Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has had more than a thousand years of knowledge on myopia, expert

[Source: Jiupai News]

Recently, the 2024 National Health Work Conference was held in Beijing, at which 9 key points were identified. Jiupai News noted that in terms of promoting the inheritance, innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine, the meeting mentioned the need to give full play to the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of diseases, rehabilitation, and the prevention and treatment of myopia and obesity in children and adolescents.

Eye exam. Picture/Visual China

Can Chinese medicine prevent and treat myopia? What are the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in preventing and treating myopia? How does traditional Chinese medicine prevent and control the occurrence and development of myopia? Focusing on these issues, Jiupai News interviewed Wang Jing, deputy chief physician of the Department of Optometry, Eye Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

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33 pieces of original content

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【1】Traditional Chinese medicine and appropriate techniques of traditional Chinese medicine are used to prevent and treat myopia

"Traditional Chinese medicine has known about myopia for more than a thousand years. The treatment of myopia in traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes prevention, which is what we often call 'prevention before you get sick', that is, we should actively prevent the occurrence of diseases when you are not sick." Wang Jing said , there are two main intervention approaches for the prevention and treatment of myopia using traditional Chinese medicine: traditional Chinese medicine and appropriate traditional Chinese medicine techniques. Among them, traditional Chinese medicine is divided into two types: oral and external, and can be taken at various stages of myopia.

“Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes syndrome differentiation and treatment, generally starting from improving the general condition and regulating eye lesions.” Wang Jing pointed out that there are many suitable techniques of traditional Chinese medicine, such as auricular acupuncture pills, acupuncture, plum blossom needles, acupoint massage, etc., in regulating eye blood. It can play a very good role in improving circulation and visual fatigue, and it is more convenient, painless, and not an invasive operation, making it easier to accept, especially for children.

At the same time, Wang Jing also emphasized that the appropriate techniques of traditional Chinese medicine "should be done frequently, not just once and everything will be fine. If conditions permit, it is recommended that children do it 2-3 times a week, and the effect will be better."

In fact, the appropriate techniques of traditional Chinese medicine “can be done not only by children, but also by adults.” When referring to the specific treatment courses of this technology, Wang Jing said, “Generally, we recommend integrating different items into one treatment course, such as bean embedding, plum blossom acupuncture, introduction, Massage, acupuncture, etc., about 30 to 40 minutes each time. Many people often use computers to work and use their eyes at close range. Doing this (appropriate traditional Chinese medicine techniques) can improve eye fatigue and dryness."

In addition to the appropriate techniques of traditional Chinese medicine, timely examinations are also important to prevent myopia in children. He said that it is best to bring children to the ophthalmology department for routine examinations and establish refractive files, mainly to check the "hyperopia reserve."

According to Wang Jing’s explanation, the “hyperopia reserve” is for children aged 0-6. Generally, babies are born with farsightedness. As they grow older, their degree of farsightedness will continue to decrease, gradually dropping to 0 by the age of 8-12 years. However, if a child overdraws his "hyperopia reserve" as he grows up, resulting in insufficient "hyperopia reserve", it will easily lead to myopia, so early detection and prevention are necessary.

【2】It is the most ideal state to delay the progression of myopia.

For people who are already myopic, how can TCM be used to alleviate the progression of myopia? Wang Jing said frankly that we must realize that myopia is irreversible, and delaying the development of myopia is the most ideal state. The possibility of treating "true myopia" solely by traditional Chinese medicine is relatively small. It can be combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment on the premise of actively correcting vision to delay the degree (increase) and improve eye fatigue. If people with high myopia have fundus complications, especially fundus bleeding, they can take some Chinese medicine to prevent (relapse).

In recent years, the incidence of myopia in my country has shown a trend of getting younger. How to detect it early and intervene in time? Wang Jing believes that "myopia prevention and control is a systematic project that requires the cooperation of families, schools, and society. Schools and families are the main battlefields for myopia prevention and control."

Regarding the prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents, Wang Jing gave the following reminders:

1. Increase outdoor activities in the sun, more than 2 hours a day, a total of 14 hours a week;

2. Develop good eye-using habits. The lighting at home should not be too dark or too bright, and reduce the use of eyes at close range;

3. The sitting posture should be upright and follow the principle of "one punch, one foot, one inch". The eyes should be one foot away from the book, the chest should be one punch away from the table, and the hand should be held one inch away from the tip of the nose;

4. Maintain a regular work and rest schedule, a balanced diet, not picky eaters or partial eclipses, ensure comprehensive nutrition, and maintain adequate sleep.

In addition to the above conventional suggestions, at the end of the interview, Wang Jing reminded: If conditions permit, it is recommended to go to the hospital regularly (every 3 months to half a year) to check your vision and refraction, and take some measures based on the test results. If you find "hyperopia reserve" "Insufficient, early myopia with low degree (within 50 degrees) or pseudomyopia, it is recommended to use appropriate traditional Chinese medicine techniques; for children who are already myopic, it is also recommended to check at least once every six months to observe the changes in the eye degree and check the fundus at the same time. No complications, no pathological myopia, early detection and early treatment.