Post-corona and long Covid are terms used to describe the long-term symptoms following a bout of COVID-19. At present, the severity and progression of long Covid are still not fully understood.

Das Ärzteblatt (2020) wrote: “Consequently, post-COVID outpatient clinics are currently faced with the challenge of correctly classifying the rather non-specific symptoms reported by patients. ‘From a pulmonology perspective, we focus primarily on the pulmonary symptoms,’ explains PD Dr Kartin Milger-Kneidinger, who heads the Post-COVID outpatient clinic at the University of Munich Medical Centre. For her, too, symptoms such as fatigue/asthenia, headaches, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath and even hair loss are the main concerns.”

We have already published three episodes on the possibilities of using LuXXaMed microcurrent therapy as a complementary treatment for post-COVID/long-COVID patients:

Episode #42: Post-COVID-19 therapy – patient interview – is microcurrent a possibility?
Episode #38: Post-COVID-19 therapy Part 2/2 – is microcurrent a possibility?
Episode #36: Post-COVID-19 therapy Part 1/2 – is microcurrent a possibility?

In this episode, Dr Voracek, MD, reports on his experiences with post-Covid / Long-Covid patients. Shortly before this podcast was recorded, Czech television had broadcast a feature on the use of LuXXaMed microcurrent therapy for post-Covid / Long-Covid.

The potential and effects of microcurrent in relation to physical recovery have also been explored in the past and in various podcast episodes. It is also worth highlighting the improvement in sporting performance demonstrated, amongst others, by Kwon et al. (2017) in a study. This study showed that even short-term use of microcurrent has a significantly positive effect on muscle function.

This would therefore suggest a hypothesis regarding its effectiveness in the treatment of Long Covid.

Source:
Deutscher Ärzteverlag GmbH, Editorial Team of Deutsches Ärzteblatt. (2020). Long COVID: The long shadow of COVID-19. Accessed on 12 July 2021. Available at: https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/217002/Long-COVID-Der-lange-Schatten-von-COVID-19

Kwon, D. R., Kim, J., Kim, Y., An, S., Kwak, J., Lee, S. et al. (2017). Short-term microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulation to improve muscle function in the elderly: A randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial. Medicine, 96(26), e7407. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000007407

00:00:00
Patrick Walitschek: In 2020, *Das Ärzteblatt* described Long Covid symptoms – also known as post-Covid symptoms – as the long shadow. And with that, welcome to a new podcast from LuXXaMed GmbH. My name is Patrick Walitschek and, in this episode, I’ve once again brought you an interview with Dr Voracek, in which we discussed the possibilities for recovery from Long Covid symptoms. Czech television broadcast a report on Dr Voracek, which focused specifically on the fact that he has already gained some experience treating patients with Long Covid symptoms at a clinic near Prague in the Czech Republic. The television channel – which would be equivalent to our public service broadcasters such as ARD or ZDF – produced and broadcast a report on this. The results are really interesting, and Dr Voracek describes his approach and, ultimately, the outcomes he has achieved with his patients. So, with that, let’s move straight on to the interview.

00:01:19
Patrick Walitschek: We’re now talking about the clinic or practice in the Czech Republic, and the topic was the treatment of post-Covid patients. This condition is also known as Long Covid, and it’s a hot topic, as it’s fascinating to see the various ways in which it manifests itself. I’d be interested to hear more about this, because LuXXaMed microcurrent therapy was specifically used in that context. You actually made a brief statement about it on television as well. We’ve already done a podcast on this, but I’d be interested to know what the actual outcomes have been for you there, or what your experiences have been over the last few months in the area of post-Covid and LuXXaMed microcurrent?

00:01:59
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: The experiences have been very positive. We’ve combined several approaches: physics, rehabilitation, respiratory rehabilitation, exercise therapy, infusions and microcurrent therapy. This combination of these various elements has shown us that patients who had previously suffered for several months from various problems with breathing, oxygen saturation, organ function or musculoskeletal issues suddenly experienced a marked improvement in their general condition within a relatively short period of two or three weeks. And this is the improvement they have been waiting for all along. We now have a relatively broad range of such patients. We have observed that, once patients have generally gone through a certain stable phase following their Covid infection, they suddenly began to show signs of improvement. Up to that point, there had been no change, and the duration of their symptoms varied. Some had been suffering for half a year, others for as long as nine months, and some for just three months. Every time we started the therapy, there was an improvement. Take oxygen saturation, for example – that’s relatively easy to measure. Particularly in patients who had a great many lung problems, we could see a significant improvement. And it’s been really well received.

