Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2002; 7: 102
To observe the influence of acupuncture on psychovegetative tension in dry eyes.
Freiberger and Zerssen questionnaires were to be answered. The skin contact level and habituation computer-assisted measurement were used for evaluation of the sympathetic system. For the measurement of the papillary diameter, a TV pupillometer was used. The tear film was evaluated by slit lamp, Schirmer test, break-up time of the tear film, lipid-layer thickness and Rose Bengal staining. These observations were repeated after 3 months. During this time a group of the patients was treated with acupuncture once weekly for 10 weeks.
A total of 45 patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca were observed, 33 of these were treated with acupuncture. After acupuncture, the diameter of the pupil was reduced by 1.3 mm, on average. Habituation and skin values changed, as did subjective feelings, with significant difference (P < 0.001). Even the difference after acupuncture was significantly greater than that of the control group in the skin reaction and in the psychic situation. On the Freiburger personality index, most of the patients felt emotional stabilisation (73%) and a decrease in irritability (68%) after the therapy. Tear film changed and subjective feelings improved significantly after acupuncture.
The effect of acupuncture in dry eyes may be presumed to be due to the stabilisation of psychic and vegetative tension that enforces the tear secretion.
