Acupuncture has been used in China for many years to help children and teens with refractive errors like nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism. Since the 1960s, special techniques such as plum-blossom needle therapy have been applied for myopia, and later methods like electro-plum-blossom needles and ear (auricular) acupuncture were developed.
How Acupuncture Is Used
Acupuncturists often use points around the eye socket, such as Zanzhu, Yuyao, Jingming, Qingming, Taiyang, and Sibai, which are gently needled near the eye area. Points farther away that are linked to eye health, like Hegu, Waiguan, Taichong, and Guangming, may also be used. After the needle sensation (called “deqi”) is felt, the needles are usually left in place for about 20 minutes, followed by a short massage of tender points around the eyes to help relax the eye muscles and sometimes cause tearing.
Plum-blossom needle tapping is another common method, where a small hammer-like tool lightly taps local reflex areas around the eyes about 20–30 times per point with moderate strength. Treatments are typically done daily or every other day, with 10–15 sessions making one full course of treatment.
Ear Acupuncture and Acupressure
For children who cannot come often, ear acupuncture with tiny embedded needles or acupressure can be used instead. Common ear points include Eye, Liver, Kidney, Eye1, and Eye2, and these are usually alternated between the left and right ear every 3–4 days or weekly. This approach is often well accepted by children and can help slow myopia progression when combined with other methods.
Effectiveness and Maintenance
Studies in children and adolescents suggest that acupuncture can improve vision in many cases, with some reports of success rates between 76% and 99%. However, results can be hard to keep after treatment ends, especially if the child already wears glasses. To help maintain gains, patients are often advised not to wear glasses during treatment and to keep doing self-massage of eye-area points after the course ends.
Some patients continue to improve after treatment stops, especially if they keep doing daily acupoint massage around the eyes. Combining acupuncture with vision exercises, laser acupuncture, or other methods may also boost effectiveness.
Practical Tips for Best Results
Local points near the eyes usually give better results than distant points, and shallow needling in the orbital area is often enough to get a good response. Strong stimulation can cause noticeable eye muscle reflexes without needing deep needles. After getting the needle sensation, the needles are sometimes removed right away, followed by 1–3 minutes of acupoint massage.
For children afraid of needles, finger massage on sensitive points along the eye socket can replace needling. The exact point location is less important than finding the most tender spot, such as Zanzhu near the upper orbital rim, and pressing inward and upward with the fingertips. This often causes tenderness and tearing, and many patients notice clearer vision right away.
To keep the benefits, patients should learn daily self-massage of eye-area acupoints. The key is finding the tender points and giving enough stimulation; light strokes around the eye socket are usually not strong enough to help much.
Sources:
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