Rehabilitation after suffering COVID-19 depends on the severity of the disease, and it is necessary to start a complex of restorative measures as early as possible. The basic rules were revealed to "Arguments and Facts" by a pulmonologist of the first category, a general practitioner, a member of the Russian Respiratory Society Tatiana Neeshpapa.
According to her, rehabilitation is not required for Russians who have suffered a mild infection - with damage to the upper respiratory tract, without pneumonia. In this case, the body will recover on its own. The doctor warned that the residual cough after COVID 19 can persist for up to a month and a half, but this is not considered an indication for continuing to take antibiotics. Massage and breathing exercises can help with the problem, as well as mucoactive drugs to facilitate coughing up phlegm.
Patients with an average form of pneumonia, after improving their health and the beginning of positive dynamics in the disease, are shown pulmonary rehabilitation with an individual selection of exercises with a gradual increase in their intensity and duration. Citizens who have faced a severe form of the disease and were in intensive care will need a full range of rehabilitation measures.
At an early stage, therapeutic exercises are usually performed with the patient supine, starting with exercises for small and medium muscle groups in combination with static and dynamic breathing exercises. They are performed in a slow tempa, increasing the depth of inhalation and exhalation, avoiding holding the breath.
After disconnecting from the ventilator, patients are gradually encouraged to move. So, they are asked to do basic things: wash, comb, dress, go to the kitchen to eat, wash the dishes. Then the elements of breathing exercises are connected.
According to the specialist, pulmonary rehabilitation includes the following exercises: deep and slow breathing with a frequency of 12-15 times per minute, correct inhalation and exhalation technique (belly breathing, exhaling with closed lips folded into a tube). Doctors also use vibration massage to improve the discharge of sputum and mucus - they tap the patient's chest for 10-20 minutes. In addition, it is important to perform breathing exercises in different positions - lying on your stomach, on your side at an angle of 135 degrees, lying on an inclined surface with your head down at an angle of 30–45 degrees to the floor - to prevent congestion in the lower lungs.
After the patient has become stronger, breathing exercises with constant or intermittent positive pressure on exhalation are recommended, as well as exercises on a stationary bike in a prone or reclining position. After discharge, with good health, aerobic exercise is shown lasting 20-30 minutes three times a week for 8-12 weeks. Then their intensity and duration can be increased. It's better to start with walking, not running and exercise machines, Neeshpapa noted.
In November 2020, the Russians were told that an effective way to rehabilitate after suffering a coronavirus is a special massage that helps to increase the oxygen content in the blood. This massage should be selected individually, depending on the degree of respiratory damage, and combined with other types of therapy. At the same time, massage and physiotherapy cannot be done without a doctor's prescription.