Acupuncture Therapy Might Be the Best Solution for Lazy Eye

Lazy eye (amblyopia) is a visual impairment that affects three percent of the general population. In most cases, patients have a natural misalignment or see a difference in image quality between both eyes during childhood. Without treatment, the lazy eye will continue to worsen.

Early detection and establishing a routine treatment plan can significantly reduce one’s chance of vision loss by restoring the eye’s functionality. If you’re considering booking an appointment with a chiropractor near LAX for you or your child, you’ve probably exhausted the following options:

• Received prescribed glasses that target and correct the misalignment
• Practice eye exercises to correct poor visual habits and retrain the eyes
• Underwent surgery to straighten eyes when all non-surgical approaches failed

There are two additional treatments following your primary doctor’s surgical or non-surgical approach: patching and medication. Patching is the process of strengthening the “lazy” eye by covering the other. In contrast, prescribed eye drops or ointments temporarily blur your vision to correct the lazy eye.

If you’re currently using the traditional patching method, acupuncture might be the best alternative therapy to offer you better results! Researchers found acupuncture to be highly effective for children in a study published by the Archives of Ophthalmology.

A team of researchers at the Joint Shantou University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong evaluated 88 children from 7 to 12 years old. Each had anisometropic amblyopia, causing nearsightedness and farsightedness between their eyes.

Skilled acupuncturists provided five guided sessions a week, targeting acupuncture points along their face, hand, and legs. The holistic remedy increased blood flow to the brain and eyes. It stimulated healthy growth near the retinal nerves as participants fulfilled vision-related exercises.

After 15 weeks, eyeglasses improved by 2.3 lines for those who received acupuncture, accounting for 76% of the participants. It had also wholly corrected the vision in 42% of children compared to 17% who underwent patching.

Of course, with any natural approach to healing, it will take some time to see results! Both methods require daily practice to maintain your progress. As an adult with a lazy eye or a parent interested in learning more, we recommend booking an appointment for acupuncture near LAX!