Abstract

Acupuncture has been clinically used to treat patients suffering from eye disease. It has been used in efforts to help preserve vision for those with a wide range of eye conditions including glaucoma and intraocular hypertension. High intraocular pressure (IOP) is usually associated with glaucoma and conventional treatment is focused on lowering IOP. Controlling this risk factor should help hasten the onset of glaucoma for those patents that are suspect or borderline candidates for glaucoma. In review of the limited scientific research there are not many studies that support conclusive evidence for the use of acupuncture on eye diseases and particularly glaucoma and ocular hypertension. For the information that does exist, diverse results from various interventions make it difficult to draw clear conclusions. The existing studies use different acupoints, techniques, frequencies, and durations. Individual treatment strategies according to the practitioner's subjective experience, patient condition, and the use of other complimentary and natural strategies is ideal for taking a more dynamic and wholistic approach to getting results. Until more pragmatic research models are funded and implemented, case reports can offer good examples of experiential and objective outcomes. This case report presents a 61 year old healthy female patient diagnosed with open-angle borderline glaucoma with elevated IOP. The patients IOP was successfully reduced with 12 treatments over three months using scalp electro-acupuncture and distal Master Tung points.