::: Acupuntura Visión :::
Macular Degeneration ARMD
Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy
Acupuncture for the treatment of eye diseases as explained by Prof. Dr. John Boel:
MOBILE VERSION
Over the last 20 years, several thousand patients with eye complaints of every sort have been treated successfully with the acupuncture method pioneered by the Danish acupuncturist Prof. Dr. John Boel. Since 1996 he has been training healing practitioners and doctors throughout Europe in this treatment method. Only acupuncturists who have acquired their qualification directly from Prof. Dr. John Boel can be considered experts in this field. The qualification specifically concerns a combination of points devised my Prof. Boel. Most of these lie beyond the traditional Chinese acupuncture meridians.
In 1996 I was personally trained by Prof. Boel in eye acupuncture. Particular value was placed localising points and a puncture technique with the utmost precision. In recent years I have successfully treated a great number of patients suffering from macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinopatia diabetica, eye infarction, optic nerve ailments and eye muscle paresis.
Other eye complaints that can be treated with eye acupuncture today include:
blinding due to brain damage (cerebral contusion or thrombus, e.g. after car accidents), threatening retina detachment and short-sightedness in children and youth.
While not all eye complains can be cured, they can often, however, be improved or their progression greatly slowed -- in approx. 80% of cases (macula/intra-ocular pressure).
How is the eye acupuncture procedure performed?
Naturally the eye itself is not punctured when performing eye acupuncture.
What is treated are special acupuncture points (e.g. on the forehead, hands, feet etc.).
Patients undergo therapy on 8 to 12 treatment days, with two acupuncture sessions per day. The individual duration of the treatment series depends on the severity of the disease and on the general state of the patient.
In order to ensure that the result achieved in the eyes remains stable, follow-up treatments at greater intervals should be performed in the long-term.
Does eye acupuncture work for all patients?
Each person responds to acupuncture to different degrees. Some patients achieve great results in as soon as eight to twelve sessions; for others this can take several months. In about 10% of patients acupuncture has been unable to help.
After five to eight treatment days it is possible to recognise how well the patient responds to acupuncture in general, and it is possible to estimate whether or not further treatment will show any promise.
Macular degeneration and its treatment with eye acupuncture:
This eye disease is among the most frequent eye complaints that can be treated with eye acupuncture. Macular degeneration cannot fully be cured with acupuncture. However, the progression of the disease can be greatly slowed, and even a portion of one's sight can be regained. Once the diagnosis has been made it is important is to begin acupuncture as soon as possible
to ensure that the progression is controlled in the ideal fashion. Acupuncture can also be used preventatively for the other eye, for example, if only one eye is initially afflicted.
What is macular degeneration?
Macular degeneration is the most frequent cause of extreme sight impairment in older people. It leads to a partial or complete loss in the ability to read and recognise faces, whereby only the central vision is severely impaired. The peripheral vision remains in most cases and patients afflicted with the disease can for the most part find their way about familiar settings.
The mechanism of macular degeneration involves a reduced capacity in one's metabolism that results in the depositing of fat-like substances beneath the retina. This affects the largest point of sharp vision, the macula, which is only a few square millimetres in size. As the disease progresses, the retinal tissue begins to deteriorate. The first form is described as "dry" macular degeneration. The onset is usually only slow.
The second type, or "wet" macular degeneration, is often a rapidly progressing disease that causes a blood vessel membrane (blood sponge) to form under the retina. The blood vessels of such membranes are not tight and can cause water to collect under the retina. In addition, the
membranes can tear and result in bleeding under the macula. This causes a complete loss in one's ability to read.
What can be done to counter this?
The opthomological treatment of the dry macular degeneration is extremely difficult. Because the onset of dry macular degeneration, however, usually goes unnoticed for a long time by those afflicted, it is very important to have regular eye exams by an eye doctor in order to begin with treatment as soon as possible. Eye doctors are able to recognise the onset of macular degeneration early on, usually long before the patient notices any visual impairment.
In the case of wet macular degeneration, several traditional medical treatments such as laser treatment, photodynamic therapy, angiogenesis inhibitors and surgical methods have been proved in some cases to slow the progression of the disease. By no means, however, can traditional medicine help all patients, and some treatments are associated with great risks.
The eye acupuncture method developed by Prof. Boel can be employed for both forms of macular degeneration, either to supplement the medical treatment or -- if the doctors cannot offer any medical treatment -- as an alternative method.
Diabetic retinopathy
This disease of the blood vessels in the retina occurs in diabetics. The severity of the diabetic retinopathy, among other things, depends on the person's specific metabolic state, that is, how well the diabetes patient is adjusted to his or her medication (tablets or injections). The prospects for success of eye acupuncture are also related to the metabolic state.
Prolonged blood glucose level, cholesterol -- in particular the LDL and HDL ratios as well as parameters such as triglycerides and homocystein -- are important in assessing the prospects for success with eye acupuncture.
Eye acupuncture (for retinal bleeding after laser therapy) basically offers the possibility into attain a vision-maintaining and in many cases vision-improving stabilisation of the blood supply to the retina. The number of treatment days in the case of diabetic retinopathy, however, is often much greater than for other indications for eye acupuncture.
Retinitis pigmentosa
Slight to moderate improvements of an already restricted
field of vision can be achieved, particularly in the case of slow progressions or for linear progression in the early stages. In the case of this illness, important goals of the acupuncture treatment include stabilising the vegetative-mental state and maintain the current state of ones vision.
Glaucoma
If there is a suspicion of glaucoma, modern testing methods such as OCT for the precise measurement of the nerve fibre layer thickness can be used for the purposes of preventative diagnostics in the early stages. This allows measures that preserve one's vision to be taken in time and these methods can also
be used to control the progression of the illness.
In the case of open angle glaucoma, eye acupuncture can be used to permanently reduce the intraocular pressure in approx. 75% of cases. This is crucial to protect the optic nerve.
Before beginning with a series of eye acupuncture treatments, it is advisable to have a doctor document the state of the particular eye illness, ideally including a field of vision test. This should likewise be performed after the acupuncture treatments. In many cases (but not in glaucoma patients), the success for the patients is subjectively so noticeable that an additional unscheduled visit to the ophthalmologist after the acupuncture series is not absolutely necessary.
ACUPUNTURA VISUAL : Castellano
C/ Marqués de Campo, 60
03700 Dénia (Alicante), Spain
For further information please contact
Bernhard Beisert, Acupuncturist, Naturopathic Practitioner
Tel. (0034) 966 934 038 WhatsApp 663739460
