Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Post Covid-19 Syndrome

The COVID-19 pandemic is now in its third year and has infected a large proportion of the worldwide population. After the acute infection, many stay in poor health for months. The nature of this aftermath is not yet fully understood, therefore the management of this syndrome through biomedical therapy is not ideal. Health services are struggling to help those who are still suffering. The condition has now been recognised as Post COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS), providing a common platform for academic exchange.Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been applied to similar conditions for over 2000 years, including in the aftermath of previous pandemics, and the understanding of such conditions has been validated in clinical practice. Patterns have been established to group the weakness, the residue of pathogens or interaction between pathogens and the defence system. Those patterns form the framework for understanding the illness after acute infections. The authors use this ancient understanding in their own contemporary practice. Such practice is rewarding when the patterned illness within PCS is treated with acupuncture, Chinese herbs and other therapies together in a planned and coordinated way. This is the whole-system TCM approach strongly recommended by the authors as they demonstrate effective outcomes. The whole-system TCM approach for PCS is now presented to health professions for PCS.