Alice cured her lengthy Covid by using a £200 pain zapper for horses.
Just nine months ago, the situation was dire. I contracted Covid in October, despite being fully immunized and have avoided it up until that time. One of the children brought it home from school, and we all fell victim to it like dominoes. My children, ages 14, 16, and 17, have recovered. I didn’t.
It began with classic Covid symptoms, including a raging fever, night sweats, insomnia, loss of taste and smell, and a sore throat that felt like swallowing a glass.
However, this was followed by the most excruciating, unrelenting headache that made me want to vomit whenever I moved. It was infernal.
Then, after three weeks of this, I fainted while dropping off my oldest son at a friend’s house, I guess pretty dramatically. The ambulance was requested. I was transported to the hospital immediately. I felt like I was about to die, but my heart scans and blood tests were normal. People always reassured me, “It’s only Covid.”
I was released from the hospital with one piece of advice: “Don’t become dehydrated.”
The following morning, my physician called.
“What am I to do?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he suggested.
And in actuality, I was only capable of doing nothing. I was incapable of doing the laundry or walking the dog for the next three weeks due to terrible tiredness.
I hardly had the stamina to rise and drive my three children two miles to school.
The remainder of the morning was spent lying on the couch, which was not my habit. Any attempt, such as emptying the dishwasher, caused me to become so dizzy that I had to lie down.
By mid-November, I was contemplating a very different lifestyle from the one I had previously led: an active mother of three with demanding work.
Was I going to become one of the millions of individuals afflicted by extended Covid – the unhappy individuals who struggle to recover after contracting the virus after having been previously healthy?
Well, no. I am pleased to report that my issues are now in the past. I feel better than ever.
As I write this, I have just completed one of my routine three-mile runs. Along with Pilates and swimming, I do this when I’m not trying to keep up with three demanding adolescents.
In addition, my recuperation occurred within one week, and I attribute it to a £200 piece of equipment that was originally designed to heal injured racehorses and return them to competition.
The Arc4Health device is the size and form of remote control and emits a modest electric current. It is worn in a Velcro cuff, similar to those used with blood pressure monitors, that is wrapped around the leg or arm.
You wear it for three hours per day for six weeks without experiencing any discomfort. However, the undetectable pulses it emits into the body via two electrode pads facing the skin encourage tissue repair, reduce pain, and combat inflammation.
Fascinatingly, decades of clinical studies indicate that this technique, known as microcurrent therapy, can heal a variety of muscle and joint disorders, including shoulder, knee, and back pain, as well as nasal issues. There is also substantial evidence that it accelerates wound healing. Now, an increasing number of long-term Covid patients report that it has helped them, as well.
I should note that I have spent decades specializing in health reporting. I am probably more skeptical about miracle cures than the average person. I am accustomed to questioning studies and being skeptical of purported panaceas. No tests have been conducted on microcurrents for long Covid. However, it did work for me.
A journalist friend of mine told me about Arc4Health since he had been writing about how it could help restore the loss of smell and taste caused by Covid. She had been communicating with individuals who had positive outcomes. She had used the device after a Caesarean section and discovered that she healed very quickly.
I was desperate at the time, so I did not investigate it further. I would have done anything to regain my sense of normalcy. Therefore, I visited the company’s website, paid £200, and had my equipment in the mail a few days later.
I had enough energy to make dinner for the first time in nearly two months after just five days of using the supplement. That very morning, a friend picked me up because I was too weak to drive myself to a coffee shop. But that evening, when I rummaged about the kitchen, I could hardly believe I was standing.
My father had come to stay for the weekend and assist with chores. The next day, I suggested we take a day excursion, and we had a wonderful day touring a church.
Only after a full day of moderate exercise did I feel the crushing fatigue return, at which point I had to stop.
Over the course of the following week, I was progressively able to do more and more; being able to clean the children’s bedrooms and put away the laundry was a pleasant surprise.
It felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders.
We went swimming together. I attempted to go when I was ill but was forced to leave after a few lengths and lie beside the pool for an hour.
