Post-covid syndrome
Post-covid syndrome brings long-term health consequences, which at first glance, the patient might not associate with overcoming COVID-19.
COVID-19 is a viral respiratory disease that can not only take a very severe course, but unfortunately can also damage our health in the long term and affect our quality of life. Did you know that post-covid syndrome not only affects vital organs, but also negatively impacts our overall physical and mental well-being?
However, what can be even more dangerous in some people is the internal organ damage that takes place without the patient having any external symptoms and is only detected by a blood test and blood analysis.
But what happens in our bodies during and after COVID19?
During the course of this disease, the body must mobilize its entire immune system to protect us.
“In more severe cases, the immune system cannot effectively defend every part of the body, and the virus mainly damages the lungs, kidneys, heart and liver, which then take a long time to recover from this attack. Sometimes, however, it is not the disease itself that damages the kidneys and liver,”
We talk about post-covid syndrome only when the acute phase of this disease subsides. In some people, post-covid syndrome manifests itself with different symptoms, in others it proceeds completely asymptomatic and inconspicuously.
Is there also post-covid syndrome?
The physical consequences after overcoming COVID19 are varied. These are the most common symptoms of post-covid syndrome:
- endless fatigue and exhaustion, chronic fatigue syndrome,
- rapid breathing after light activities,
- pain in joints, limbs,
- headaches that can result in migraines, dizziness,
- heaviness on the lungs and dry cough,
- elevated temperature,
- digestive problems such as diarrhoea, constipation and nausea,
- loss of taste and smell even after the disease has passed,
- heart palpitations,
- difficulty sleeping,
- hair loss,
- various skin manifestations,
- newly developed diabetes and high blood pressure.
COVID-19 and mental health problems
However, sometimes the exhaustion of the body with COVID-19 does not manifest itself so visibly, but it hits our psyche and how we feel.
“Many people experience mood swings, depressive states, or various sleep problems. Others develop unexpected anxiety, feel inexplicable sadness, are unable to concentrate, or suffer from memory lapses.
Treatment of post-covid syndrome in the hyperbaric chamber
Purpose and principle of hyperbaric treatment:
This treatment method is based on a simple physical principle. In the barochamber, there is an increase in pressure to 2.5 atmospheres, which is about as much as if we dived to a depth of 14 metres below the surface of water. With this overpressure, the amount of oxygen in body fluids increases significantly and also reaches tissues that suffer from a lack of oxygen. Through this mechanism, oxygen is supplied to parts of the body where red blood cells cannot reach. At the normal atmospheric pressure we live in, most oxygen is carried in the blood by haemoglobin in red blood cells, and only 2-2.5% is dissolved in body fluids. At elevated pressure, the amount of dissolved oxygen in body fluids increases – with an overpressure of 3 atmospheres, up to 6% of oxygen reaches the tissues. This amount is enough to save tissues threatened by lack of oxygen.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a method of treatment that is of fundamental importance in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolism, caisson disease of divers, gangrene, general sepsis, and further as supportive therapy for other diseases. It uses the effect of correcting the lack of oxygen in tissues, prevents the reproduction and growth of bacteria, the combined effect significantly accelerates the healing of wounds and wound areas, increases the body’s defences and immunity and improves the nutrition of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. This effect is mostly used in the treatment of diabetic feet, ischemic disease of the lower extremities and leg ulcers.
Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and post-covid rehabilitation:
- elimination of pain
- improvement of breathing
- improving sleep
- increasing endurance
- calming the psyche
- regulation of indigestion
- improvement of organ function