00:03:53
Patrick Walitschek: Okay. Regarding microcurrent therapy, how do you apply it in practice? With an infusion, it’s straightforward to administer. But what about microcurrent therapy?

00:04:03
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: Here we’re talking about combination therapy. The patient undergoes respiratory rehabilitation with a physiotherapist. In the first phase, they receive an infusion and, at the end – or alongside the infusion – they also receive microcurrent. Since they’re already lying there, we can make the most of the time: microcurrent is applied to the thorax, the lungs and the diaphragm, and we then run this concurrently with the infusion. So there are a few approaches I’m still considering, for example, what else could be added to this infusion. But all patients have shown a real improvement in a very short space of time. In the past, if someone had suffered from a very, very severe bout of flu, they’d often still be really tired three or four months later and might feel completely drained of energy. Consequently, the combination therapy does bring about a positive effect. Oxygen saturation levels rise very, very quickly. They sometimes arrive with a saturation level of just 90 or 92, and within a relatively short time they’re back up to 97 or 98.

00:05:28
Patrick Walitschek: Do you have a specific programme that you use with patients there?

00:05:35
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: We still need to discuss this programme to see if we need to develop anything else. But we have stimulation and regeneration – those two.

00:05:50
Patrick Walitschek: Stimulation of the body or for the respiratory system?

00:05:54
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: The stimulation is for breathing and the regeneration is for the lungs, and the two are combined. Sometimes one way, sometimes the other. These two make up most of the programmes we use.

00:06:12
Patrick Walitschek: And with the LuXXaMed, we also have the option of live readings – I’m talking about the graphs. When it comes to these post-Covid patients, do you see any differences there compared to other patients?

00:06:24
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: Yes, I can see it in the graphs. I can definitely see that the graphs change to a greater or lesser extent. At the start, they all surprised me with how things developed. But then a certain consistency became apparent again. And I began to understand this consistency. Firstly, there’s often a great deal of variation between patients. And secondly, I can see how the lungs – or rather, the body – are fighting back, and how the machine is working. We can see this because the display has become much more detailed. We notice that, at the start, the body really is fighting back – that is, you see these large fluctuations. And the better the patient gets, the more we see that the fluctuations become significantly smaller. And clinical improvement then follows.

00:07:22
Patrick Walitschek: It really is clear to see.

00:07:23
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: It’s clearly visible, without a doubt. And we can also see, for example, that even if a patient has improved, they’ve stopped the treatment again. In some patients, the damage to the lungs was somewhat more severe, and they’ve come back – their breathing has got worse again. And when you reconnect them, you can see the trends in the curves again. And then you can say: ‘OK, he wasn’t quite ready yet’, and then you have to continue the treatment.

00:08:00
Patrick Walitschek: Is the issue of oxygen saturation still addressed? Have you ever introduced lung function testing?

00:08:06
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: We don’t do that ourselves, but when patients came in, we would also recommend that they perhaps undergo some diagnostic testing. We give people a breathing device, a small training device, to take home. And then we can also see that patients are already improving whilst using this little device. So it’s a respiratory exercise device – you’re familiar with it too; there are various types – but the patient can, for example, maintain a much more consistent exhalation flow. They also reach a ‘peak’ more quickly. It’s a small diagnostic device, but one that’s also very beneficial for the patient.

00:08:57
Patrick Walitschek: It’s also important, of course, that the patient notices their progress. This brings us back to what we were discussing earlier about the Olympians and their goals. I also need to be able to see when I’ve achieved a goal.

00:09:10
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: People achieve these goals and they come back and say: ‘I can cycle again, I can walk ten kilometres again – things I couldn’t do at all before.’ These are the kinds of clinical experiences we have, and ultimately that’s enough to say, ‘Right, the patient is probably almost back to their old self, or even exactly as they were before the infection.’

