Acupuncture Treatment for Dry Eye

Abstract

Background:

Acupuncture has been used to treat lacrimal insufficiency. Whether a single acupuncture treatment can address this condition has not been reported.

Objective:

To evaluate the effectiveness of a single acupuncture treatment in reducing dry eye symptoms.

Design, Setting, and Patients:

Seventeen patients with dry eye completed the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI, a 12-item questionnaire designed to measure the severity of dry eye disease and the efficacy of dry eye treatments) before and one week after a single acupuncture treatment.

Intervention:

The acupuncture treatment used in this study was a standardized protocol using a French Energetics Liver cerebral circulation circuit. Acupuncture points used were LR 3, LR 8, LR 14, GB 41, ST 1, GB 1, and BL 2 in all cases.

Main Outcome Measures:

Comparisons of average pretreatment and posttreatment OSDI scores were made for the entire group and for subgroups.

Results:

Of the 17 patients in this study, 15 (88%) showed improvement in OSDI results. The difference between the average pretreatment and posttreatment OSDI scores was 18.3, a 35% improvement (P = .001). Patients younger than 50 years had a greater degree of improvement, with an average decrease from pretreatment to posttreatment OSDI of 33.2, a 57% improvement (P = .003).

Conclusion:

Acupuncture can be an effective treatment method for patients with dry eye and may be a useful adjunct to conventional dry eye therapy.