What is long COVID?
Long COVID is quite common, occuring in over 10% of COVID infections and affecting an estimated 65 million individuals worldwide. For some people, when they become unwell with COVID, a range of different processes occur in the immune system and nervous system that lead to ongoing symptoms and illness. It is a condition that affects multiple organs and systems in the body, with over 200 potential symptoms. It can also be related to developing other conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and POTS.
Who is at risk?
Anyone can develop long COVID, but the most common risk factors are:
- More severe illness during the acute COVID-19 infection, including number of symptoms and need for hospitalisation
- Being 35-69 years old
- Being female or AFAB
- Having pre-existing chronic conditions
What are the symptoms?
Long COVID may present differently in each individual, but some of the most common symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Respiratory symptoms e.g. shortness of breath, cough
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Lightheadedness
- Joint or muscle pain
- Chest pain
- Heart palpitations
- Digestive symptoms
- Changes in smell or taste
- Brain fog
- Memory, concentration or sleep problems
- Lung pathology, such as lung fibrosis
How can physiotherapy help?
It is helpful to have a team of different health professionals as part of your management. Depending on your specific symptoms this might include a respiratory specialist, dietitian, psychologist, cardiologist, GP and many others.
Physiotherapists can play an important role in:
- Understanding your symptoms, triggers and patterns
- Managing fatigue and pacing your energy
- Advice and planning around return to activity, work and exercise
- Managing pain
- Exercise for strengthening
- Exercise to rehabilitate the cardiovascular system
- Techniques to regulate the autonomic nervous system
References
- Davis, H.E., McCorkell, L., Vogel, J.M. et al. Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations. Nat Rev Microbiol 21, 133–146 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00846-2
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) Long COVID in Australia – a review of the literature, catalogue number PHE 318, AIHW, Australian Government.
Australian Physiotherapy Association (2024). https://australian.physio/inmotion/role-physio-long-covid