00:09:35
Patrick Walitschek: That’s absolutely fascinating, and I think it’s great that the programme was broadcast on television. And here, as you might say, it’s a public service broadcaster.

00:09:44
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: Yes, yes, it’s like ARD or ZDF.

00:09:49
Patrick Walitschek: That’s fascinating, and I’m pleased that I was there to present this conceptual therapeutic approach.

00:09:53
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: It’s very interesting. We’d actually started this so-called post-Covid therapy last year, in the autumn. We were probably the first, practically speaking. But we started with the infusions first, because we saw that these infusions were also helpful. Then we supplemented that with this physical therapy, or rather physiotherapy. And we’ve refined that further, and I think we’re at a pretty good level now. Interestingly, the large hospitals and clinics took up this issue relatively late. As I said, we’d already been working on it last autumn, and they only started addressing it about one or two months ago.

00:10:46
Patrick Walitschek: I think that simply reflects the timing and how things have unfolded. I believe that this very topic is set to become a major focus over the coming months, or perhaps even years. It’s going to be an exciting area, because last December we also produced a podcast divided into three parts. We then produced an episode together with Dr Stücker. And back in January this year, I interviewed a post-Covid patient who was also treated with LuXXaMed using microcurrent and frequency-specific microcurrent. Dr (McMahon?) even sent a frequency protocol to the therapist carrying out the treatment. The therapist lives near Aachen; he has also completed his training with Dr (McMahon) over the last few years, and she has been very supportive in confirming that this approach works. And it was with this very patient that I conducted an interview. It was also interesting to see how this process unfolds, and I’m now noticing – both here and on the Post-Covid Treatment Therapies podcast – the questions and enquiries being directed at me. This includes via social media. And I believe this will remain a really interesting topic and may even become even more prominent. Great, well then, thank you for your time.

00:12:05
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: You’re very welcome.

00:12:06
Patrick Walitschek: And for the information you’ve shared with us once again. I think it’s very important for the listeners and, in particular, for those using microcurrent therapy. We’re showing them what we’re trying out here, and doing our best to present it all as informative content – or, as they say these days, content management. I hope you have little work to do regarding post-traumatic care at the Olympics, but plenty of work on regeneration and stimulation therapies for the athletes.

00:12:40
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: It’s certainly very interesting, because the athletes naturally react differently. They’re, of course, high-performance machines. Their metabolism is significantly faster, and their reaction times to treatment are different.

00:13:02
Patrick Walitschek: I agree. And as I said, good luck.

00:13:06
Dr Vlastimil Voracek: Thank you very much.

00:13:08
Patrick Walitschek: And I hope everything goes well and that the weather in Tokyo – or in Japan, for that matter – doesn’t get too hot.

00:13:14
Patrick Walitschek: That brings us to the end of the interview and also to the end of this episode. In the next instalment – or episode – I’ve got something really exciting lined up, and I’m still in the process of preparing it. Namely, an interview with the doctor and sports scientist Dr Dr Gharavi from Lüneburg, who has been looking after professional athletes for many years. He has developed training programmes there, as well as rehabilitation programmes for professional sport. He has also developed a really fascinating piece of training equipment – as well as a rehabilitation device – all by himself. This device is already being used in his own practice and in many other clinics too. And we’ve discussed how the topic of exercise can actually be combined with microcurrent therapy. We also discussed his experience in the fields of sport and exercise, and how this informs specific training programmes for both professional and amateur athletes in combination with microcurrent therapy. Dr Gharavi will be attending the Tokyo Olympics again this year, and he’ll be talking a little about what the preparations for the Olympics are like. He’ll also share with us what his experiences at previous Olympic Games – in which he also took part as a doctor – have meant to him, and what we can expect in the pre-cast for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. So, the topic of microcurrent and exercise is really fascinating. What does exercise actually mean for the body, for the organism and also for the metabolism? So, as I said, in the next episode: an interview with the doctor and sports scientist Dr Dr Gharavi. Until then, all the best! Thank you very much for tuning in, and until next time.