Going into 2022 in a Pandemic
Hi all, just a reminder that this is not medical advice. Though am a licensed acupuncturist in NY and NJ and a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, I may not be your acupuncturist/provider which means I will not know your personal health history. You should understand that East Asian Medicine is applied in the context of the individual and that individual’s unique constitution, lifestyle and presenting pattern of signs and symptoms. If you have further questions you should schedule a consultation.
I heard someone on social media say that we were “going into our junior year of covid”. I just want us all to be kind to ourselves, our families and to think about this with a level head. Personally, I am grateful to know that the vaccines are helping to keep people out of the hospitals and I feel grounded in that fact.
Focus On These Things:
Wearing a mask anytime you’re indoors and with people you don’t live with. Make sure your mask is a KN95, N95, KF94 or you’re doubling up on surgical and fabric masks. Please do not wear a fabric mask on its own. This is insufficient protection. Take masks breaks when you’re outdoors, not when you get on an indoor subway platform. The new CDC guidances on isolation and quarantine requires people to be responsible for their own masking, possibly within their own home if someone is sick. This is after the fact that they announced earlier in 2021 that vaccinated people can go unmasked around each other. This has understandably caused confusion and some people became accustomed to giving up masks all too soon. I personally feel that the focus should have been to prioritize masking to begin with but now we are here. Thanks to my community that has kept up with masking. Please be responsible for protecting yourself and your family by being diligent about mask usage, even if it means masking in your own home because you or someone else is sick.
Limit indoor/unmasked socialization. This should also include masked gatherings where the contact time is prolonged. Examples are restaurants, shows, concerts, events and gyms/group fitness classes. I know this is difficult for many but please consider this in the context of your community. Some people are required to work in-person. If they get sick or exposed and need to isolate, then it will affect their income. Some people need to help their family members with home care. This is important to consider not just for yourself or those immediately around you but also when it comes to your favorite businesses, restaurants and surrounding community.
Talk to your friends and family. Don’t feel embarrassed to talk to each other about the amount of contact you’ve had leading up to an in-person gathering. Talk about the risks together like who you live with, who goes to school in-person in a given household, or who is unvaccinated and/or immune compromised in a given household. These factors are important to consider and we should be thinking far ahead.
Get your boosters - now is the time if you, haven’t already. This extra layer of protection will reduce your chance of severe illness, hospitalization, prevent you from missing needed work hours/income, make you less likely to spread to the rest of your household, co-workers or community.
Avoid gatherings - as the omicron surge numbers continue to climb in NYC it is best to avoid any large gatherings. Cancel your plans!
Get tested - currently this gives us our best guess. Testing before being around unvaccinated children or immune compromised loved ones can help protect them. Testing is also a good idea after a known exposure, a gathering (assume that is an exposure) or if the children in your family have gotten sick or been exposed at school. The NYC Health Dept testing centers are really well organized and if you can wait up til midnight you can make an appointment 48 hrs ahead using this link for a Rapid PCR. Results come back within 3-6 hours.
Understanding Testing
There are 3 type of tests we can get in NYC.
PCR: This is considered the gold standard of detecting COVID-19 infection. What you should understand is that they are meant to detect genetic material that is specific to the virus that causes SARS-COV2. This is especially important for detecting those who are asymptomatic. These tests do take 3+ days to receive results for because they are processed by a lab. When you go for a PCR be prepared that you might have to quarantine according to your situation (new cdc guidelines) and wait for the results, especially if there are lab delays due to the increase in people testing and getting sick. PCR’s are good at detecting a small amount of the genetic material which makes it a more sensitive or accurate test. (less likely to give you a false negative)
Rapid PCR: This is similar to the above test but it is processed on site and you should be able to obtain this test at most NYC Health + Hospital testing centers. Your results come back to you the same day (and in my experience within 3 hours or less.) Please also note that because this test is most sensitive that it will detect an old infection. It is recommended by NYC Health that if you have tested positive for COVID-19 via PCR, to wait 90 days before having another PCR test.
Rapid Antigen: This test detects proteins from the virus that are produced if you are having an immune response. It is detecting the antigens produced from SARS-COV2. This means it is better at detecting an active infection or for someone who is symptomatic. This test is good to use if you exhibit symptoms and/or if you’ve been knowingly exposed. This test can give false negatives in some cases if taken too early/asymptomatic. However it does give a good picture if you are asymptomatic for the next 8-12 hours, which is why it is being used popularly at the door of a gathering. At home rapid testing kits include 2 tests that should be administered as directed on the box.
