We are hearing more about children contracting a more severe inflammatory condition associated with COVID19, called MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children) or Kawasaki-like syndrome, in the news now. (It was formerly known as PIMS, Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome.)
I attended the CHLA medical provider webinar on May 13th on MISC to stay up-to-date on this evolving situation.
This is a post-inflammatory condition that hospitals are seeing in children (and thus not contagious, thankfully to the family nor medical staff attending). Most are testing positive for SARS-COV-2 antibodies at onset, or test positive afterwards. It’s still extremely rare among children, but it is something that doctors have noticed and thus sending out this alert.
What you want to look out for is:
- high fever for 4-7 days without a reason,
- red cracked lips and red tongue along with other Kawasaki-like symptoms (read the hyperlink above for more symptom details) if
- you or your child had a recent upper respiratory infection (URI), especially if confirmed COVID19.
From an Asian medicine perspective, when you have a post-inflammatory condition from an infection, we call this latency or latent pathogenic factor (LPF). (I wrote about LPF in a blog, so click here to learn more in detail about it, along with a recipe to help detox from LPF.) Just like chicken pox and shingles or cold and viral-induced asthma or tick bite and lyme disease. There is a latency of the virus that now has moved beyond the respiratory system and into the vascular and thus multi organ system. What’s really important to realize here is then that if you or your child gets cv19, to make sure there is no latency. Acupuncture and chinese herbs are excellent at treating latency, and we have a slew of techniques and herbs to help the body fight the last vestiges of the hidden infection and inflammation. I treat LPF a lot in the clinic with a lot of success. If you or your child has had COVID19 or a URI recently and see yourselves still “off,” lingering cough, post nasal congestion, tired, or just not back to 100%, contact me so that I can help move you out of this lingering condition quickly.
One of the really good techniques in Asian medicine to address inflammation and latency is cupping. Many of you have gotten cupping from me and the kids that come to me all LOVE cupping, too. Some of you have also purchased cupping sets from me, so if you have it home now, now is the time to start doing cupping on a semi-regular basis to make sure you’re keeping your lymphs moving and clean. If you cup and see dark purple marks or bright red marks, that’s a sign that you have a lot of stagnation in the former or heat in the latter, and your body needs help clearing those out. Doing regular cupping in these situations helps your body to clear these stagnations and heat out of your system faster and will keep your inflammatory responses down. It is ESPECIALLY helpful for coughs and respiratory conditions (ehem, covid19) but also for stress, tight neck and shoulders, weak digestion, sore muscles, reduce headaches, irritability, even to suck out an insect bite toxins, so I say a cupping set should be in every household just like tylenol and bandaids.
I have been “prescribing” family-friendly cupping sets to friends and patients that can be purchased directly through one of my online pharmacies. These aren’t the fire cup kinds that I use on adults (or some older kids), so it’s very safe and practical to use at home. I just prescribed last week a set to a family because the boy, my patient, was having a lingering cough for 4 months. Just doing my herbs, the mother noticed a significant reduction in his cough, but I know that once the mom administers cupping regularly, the boy’s progress will move even faster because now the mother can help his body physically eliminate stagnation, latency and heat out of his system faster through this physical manipulation of his body. I am happy to “prescribe” the right set for you and walk you through how to use it properly through a virtual consult, or if there is enough demand, I can do a quick online class for people and do a Q&A at the end to answer specific questions. Contact me and let me know!
But even without Asian medicine, much can be done at home to improve your chances to reduce inflammatory reactions and even from catching infections. Prevention is key. Eating clean (keep sugars and dairy to a minimum, because remember, SARS-CoV-2 has damp toxic quality in the body), sleeping well, moving your body/be in the sun/exercise, keeping your spirits up, staying connected with friends and family, and certain supplements and chinese herbs and like cupping help to increase your immunity. The whole point of any infection is that you prime your body’s ability to fight the infection strong, fast and effectively. We have this ability, don’t forget! Our bodies are amazing if given the opportunity to do so. And doing the aforementioned preventive measures helps your body in such a way that should we get COVID19, we can have a better chance to fall in the 80-85% of the population that just has mild symptoms and move through the disease quickly. Until we have a safe vaccine and accurate antibody testing and active symptom testing, I’ll say it again, your health, strong immune system and prevention is your best defense to infections from big to small.
Be safe, wear a mask, smile (even underneath the mask!) and stay positive!
Update: since this blog was written, I have since created a COVID19 Prevention and Early Intervention Protocol based on Chinese Medicine epidemic disease theory and my own successful clinical experience treating patients with symptoms of this disease and Long Haul since June 2020. The two protocols are available through my online pharmacy on Wellevate. (If you don’t have an account with Wellevate, it will first ask you to register. You’ll then be given access to my protocols.)
Disclaimer: The information here and on the Iyashi Wellness website in general is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with qualified health care professionals. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.