Question: Chris Cuomo said on his show the other night that if you get the COVID, you should not lie down for long periods of time because that allows fluid to collect in your lungs. That you need to get up and move around every few hours. Is that true? (makes a lot of sense to me since that’s what they told me after my c-section when I was retaining a ton of fluids) And if that is true, why aren’t the drs saying that to the public? There are a lot of people self-treating at home right now because their symptoms aren’t severe. (clip here and description here)
Answer: I’m not a doctor, as you all know! Please talk with your doctor if you or your family member becomes sick. Now that I’ve put that preamble out there, here’s the short answer: I haven’t found any research on the need to get up and move as a treatment for COVID-19. But I have seen evidence of how gravity can and should be used to help alleviate shortness of breath (aka dyspnea), which is a common symptom of COVID-19. Upshot is== science shows that movement can alleviate symptoms, but science does not show that movement will help with clinical outcomes; meanwhile for patients on ventilators in the ICU, science shows that lying in prone position appears to result in better clinical outcomes. Here’s the longer answer:
Most of the research I found is related to either a) best body position for those put on ventilator and b) body position for those with chronic lung conditions like COPD. When it comes to ventilator support, the preponderance of research supports the practice of keeping ventilated patients in prone position because it “can prevent ventilator-induced lung injury in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients receiving conventional mechanical ventilation and, hence, may have the potential to improve survival.” But that’s not our focus. What about body position and movement for folks who are self-treating for COVID-19?
Well, Salon interviewed a couple of pulmonary specialists on the topic of breathing exercises — but I think it applies to movement too — and their take-away is “The breathing exercises can help keep the lungs fully expanded as much as possible, but will it keep you from having worse symptoms? No, that’s really dependent on so many other intrinsic factors… There’s a lot of anxiety going around about all of this and taking the time to do mindful breathing certainly will help with that aspect and that may make someone feel better — even if physiologically it’s not making a big difference in the way the lung is working.” Anxiety is a big issue that Chris Cuomo and other COVID patients talk about, so in that space, taking some action, like breathing exercises and stretches, can really help. University of Maryland offers breathing exercises for COVID-19 patients, noting that “When you’re short of breath, anxiety can increase and make it even harder to breathe. These exercises can help you stay relaxed when you feel your symptoms escalate and even prevent shortness of breath from occurring in the first place.”
Another thing Chris Cuomo talks about is inability to sleep. Sleep is clearly very important for your body’s ability to mount an effective immune response to the virus. And if you aren’t sleeping because you can’t breathe well… that’s going to be a big problem. The Lung Institute offers a nice set of diagrams of various body positions to help patients who suffer from shortness of breath, which is one of the more concerning symptoms of COVID-19 too. I’ve copied one below for ease of reference. Additionally, COPD Support describes the benefits of various body positions to alleviate shortness of breath symptoms. If you can change your position to breathe better, you’ll likely be able to sleep better and this may help your body to be better equipped to fight the infection.
