It ’ s ENOugh to breathe
Douglas Hawes is an occupational therapist living with Long Covid . Here he shares his experience of taking part in the English National Opera ’ s Breathe initiative to combat breathlessness .
W hen thinking about possible treatments for Long Covid , opera might not be the first thing to spring to the occupational therapist ’ s mind . Whether we are opera fans or not , we might wonder what on earth Verdi , Mozart , Wagner , Gilbert and Sullivan , Britten and Tippet could have to do with treating a serious longterm condition that leaves us fatigued , in pain , unable to concentrate and – oh yes – breathless .
Here , of course , is the answer . Breathlessness is a common primary symptom of Long Covid , with sufferers feeling they struggle to take in enough air .
Even where – as in my own case – breathlessness is not especially prominent in itself , there is an increasing amount of research that suggests that a shortage of oxygen getting to the skeletal muscles and organs is at least part of the problem ( Crook et al 2021 ).
Several mechanisms may be responsible for this . Some suggestions have been : faulty transfer of oxygen to the bloodstream in the lungs ; poor circulation of the oxygenated blood ; problems with the uptake of this oxygen in the muscles and organs once the blood gets to them ; faulty neurological signals regulating muscles and organs .
Whatever the truth may turn out to be , it follows that improving our breathing to increase
28 OTnews June 2022