Oxygen Therapy and Autonomic Reset to Manage Long COVID: Noah Greenspan, DPT

Noah Greenspan, DPT, owner and founder of Pulmonary Wellness Complex, discusses how oxygen therapy, thorough patient evaluations, and trial and error are 3 main components of a treatment plan for patients presenting with long COVID at his practice.

In an interview with the American Journal of Managed Care^®, Greenspan explained why oxygen therapy is beneficial for patients with long COVID despite many of them having normal oxygen saturation.

“Part of the reason for that is because oxygen really quiets the sympathetic nervous system,” he said.

One of the major complications he often sees in long COVID patients, he explained, is an overreaction of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and a lack of reaction of the parasympathetic nervous system. In patients, he’s seen their bodies respond disproportionately to an exercise or the task at hand. Although the reason for the reaction is still unknown, he has observed the calming impact of oxygen therapy to help soothe the SNS.

“The question is, is it something in which the brain is understanding and something in which the brain is sending out?” Greenspan said. “[Or] Is it what the body is receiving? Is it what the body is sending back to the brain? Is it that something that the brain is receiving improperly?”

Through his experience working with patients with long COVID, Greenspan has developed a regimen to help alleviate symptoms and improve their overall function. Although each patient is different and the strategy can be adapted to meet their specific needs, Greenspan continues to conduct research to improve patient outcomes.

“Our goal in treatment is really to quiet the sympathetic nervous system and enhance parasympathetic tone as much as we can,” he said. “We want to retrain the brain and retrain the autonomic nervous system by saying, ‘You know what? You’re okay.’”