We all remember the COVID pandemic, which took a massive toll on millions of people, both physically, emotionally, and economically. However, while most people recovered, a significant percentage of people continued to experience extreme, persistent and recurring symptoms for weeks or even months after clearing the infection. This condition is commonly referred to as “Long COVID,” or “Post-COVID Syndrome.”
Long COVID is causing millions of people worldwide to face ongoing, debilitating symptoms that disrupt their lives. In fact, in 2023, about 65 million people worldwide suffered from Long COVID. According to the CDC, “6.9% of adults and 1.3% of children (roughly 17 million and 1 million, respectively) in the United States ever reported experiencing Long COVID.”
What is Long COVID?
Long COVID is an overall term which has been adopted across the world to identify the symptoms and clinical signs that remain unresolved after 12 weeks or longer post-COVID.
Long COVID most often occurs in people who had a severe bout of COVID-19, but is not restricted to those who were critically ill or hospitalized. People with mild COVID symptoms and even those who did not develop any symptoms can also be affected.
Long COVID Symptoms
There are more than 200 symptoms associated with Long COVID, including severe nerve pain, pseudo seizures, debilitating fatigue, brain fog, depression, and memory loss. A complex condition, Long COVID symptoms can be crippling and long-lasting.
Emerging research indicates a concerning link between long COVID and the development of POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). This is a disorder characterized by an abnormal increase in heart rate, often due to dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.
AMPS or Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome is another condition connected to Long COVID. It’s characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain. Both of these conditions can be debilitating, causing long-term chronic pain.
Long COVID Treatment
Long COVID appears to be connected to neurologic damage, and its most disabling symptoms are neurological (for example, cognitive dysfunction, pain, and autonomic nerve dysfunction). For that reason alone, medication treatments will not be successful because that underlying damage is not being addressed. One must target the central nervous system first when attempting to heal it.
Spero’s unique treatment programs have long focused on healing neurologic damage caused by viral infections. While the SARS-CoV-2 virus is rather new, the way it affects the nervous system is not. It appears to follow the same path of destruction as other viruses, affecting the central nervous system.
Hope Through Healing
Through its unique Long COVID treatment program, The Spero Clinic aims to help those most affected by this condition – primarily seniors and children – by giving them a new chance in life.
Says Dr. Katinka van der Merwe, Founder and CEO of The Spero Clinic, “Long COVID symptoms are temporary and can be reversed with The Spero Clinic’s Long COVID treatment program. I have made it my life’s mission to treat patients who suffer from so-called ‘impossible’ diseases – those that have been given up by the medical community.”
“I can help them” she says, “by treating them with non-invasive, holistic therapies that all aim to heal the issues occurring in your central nervous system. Our Long COVID Treatment Program is based on holistic principles to allow the body to heal itself.”
One example of Spero’s healing results is Dylan, who contracted COVID-19 in January of 2022, one week after his mother was infected. Both recovered, but Dylan’s symptoms quickly progressed from chronic fatigue, body aches and migraines, to even seizures before he was finally diagnosed with Long COVID. Once the pain had set in, Dylan took his last independent steps in June 2022.
Entering The Spero Clinic’s Long Covid program, within three months Dylan’s progress was remarkable. “I can move all of my body. I have the feeding tube out. I can talk, I can speak fully. Nerve pain is down to a zero, when it was at a 10,” Dylan said.
Now, Dylan, like so many other Spero patients, is fully healed, healthy and active again.
If you or a loved one is experiencing chronic post-COVID symptoms, call us for free at (479) 304-8202 or directly schedule a free consultation here with our chronic pain specialists to determine whether our program is a good fit for you.
