Long COVID is a complex and persistent illness after recovery from infection, and it affects approximately 1 in 13 adults worldwide. Among its most common symptoms are widespread pain, fatigue, and muscle weakness that can interfere with daily functioning.
A simple portable electrical nerve stimulation device could relieve these symptoms of long COVID, some of which are similar to the chronic muscular symptoms encountered in fibromyalgia.
The study is conducted with a portable transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device, which uses low-voltage electrical currents to reduce pain, fatigue, and mobility problems. The team followed 25 participants suffering from musculoskeletal disorders, with fatigue and walking difficulties. Participants received either a high-dose (active) or a low-dose (placebo) TENS device. Both groups used the TENS machine for 3 to 5 hours per day over a 4-week period. Researchers measured participants’ pain and fatigue levels and walking performance before and after therapy. The analysis finds that:
- The high-dose TENS intervention group experienced appreciable relief in pain (26% vs. placebo) and walking ability (8% during brisk walking), suggesting that portable TENS therapy helps reduce significantly the impact of long COVID on daily functioning and quality of life;
- the high dose TENS group also benefits from a higher recovery rate (71.2%) vs. low dose TENS (61.4%), which highlights the potential of the device;
- the high rate of daily use of the device appears to be one of the keys to the success of TENS therapy; this reinforces the importance of its portable nature which allows patients to use it flexibly throughout the day.
One of the lead authors, Dr. Bijan Najafi, of the Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology at UCLA Health, said that “if the study focused on the management of pain and fatigue caused by long COVID , it suggests other applications to treat similar symptoms in people with other illnesses, including certain respiratory illnesses, mobility problems after a prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), post-hospitalization weakness and post-chemotherapy, and ultimately the range of conditions that lead to chronic fatigue and pain, such as fibromyalgia.”
“The portable TENS system provides immediate, on-demand relief from pain and fatigue and is very simple to integrate into the day’s activities,” conclude the researchers.
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