Acupuncture and eye disorders

At Starting Point Acupuncture, we specialize in chronic and complex conditions. Many people come to our clinic seeking safe, effective, and natural ways to help their condition, often they have been told by their doctor “there is nothing they can do,” or given medications that produce unwanted side effects, or they are not responding to medications. One of the complex conditions we often see are people with eye disorders. Here are three common eye disorders and how acupuncture may help.

Macular degeneration

Macular degeneration is an eye disorder that is characterized by a progressive degeneration of the retina. It is estimated that around 200 million people world wide suffer from this disorder. There are two types of MD, “wet” and “dry” forms. Both forms can lead to complete loss of central vision. Loss of central vision impacts visual tasks like reading and facial recognition. This may dramatically impact a person’s quality of life, ability to work, and even drive.

Acupuncture can help macular degeneration and there are little to no side effects, compared to conventional options.

A study looking at if acupuncture could help age-related macular degeneration looked cases receiving acupuncture versus those receiving medication (this study was vitamin C and E and IM injection of Entodon). This study found that there was an 88% effective rate of improvement in symptoms with the acupuncture group compared to 60% in the medication group. Showing promise of acupuncture for hard to treat conditions like MD.

Dry eyes

Dry eyes is a very common condition, estimated that over 5 million people in the US report suffering from this condition. Often OTC eye drops can help or they are irritating and may cause the symptoms to get worse. A key aspect in treating dry eyes is to see (as with any other condition) are there any aggravating factors and what is the root cause on why the dry eyes developed in the first place. A treatment that has been shown to help is acupuncture.

In a study in the Journal of Neurological Research, looked how acupuncture may help dry eyes. This study found that stimulation of specific acupuncture points could increase blood flow, which may in turn help to improve eye conditions such as dry eyes.

Diabetic Retinopathy

With the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes on the rise the incidence of associated conditions, Diabetic Retinopathy, is increasing as well. Diabetic Retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss among adults with T2DM. It is characterized by damage to the blood vessels in the retina leading to scarring or damage to the optic nerve. Currently the treatment for DR includes medications to help control blood glucose levels, blood pressure regulation, and lipid lowering medications. There is increasing evidence that acupuncture in addition to conventional therapies may provide improvement in outcomes. Acupuncture has been shown to improve lesions in the retinal capillaries, improving microcirculation, and improvement of vision.

A study looked at if the stimulation of specific acupuncture points known to help with treatment of the eyes corresponded with activation of the visual cortex in the brain. This study used MRI imaging to determine if certain areas in the brain became activated upon stimulation of acupuncture points. This study found that upon stimulation of known acupuncture points, the corresponding area in the brain showed activation. This study hypothesized a mechanism on how acupuncture can work for eye disorders and how acupuncture works in genital by controlling the chemical or hormone release via the central nervous system and activating corresponding areas in the brain.

If you suffer from eye conditions and looking for safe, effective, and natural treatments, give our office a call today at (425) 686-4498 to set-up your initial consultation to learn how we can help.

Sources:

Acupuncture and macular degeneration: https://europepmc.org/article/med/21355157

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378874121007601

https://www.n5ev.com/uploads/3/0/9/7/30974833/lundgrenarticle2.pdf

Acupuncture and dry eyes: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01616412.1999.11740946

Acupuncture and diabetic retinopathy: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0965229920304076?token=8A7634095CDE77E99ADB30F1B7E4C243A281C14D0F575497A37C99D9834F431AFD58D805AED97E79122B73072CA4A753&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220923182023

Acupuncture and MRI study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.95.5.2670