My teens were ecstatic, since I was once again able to transport them to their social obligations, and we were no longer forced to eat convenience foods. I participated in a 10k race in January. And that was not the end.
Since completing the six-week Arc4Health program, little aches I had experienced for years have disappeared. I am now an evangelical. But more importantly, with up to 3% of the population suffering from chronic Covid-related issues, I wonder if it could also benefit them.
Since my Lazarus-like recovery, I’ve been investigating it. From where I stand, the indicators are encouraging, but it is too early to make any guarantees.
According to studies, the gadget allowed horses with allegedly career-ending injuries to recover completely.
In humans, it has been shown to treat fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME, symptoms, in addition to relieving pain and promoting recovery, as demonstrated by randomized, gold-standard clinical trials. At now, however, the evidence for extended Covid is primarily anecdotal.
The outcomes have sufficiently impressed some physicians for them to begin recommending it.
Dr. Tina Peers, a general practitioner who specializes in long-term Covid and women’s health, administered the Arc4Health gadget to four patients suffering from the virus’ lingering effects.
She states, “All of them saw a significant reduction in their symptoms.” Some patients improved within a few days, while others required many weeks.
She adds, “One or two patients have responded extraordinarily well in terms of reduction in headaches and improvement in mood and sleep.” The studies are observational and based on patient self-reporting, but she claims that, altogether, 80% of symptoms improved or disappeared after six weeks.
ARC Microtech, the manufacturer of the Arc4Health device, asserts that it functions because all human actions are fueled by electrical impulses traveling through individual cells. If cells are damaged due to disease or injury, the device simply reboots or restores those pathways’ by injecting an external supply of electricity.
Peter Clayton, the chief executive officer of the company, states, “Each cell has adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which is primarily responsible for transporting nutrients from one healthy cell to another over the cell wall.”
When an injury occurs, cells are harmed. The introduction of microcurrent increases ATP synthesis, lowers inflammation, and initiates the body’s healing process. He says that the current is too weak to be felt and has a systemic effect, which means it acts throughout the entire body.
The manufacturer makes no claims regarding the efficiency of its machine with extended Covid. However, Mr. Clayton reports that some who used it for injuries also saw relief from their lingering Covid symptoms.
Can something like this – a pulsating electric current – assist with a condition that appears to be exceedingly complex?
Dr. Deepak Ravindran, who oversees the NHS extended Covid clinics in Berkshire, appears to have an open attitude. If patients find it effective, there is no harm in trying it, but NICE would require more data before recommending it for use in extended Covid clinics.
I’m puzzled as to why I was treated so poorly by Covid. I was in excellent health before my sickness, except for a few allergies, such as hay fever. Several years ago, I suffered from alopecia areata, a condition characterized by patchy hair loss, which luckily resolved.
In reality, no one knows precisely why certain individuals experience persistent symptoms. There are hypotheses, such as immune system dysfunction resulting in an accumulation of inflammatory chemicals in the body. These are typically used to combat infections, but they can also damage healthy cells.
Others claim Covid creates difficulties with the blood and circulation, as well as a hypersensitive nervous system.
“There is also the potential that remaining virus pieces are repeatedly reactivating the neurological system,” Dr. Ravindran explains.
Because of these factors, there is no universal treatment. Generally, Long Covid clinics focus on a combination of dietary and lifestyle counseling, breathing exercises, and physiotherapy.
I have referred Arc4Health to numerous family and friends. One individual states that the headache and chest pain she experienced as a result of Covid have completely subsided. After a few months of experiencing symptoms, the son of a friend had similarly favorable results.
Without thorough research on Arc4Health for long-term Covid, it is impossible to determine whether the gains claimed by some users are due to the device or the placebo effect – a psychological trick in which the brain believes something has been useful when it has not.
Strong is the power of mind over matter. Nonetheless, I had no expectations before using it.
Nevertheless, I may have just recovered. But it would be a very unlikely coincidence.
In the end, the scientific verdict is still out. But I feel it helped me. And I am thankful that, like the racehorses, I am not yet ready for the slaughterhouse.
