2022
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine treatments for COVID-19 have not been approved by the U.S. government. This is because of the differences between Western medicine and Chinese medicine in diagnosing and treating illnesses. Western medicine identifies specific diseases, such as the COVID-19 virus, while Chinese medicine identifies disease patterns, such as wind-cold. Both are valid diagnoses; however, they are treated in different ways. Chinese medicine treats an individual’s specific symptoms and patterns with the appropriate herbal formula or acupuncture treatment, no matter what the individual’s Western diagnosis is, including COVID-19.
Chinese Medicine Treatments vs. Western Medicine Treatments
Traditional Chinese medicine is an entire system of medicine with its own pathology and physiology, like Western medicine. Both types of medicine treat the same diseases, but use different methods to diagnosis them, use different names to label the diseases (patterns) and use different forms of treatments.
In Chinese medicine, a virus can have several different diagnoses such as: wind-cold, wind-heat and damp-heat. A patient with COVID-19 will be diagnosed and treated for a damp-heat pathogen with acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Chinese medicine is unique and effective because it is designed to treat the individual, not a disease. In Western medicine, patients with the same conventional diagnosis all receive the same conventional treatment. But in Chinese medicine, patients will all have different treatment plans based on how the disease has manifested in their bodies. It is common for people to have a positive PCR test but have very different symptoms than another person with the same positive PCR test. Chinese Medicine treats this uniqueness between the different presentations of COVID-19.
COVID-19 Symptoms
Two of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are shortness of breath/chest tightness and loss of taste/smell. Chinese Herbal Medicine helps keep the lungs moist so they can expand and contract, allowing people to breathe easily. A Touch of Ginger (ATOG) really shines in helping people get relief of these symptoms. Not one ATOG patient who was actively being treated for COVID-19 was hospitalized.
Some common symptoms people with COVID-19 experience include the following:
• Fever
• Headache
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Chest tightness
• Body aches
• Loss of taste and smell
• Congestion
• Loss of appetite
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Earaches
• Teeth and jaw pain
• Sneezing
• Diarrhea
In addition, following are some symptoms some people experience during a long-haul COVID-19 recovery:
• Headache/migraine
• Brain fog
• Hair loss
• Fatigue
• Loss of taste and smell
• Muscle twitching, cramping and spasms
• Lingering cough
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Heart palpitations/racing
• PMS
• Irregular menstrual cycle
• Infertility
ATOG’s COVID-19 Treatment Plan
There has been an exponential increase in the volume of cases ATOG has seen of virus-related health issues over the past two years related to COVID-19.
Chinese medicine is and historically always has been effective at treating and healing virus symptoms. ATOG can help people suffering from COVID-19, post-COVID-19 symptoms or long-haul COVID-19 symptoms with acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Patients with active COVID-19 are treated via telemedicine appointments with Chinese Herbal Medicine only. Herbal formulas are available via curbside pick-up at the ATOG office or via overnight mail. Acupuncture will be introduced approximately 5-7 days after onset of symptoms, in addition to Chinese Herbal Medicine, to treat a post-COVID-19 condition.
People with active COVID-19 should begin treatment as soon as they become symptomatic. The sooner treatment is started, the sooner ATOG can intervene and help break the fever and provide relief of symptoms.
COVID-19 treatment with acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine is a process. There is a progression of recovery seen through the stages of the COVID-19 illness. After the virus is treated, treatment generally is needed to repair the lasting effects of COVID-19 on the body. ATOG is here to help people recover faster and more completely through all stages of COVID-19 and to eliminate lingering effects of the virus.
Schedule an Appointment
Not feeling like yourself lately? Let us help you with that! ATOG effectively has helped countless numbers of people who have turned to us for support, hope and healing. If you know someone who is suffering, please share our message with them.
You can schedule an appointment by calling ATOG at (630) 299-3464 or schedule an appointment online. If you don’t live near an ATOG office, you can use a search engine and search for “acupuncture near me” to find a licensed acupuncturist in your area.
Be you again!
Ginger Michels, is ATOG’s lead acupuncturist and herbalist and owner. Ginger is a Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc), Board Certified Herbalist, Diplomate of Oriental Medicine (Dipl. OM), Diplomate of Canonical Chinese Medicine (DCCM) and Clinical Fellowship with the Institute of East Asian Medicine (FICEAM).
Artwork credit: Stephen Behling