Long COVID: This symptom is likely to torment you for months after initial recovery
1 min read . Updated: 07 Feb 2023, 08:10 PM IST
PremiumCovid-linked joint pain can bother you for months and mostly people report of knee pain
In the last three years, most of us have learned to live with COVID. Today, we know what to avoid and how to cope with it in case we get infected. But the disease is still a threat as we still don't know much about the long-term effect of the virus, i.e. long COVID or post-COVID syndrome. Studies have revealed that long-term effects of the disease can be fatal and can target all organs, including your heart and nervous system. There are other symptoms that might not sound as serious but can hamper your day-to-day life in a big way. These symptoms include hair loss, joint pain etc. Here's a look at how to take care of COVID linked joint pain you are experiencing.
How severe is the pain?
Most patients have complained of sharp pain in their knee when comes to COVID-related joint pains. Many patients have also complained of enthesitis and inflammatory lower back pain. These symptoms are also referred to as reactive arthritis and the pain is similar to regular arthritis pain.
The pain can continue to bother you for months.
Dr. Rajeev Verma, HOD and consultant - Joint Replacement and Orthopaedics, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals, Dwarka told TOI that such pain occurs mostly due to two reasons. “ First, direct viral toxicity, endothelial cell damage and dysregulation of the immune response lead to exaggerated inflammation leading to muscular pain. Second, the muscular pain and long recovery time of COVID may cause stiffness and immobility in the joints that eventually end up causing joint pains."
How to get relief?
It is extremely important to keep moving your muscles and joints after the initial recovery. Dr. Verma advises, “A sedentary lifestyle hurts the body even without any infection, so patients must maintain at least 15-30 minutes of physical activity each day."
At least 17 million people in Europe experienced long Covid in the pandemic’s first two years. Women were twice as likely as men to experience lingering effects, according to a study by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. The data, compiled for the World Health Organization’s European region, shows one in three women who were hospitalized risk developing long Covid.
Lingering symptoms -- from chronic fatigue and “brain fog" to breathlessness -- are estimated to afflict around 10% to 20% of Covid cases.
