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home / 世界杯决赛2022

regina rehab clinic starting to treat patients suffering from long covid

there are still plenty of unknowns when it comes to the lingering effects of covid-19 but one regina clinic is starting to treat people

by alec salloum

nov 5 2021
read time 2 minute read
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regan coulter, a regina-based physical therapist, says the effects of long-covid are still being researched, but the clinic where she works s now taking on patients that are suffering from lingering symptoms. submitted / image courtesy of stapleford hea

as the medical community starts to deal with the reality of lingering symptoms from covid-19, a regina clinic is taking on patients dealing with the aftermath.

regan coulter, a physical therapist with more than 20 years of experience, said the clinic where she works started to treat people in mid-september dealing with long covid . patients at stapleford health and rehab don’t seem to fit a “profile,” said coulter, in terms of age and fitness.

“they kind of span the whole spectrum of people who were hospitalized in icus and remained in hospital for a long time or people who were never hospitalized but have residual difficulties with breathing,” said coulter. other symptoms can include being short of breath, heart rate fluctuations, “profound fatigue,” cognitive impairment, joint pain, taste and smell not coming back among others.

“basically every system in the body can be affected,” she said. “the effects can be so varying across the body from one individual to the next.”
that fatigue can pose difficulties in treatment since it prevents patients from over-exerting themselves during sessions and in fitness sessions.
“it’s a very different kind of fatigue,” she said. “it can affect people for days.”
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within the saskatchewan health authority (sha) there is a “long covid working group” which consists of people from the sha, university of saskatchewan’s college of medicine, and ministry of health. it’s a research group that is looking to form a better understanding of long covid, with the intent of being able to make treatment recommendations.

long covid refers to people who have symptoms beyond 12 weeks.
“currently, work is underway to support the education of clinicians about long covid. in addition, recommendations are currently being reviewed to determine how the range of primary and specialized care can be integrated into sha services and what additional resources are required,” says an emailed statement from the sha.
the sha said there are no clinics in saskatchewan that solely address long covid, and asks that people with lingering symptoms contact “their family physician, who can refer them to appropriate resources depending on their specific concerns.”
coulter said the clinic has done three rounds of intakes and currently is treating under 10 patients, but for each patient, there is a different treatment plan.
“there are some complications with that fatigue and malaise where we might need to have them working well below what they think they need to, so we’re not making things worse,” said coulter.
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she added then when it comes to treatment plans there is an international agreement that research relating to covid-19 and long covid will all be open access.
alsalloum@postmedia.com
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alec salloum
alec salloum

alec salloum is a reporter with the regina leader-post. born and raised in regina, he delivered the newspaper as a child before interning at the post as a university student. he holds a degree from the university of regina and has previously worked as a freelance videographer and as a reporter and producer at cbc saskatchewan. salloum currently works the provincial affairs beat, covering the happenings at the legislative building and all things politics. he is part of the newsroom team that won a national newspaper award in 2023 for breaking news coverage.

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