Some people who have recovered from COVID-19 have reported that they have headaches that can last for months, but new findings lead to COVID-19 specific treatments.
Some people who have recovered from COVID-19 have reported that they have headaches that can last for months, but new findings lead to COVID-19 specific treatments.
According to a neurologist who specializes in headaches: “We have a treatment that not only controls the headaches, but also causes the headaches and the systemic symptoms,” said Dr. Stephen Silberstein of the Jefferson Headache Center of Jefferson University in Jefferson said. in Philadelphia.
He said that an approved device approved by the Food and Drug Administration can be prescribed at home to stimulate the vagus nerve, just like when the nerve is activated through deep breathing exercises with yoga, pilates or meditation.
‘It has the same effect as deep breathing, but it lasts 90 seconds; and it has been shown that this device switches off the pathway of neurositokines that are released, ”said Silberstein.
So-called “cytokine storms”, or out-of-control inflammatory reactions, are thought to be behind serious COVID-19 reactions, such as headaches, body aches and breathing problems.
The device “helps with headaches, but has just been shown to reduce the amount of inflammatory cytokines in the bloodstream,” he said.
Doctors do not really know how different drugs, such as aspirin, can aggravate the underlying causes of COVID-19 symptoms, according to Silberstein. But he said it is completely natural to activate your body to relieve its own headaches.
“What we have noticed for a long time – before we had doctors and before we had drugs – is how strong the body is at controlling its own pain and symptoms. Many of the techniques used in the past were based on controlling our own sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, ”said Silberstein.
Deep breathing and meditation do just that. So, now we have a device that mimics it, but prolongs the effect of vagal nerve stimulation, and it’s really as natural as you can get, ‘he said.
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