Riste, Lisa, Perrin, Raymond, Mulholland, Thomas et al. · Infectious diseases and therapy · 2026 · DOI
Researchers tested whether a simple self-help program including gentle massage, stretching, breathing exercises, and temperature therapy could help reduce fatigue in people with long COVID. About 91% of people who were invited agreed to participate in the study. Those who used the self-help program showed slightly more improvement in their fatigue over three months compared to those who didn't receive the program, suggesting this low-cost approach may help some people feel better.
This study bridges long COVID and ME/CFS research by testing an accessible, low-cost self-help intervention for fatigue—symptoms that often disable patients and have limited treatment options. Finding effective, sustainable interventions that patients can perform independently is critical given the substantial unmet clinical need in both conditions and the potential to reduce healthcare burden.
This feasibility study does not definitively prove the intervention is effective—it was designed to test recruitment and retention rather than efficacy. The greater improvement in the intervention group compared to control does not account for placebo effects or regression to the mean, and the high 6-month dropout rate limits conclusions about long-term sustainability and benefit.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Riste, Lisa, Perrin, Raymond, Mulholland, Thomas, Hann, Mark, McDonald, Olivia, & Heald, Adrian (2026). Testing the Feasibility of a Self-Help Intervention That Includes Lymphatic Drainage to Reduce Fatigue-Related Symptoms Among Patients with Long COVID in General Practice: Experiences from Our Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).. Infectious diseases and therapy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40121-025-01287-z
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-riste-2026-testing-feasibility,
author = {Riste, Lisa and Perrin, Raymond and Mulholland, Thomas and Hann, Mark and McDonald, Olivia and Heald, Adrian},
title = {Testing the Feasibility of a Self-Help Intervention That Includes Lymphatic Drainage to Reduce Fatigue-Related Symptoms Among Patients with Long COVID in General Practice: Experiences from Our Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).},
journal = {Infectious diseases and therapy},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1007/s40121-025-01287-z},
note = {PubMed: 41442105},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/riste-2026-testing-feasibility},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/riste-2026-testing-feasibility
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