Take your positive results seriously! False negatives can occur but false positives are not likely. I encourage you all to read more about the meaning of these tests and how you should consider using them, speak with your primary care doctor about how you should interpreting your individual results. Umass Med info on tests. FDA info on different tests. Info on at home testing kits via NYTimes.
Keep Up Immunity
I have heard a lot of talk from the “holistic” health community about focusing on vitamins, exercise, reducing stress, meditating and eating well. ALL TRUE and all great things to always be trying to improve and maintain as habits. However it is not the end all be all of dealing with a pandemic that’s caused by an infectious virus, so it’s also very important that we be realistic and be grounded in what is happening around us. Realistically beginning a regimen of eating well, meditating and exercise right now may or may not do too much. Working out in a gym where there are people you don’t live with that are breathing heavily and potentially not using masks might not be the best place to be right now. Lifestyle changes are really GREAT but they are for building immunity over time. Things that you can consider doing immediately are: reducing or avoiding dairy/heavily fried/greasy/processed/phlegmy foods - this allows for more inflammation to stay in the body, eating more regularly, incorporating foods appropriate to the season - more broths - bone broth, root veggies and cooked meals and less raw juicing and salads, keeping the body warm in cold weather allows you to temperature regulate when the weather changes drastically as it does so often here in NYC. Stay hydrated and make sure you’re sleeping enough. Building up your immunity can give you a better chance for fighting a virus but it won’t necessarily prevent you from having a viral infection.
Herbal Medicine
If you are a current patient of mine it is recommended to continue to take your prescribed herbal formulas - unless otherwise directed — pause if you have cold symptoms, and keep some early stage formulas on hand for just in-case . Prevention formulas that I am prescribing contain herbs that can strengthen your body’s immune function or upright qi (zheng qi) as well as herbs that stop viral replication - having both is needed if you are consistently exposed to others due to your job or school. You can schedule an herbal consultation with me if you’ve been exposed, but know that the best time to do this is at the earliest possible time because your condition will change quickly from the first 1-3 days and more so after 5-7 days of illness. Try to get on my schedule earlier in the day and before a weekend (especially a holiday weekend) in order to receive your herbs from the pharmacy in a timely manner. Time is of major importance in the early stage - I cannot impress this enough! If you are new to me you can schedule an appointment here. Prophylaxis and early stage are important during this pandemic!
At Home
Some things you can do at home that you should clear with your primary care provider first are: doing nasal steams, drinking ginger, turmeric, echinacea, elderberry, goji berry, chrysanthemum and citrus peel teas, taking your daily multivitamins, probiotics and possibly adding in things like zinc, magnesium. Keep some Airborne tablets on hand (not the same thing as Emergen C), stay hydrated and make sure you’re getting adequate rest.
Be Prepared
We will not know when we are exposed. Make sure you discuss an action plan with your family. Go over the different “what if” scenarios and who will be able to take care of children or pets. Read more about making a COVID-19 action plan here.
Reading and Critical Thinking
Because there is so much misinformation these days, I’d like to remind us all to look at several relevant sources. It’s easy to get caught up on the headlines presented on social media but what you can do is do a search on the headline or topic and read several sources. Sometimes you can even find the research paper that is being mentioned or cited in the news/media articles and read some of that information — try google scholar instead of regular google. Research papers and science information are not simple to interpret which is why it is good to read them alongside articles that cite them. Many of the public health guidances are not only based on health and medicine but also based on the safety of the population as well as economics. I find it all to be in gross disregard of people who work in-person jobs, have lower incomes, financial challenges and for those who overall have less resources. Because in Chinese Medicine we should look at our health as it relates to ourself, our family and the nation — it is upsetting the way people are constantly left out of the equation when it comes to healthcare. With that said if you have friends or family members who remain unvaccinated by choice, please encourage them to consider their risks. Some of this might not be so simple to understand and that is ok. Take your time to gather information and sit with it.
By Dr. Emily Grace Siy, DACM on December 28, 2021 I Photo by Javon Swaby