Doctors used to swear by the slow recovery period known as convalescence. Some experts say embracing it again could offer benefits for an array of long-term illnesses and injuries
In 2012, doctoral student Hosanna Krienke was looking for topics for her dissertation on British literature. A recovering cancer patient, she was struck by the recurring theme of sickness and recuperation in 19th-century novels. Although Krienke had recently finished immunotherapy treatment, she still felt like a patient. Everyone around her behaved like it was all over, “and I couldn’t express why I didn’t feel the same.
The pandemic has brought new attention to long-term recovery as scientists gain a growing understanding of long COVID-19—a condition in which symptoms linger long after the initial diagnosis and illness. Many hospitals around the world have set up post-acute care clinics for these patients, for instance.
“Dengue patients have fatigue for several weeks after infection, and chikungunya patients can have pain for months,” Pinto points out, “But we don’t talk about long dengue or long chikungunya.” from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation recommended individualized programs and advised patients to “pay attention to their body” and “pace” their activity—not unlike 19th century prescriptions for convalescence.Photograph by Ernest G.
Therapeutic intentions in this era were distinct for each state, says Newton. Early modern treatments sought to preserve the healthy, cure the sick, and avert relapse and restore strength in convalescents, the last a field of medicine known as “analeptics.” Physicians observed after-effects that would be familiar to us today—fatigue, poor memory, hair loss, anxiety—and prescribed remedies revolving around lifestyle.
These rest stays could last anywhere between a week to months. “Should, however, the convalescence be tedious and lingering,” wrote Nightingale, “the patient is never discharged, however long the period may be.”
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