Acupuncture has become a treatment recommended by Western doctors for eye conditions. Traditional Chinese treatments for eye diseases involve using acupuncture points around the eyes. In addition, fine needles are inserted at different points on the body to promote balance and encourage healing. After getting treated by experienced, licensed acupuncturists, patients observe a significant improvement in their condition, thus indicating that acupuncture is an effective treatment for macular degeneration. It has been observed in studies that acupuncture treatment increases blood flow to the eyes and stimulates the visual cortex. In the first few days of receiving acupuncture, most patients see a lot of improvement. The acupuncturist will do a visual acuity test and a series of treatments, which will depend on the stage of the patient’s macular degeneration. If retinal cells are heavily damaged, it may take ten or more treatments to see noticeable results.

Dry Eyes

Dry eyes are a very common problem worldwide, what are the contributing factors to this problem?

1. Looking at a phone or computer screen for a prolonged period of time, causing the eye muscles to tighten and the blood vessels around the eyes to constrict.
2. Using eye drop to lower eye pressure can reduce the fluid circulation around eye area, leading to dryness.
3. After laser eye surgery, most people tend to experience dry eyes.
4. When tear glands are placed under stress, their functionality is compromised so instead of secreting moisturizing fluids, it secretes thick fluids which dry up the eyes.
5. Dehydration can cause dry eyes.

Also Read: How Effective Is Acupuncture for Macular Degeneration?

How we can fix and prevent dry eyes?

1. Limit electronic use. Going outside or to exercise will help to speed up circulation to your eyes.
2. Practicing acupressure around the eye areas will help you relax the eye muscles and lower the eye pressure at the same time. Learn how to do so here.
3. Drinking fresh lemon water to help your tear gland secrete more fluids.
4. Some herbal teas such as Chrysanthemum tea will also help relieve dry eyes.
5. Acupuncture twice a week for 12 weeks, then once a week for 6 weeks, then once every other week for two months.

How to reduce eye pressure

Learn techniques for how to reduce your eye pressure at home without the use of medications! This is our most popular YouTube tutorial with over 36,000 views!

Our Case Study

Mary Zheng came to Boston Chinese Acupuncture Clinic 8 years ago for slightly elevated eye pressure when she was in her late twenties. Her uncle had glaucoma and did not take care of his eyes and eventually went blind. She has been working in Wellesley hospital doing medical billing for many years, staring computer all day long does not do any good for her eyes, by the age of 30, her eye pressure was around 18, she had been using acupuncture in Needham to help lower the eye pressure and protect her vision every other week for a few years. As a young lady, she does not like to wear very thick glasses for her distance reading, the ophthalmologist convinced Ms. Zheng and Mary had eye surgery to correct her near-sighted vision so she does not have to wear glasses. She was told the nerves in her eyes will be damaged slightly during the surgery, she may have dry eyes and has to use eye drop 6 times a day, but the nerves will recover their function after 6 months.

She started acupuncture two weeks right after her surgery in 2016. Her eyes healed very well with very little scar tissue. But her eye pressure did go up, especially her left eye pressure. A few weeks after her surgery, the left eye pressure went up over 20, the right eye was around 18, she also experienced very dry eyes with eye drops every two hours. She had acupuncture every week for 3 months in the Boston Chinese Acupuncture clinic, her dry eyes are dramatically improved. The eye pressure dropped to 14 on the right eye and 18 on the left eye, and her dry eyes had been reducing. During acupuncture treatment her tears come out right away once the needles are inserted around her eyes, her vision became clearer. Unfortunately, she has to use the computer for 8 hours a day. By the end of the day, the eyes become very dry. She did acupuncture treatment for 3 months, she was able to do her computer work in Wellesley hospital without too much discomfort after surgery. She then stopped acupuncture treatments for a few months at the end of 2016, recently her eyes become very dry and the left eye pressure went up again. She finally found time to start acupuncture treatment again so she can relieve the dry eye and reduce the eye pressure while still keeps her normal computer work. During the time she stopped acupuncture treatment, her stress level went up, her arthritis in both thumbs become worse, she put on some weight due to her elevated stress hormones. She finally realized that she needs acupuncture treatment every other week in order to reduce her stress and maintain her eye pressure within a normal range unless she retired from her computer billing work.