Acupuncture for Dry Eyes
Tears secreted from the tear glands in the eyes help the eyes to stay lubricated. When the glands don’t produce enough tears or secrete poor-quality tears to lubricate the eyes, we encounter a medical condition called dry eye.
Dry eyes cause irritation and itchiness. You may feel dry eyes when sitting in an air-conditioned room or while staring at the screen for a long time without blinking. Some of the common symptoms of dry eyes include redness, a sensation that something is stuck in the eyes, light sensitivity, and blurred vision associated with eye fatigue. Moreover, dry eyes can lead to infection. Many people find their eyes are diminishing in condition due to the amount of time they find themselves staring at a screen for work and recreational purposes. This is why some people that exhibit this amount of screen time due to work, use glasses that can decrease eye strain to keep their eyes in the best health possible.
Treatment Procedure for Dry Eyes
Occasional or mild dry eyes can be treated with over-the-counter eye drops. Other treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs, tear stimulating drugs, and surgeries in extreme cases. However, if the condition is consistent and worsening with time, then your doctor will try to find the root cause and focus on reversing the condition. Dry eyes can also occur due to an underlying health condition such as diabetes and Sjögren’s syndrome.
Acupuncture for dry eyes – a recent study
Although OTC (over the counter) eye drops are prescribed for treating dry eyes, some scientific studies have revealed that the preservatives in the artificial tears may exacerbate the ocular surface inflammation. Further, the safety of anti-inflammatory treatment is not established well.
In this scenario, acupuncture works well for dry eye treatment. In the above-mentioned study, acupuncture has shown favourable effects over artificial tears for dry eyes. The study was conducted in several randomized controlled trials. In the experiment published in www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News, the researchers found that acupuncture is safe and effective for dry eyes treatment. The reports showed that patients who received acupuncture along with eye drops had a 76.92% total effective rate while patients who received only eye drops had a 53.85% overall effective rate.
How does acupuncture treatment for dry eyes work?
The history of acupuncture in Chinese medicine dates back to 1000 B.C. From the early evidence of acupuncture that is available, we understand that the goal of acupuncture is to restore balance and harmony in the body. In recent years, there has been a significant amount of research into acupuncture and how it can heal different medical conditions without creating any side effects. As we know, acupuncture aims to balance the internal organs to treat a medical condition. Through acupuncture, tear glands are stimulated to produce the lubricants that keep the eyes moist. It is essential to know that no needles go in the eyeball in acupuncture treatment. The fine needles are inserted around the upper and lower eyelids, Chinese acupuncturist also chooses some points on the feet and hands to improve the liver, spleen and kidney function.