Post Viral Fatigue

“The discovery of the central nervous system lymphatic system may call for a reassessment of basic assumptions in neuroimmunology and sheds new light on the aetiology of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases associated with immune system dysfunction.”

University of Virginia School of Medicine ,Antoine Louveau, PhD

As the name suggests, post-viral syndrome typically occurs after a person experiences the effects of a virus. This is not a phenomenon unique to COVID-19, some degree of post-viral fatigue occur after certain viral infections. Viral infections have previously been linked to problems with long-term fatigue symptoms. Once the person’s body immune system has vanquished the virus, post-viral syndrome may make them feel drained of energy and generally unwell. This feeling may linger for days to months after a viral infection. Post-viral syndrome may be more prevalent or apparent in people with weakened immune systems.

The symptoms of post-viral syndrome may vary from person to person, but most people describe feeling fatigued and generally unwell. This feeling persists no matter how many hours of sleep the person gets or how well they take care of themselves. The fatigue a person experiences is severe enough to interfere with work, socializing, and physical activities. Post-viral syndrome may also cause a feeling of mental exhaustion, brain fog, and depression, panic attacks, headaches, dizziness, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, experience an extended period of almost debilitating exhaustion after exertion, aches and pains across the body. Many COVID-19 patients, report a prolonged loss of smell and taste.

Fatigue sensation following peripheral viral infection is triggered by neuroinflammation:Masanori Yamato and Yosky Kataoka, M.D., Ph.D.

Viruses cause the immune system to respond and attack them. This response causes stress and inflammation in the body. Fatigue after a viral infection is due to an accumulation of pro-inflammatory compounds that cross the blood-brain barrier and affect the brain. The build-up of toxicity results in an overload in the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system cannot clear the lymph fast enough or well enough resulting in a backlog building up in the vessels and nodes, leaving our immune system incapable of responding to regular demands. This build-up eventually puts pressure on the blood-brain barrier with the brain and spinal cord becoming toxic.

Osteopathic treatment is a mixture of lymphatic massage to specific areas, thoracic spine mobilisation and cranial osteopathy. Osteopaths aim to aid lymph drainage, improve spinal mobility, reduce spinal inflammation and lymph congestion and improve the function of the autonomic nervous system. Osteopathic treatment is based around the idea that the post viral fatigue is caused by a build-up of toxins in the fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. Research published in BMJ Open, a peer-reviewed medical journal, recognises that The Perrin Technique as a diagnostic method of assessment.

In some cases, it may be that the body is simply taking extra time to clear the virus out completely. However, if symptoms such as these linger for longer than a few weeks, a person should talk to their doctor or osteopath.

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