Thai Herbal Medicine for Residual Symptoms of COVID-19 Recovered Patients: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Traditional Thai medicine significantly contributes to the treatment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This research aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of traditional Thai herbal steam bath on the residual symptoms of COVID-19 recovered patients. Methods: The single-arm pre-post design research was performed on thirty-three post-COVID-19 patients. All patients received herbal steam bath therapy for twenty minutes twice a week for two consecutive weeks. The outcome measurements on dyspnea intensity, nasal symptom intensity, muscle pain intensity, and quality of life were assessed at baseline and after two weeks of treatment by the modified medical research council (mMRC) dyspnea scale, the total nasal symptom score (TNSS), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), and COPD assessment test questionnaire, respectively. Results: The results indicated a significant decrease in mMRC, TNSS, NRS, and CAT scores two weeks post-treatment (p < 0.05). The percentage of patients presenting no or mild symptoms improved to 86.36% in CAT, 80.00% in TNSS, 60.71% in mMRC, and 13.79% in NRS, respectively. In the TNSS test, the highest percentage of patients with no symptoms, reaching 73.91%, was attributable to congestion. In addition, the CAT test revealed that the highest number of patients exhibiting mild symptoms, at 72.22%, correlated with confidence in leaving home. Discussion: The herbal formulation may function as an antiviral agent, accelerate therapy, and alleviate side effects related to COVID-19 due to the synergistic antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immune-enhancing properties of its constituents. Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that Thai herbal steam bath significantly improved the dyspnea intensity, nasal symptom intensity, muscle pain intensity, and quality of life in patients with post COVID-19 syndrome.