Patients who get COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) tend to either have few to no symptoms, or severe symptoms. The emerging category of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are those who have long-term COVID, or still continue to experience symptoms of COVID-19 months after initially contracting the coronavirus – whether or not you ever had severe symptoms.
Do you have lingering symptoms after recovering from COVID-19? If so, you could benefit from partnering with a primary care center, where healthcare providers can help you tamp down your long-term COVID symptoms.
Let’s talk about how a primary care practice can help you deal with ongoing COVID symptoms, and where you can go in the Midlands for excellent medical care to help keep you healthy.
What Are the Long-Term COVID Symptoms?
Long-term COVID-19 symptoms are not very different from the symptoms of an acute infection. What has been reported include:
- Shortness of breath, and decreased exercise tolerance
- Chest pains and heart palpitations
- Loss or decrease in taste or smell
- Lightheadedness and dizziness
- Headaches
- Joint and muscle pain
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Anxiety
- Depression
Studies show that one out of three patients who have had COVID-19 have at least one symptom which lingers for months after being infected. COVID-19 affects multiple organ systems – because after it affects the lungs, the virus goes everywhere – and so does the immune response, which could explain why one or more symptoms linger in patients who have otherwise recovered from it. The disease can also lead to organ damage, as the aggressive immune response can damage healthy cells.
Your risk of developing long-term COVID increases if you:
- Have heart, lung, kidney, or liver disease
- Have diabetes
- Have a compromised immune system
- Are overweight or obese
- Have been put on a ventilator before to treat COVID
Why Go to a Primary Care Center to Treat COVID?
Each patient is unique, so the way COVID-19 has affected their bodily systems also differs – and who better to provide individualized care to a patient who has caught an illness that affects multiple organ systems than a primary care doctor? A primary doctor is a generalist, and you want a doctor who is highly experienced in diagnosing and treating everything.
Primary care doctors provide tailored, holistic treatments to patients, thanks to the broad scope of education and experience that they have. Internal medicine doctors (internists) specifically are trained in cardiology, pulmonology, nephrology, and psychiatry – across the spectrum of illnesses and conditions – which makes them highly qualified to treat patients who are afflicted with long COVID symptoms.
Primary Care Center for Long-Term COVID Recovery in Irmo, SC
Recovering fully from COVID-19 is a different experience for each patient. Find out how the SC Internal Medicine Associates & Rehabilitation primary care center can help improve your symptoms and minimize your risk of organ damage from COVID-19.
SC Internal Medicine Associates & Rehabilitation is a recognized patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and is committed to providing the most comprehensive, coordinated care available based on the latest developing understanding of COVID-19. Our compassionate team of primary care providers is committed to helping you with getting back to normal.
If you want to improve your health after COVID-19, schedule a consultation with one of our primary care providers. Call our office today at (803) 749-1111 or use our convenient online request form. We look forward to being your healthcare center!
