Chinese ophthalmology () is part of the

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

(TCM). Here diseases of the

eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...

are treated with Chinese herbs,

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

moxibustion Moxibustion () is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy which consists of burning dried mugwort ('' wikt:moxa'') on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietna ...

tuina ''Tui na'' (; ) is form of alternative medicine similar to shiatsu. As a branch of traditional Chinese medicine, it is often used in conjunction with acupuncture, moxibustion, fire cupping, Chinese herbalism, tai chi or other Chinese intern ...

, Chinese dietary therapy as well as

qigong ''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...

and

taijiquan Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

. Inscriptions on oracle bones and tortoise shells from the Shang and Yin dynasties (16th century to 1066 BCE) already contain indications of eye diseases and of their treatment in China. The work ''Essential Subtleties on the Silver Sea'' (, yínhǎi jīngwēi) has had wide influence on the Chinese ophthalmology until today. It was probably written by Sun Simiao and published at the end of the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

(1271−1368). A particular feature of Chinese ophthalmology are the "five wheels" (, wǔlún) and "eight boundaries" (, bākuò). They characterise certain anatomical segments of the eyes and correspond to certain zang-fu organs. From changes of the five wheels and eight boundaries diseases and the necessary therapy may be deduced. In modern Chinese ophthalmology in China as well as in Western countries diagnostic methods of Western medicine (such as the

slit lamp A slit lamp is an instrument consisting of a high-intensity light source that can be focused to shine a thin sheet of light into the eye. It is used in conjunction with a biomicroscope. The lamp facilitates an examination of the anterior segme ...

) are combined with the diagnostic methods of Chinese medicine (such as

pulse diagnosis Pulse diagnosis is a diagnostic technique used in Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Mongolian medicine, Siddha medicine, traditional Tibetan medicine, and Unani. Although it once showed many positive results, it no longer has ...

and tongue diagnosis). Then a disease pattern is stated based on the theories of Chinese medicine. Amongst others, the

acupuncture point Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

s BL-1 (jingming , "Bright Eyes") and ST-1 (chengqi , "Container of Tears") are said to have a special relationship to eye diseases. Chinese herbs such as Chrysanthemi flos (, júhuā) have a special relationship to the eyes. Throughout history, a number of qigong exercises for the better nourishing of the eyes have developed. They are said to prevent defective vision such as

shortsightedness Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may includ ...

and are recommended in cases of eye fatigue (so-called "eye qigong"). These exercises are regularly practised in Chinese schools. In TCM, eye qigong and tuina are considered to be important additional therapies for consolidation of the therapy results following acupuncture in shortsightedness.Zhong Kai: The Treatment of Juvenile Myopia by Acupuncture. Chinesische Medizin 1992;3:72-78

References

Further reading