When referring to the practices of the Uyghur Turks, acupuncture is known as a treatment method that originated from classical Chinese medicine and has a history of approximately 3500 years. The World Health Organization accepted acupuncture for certain diseases in 1979, while its official recognition in our country was established around 1991.
According to the philosophy of acupuncture, the body contains two opposing yet harmonious energies called Yin and Yang. The emblem depicting this concept is called Taiji (the Great Duality), where black symbolizes Yin and white symbolizes Yang.a
In classical Chinese medicine, the human body is considered a part of the living universe, and it’s believed that the universal force existing in everything also resides within humans. This energy, called “Chi,” circulates in channels called meridians throughout the human body. It’s believed that diseases occur when the flow of energy in these channels is disrupted. Acupuncture aims to restore balance by eliminating blockages in these channels and thus preventing or treating illnesses.
The human body has a high capacity for self-healing. Hippocrates mentioned the inherent healing power of living organisms and the “inner physician,” while Paracelsus stated, “No life can be maintained by the efforts of an external physician alone; the external physician can only assist the internal physician.”
Certain stimulation points in the body, known as acupuncture points, activate this power (bioregulatory power). There are approximately 2000 acupuncture points in the body. These points are interconnected, forming 12 pairs and 2 single meridians. About 70-80% of acupuncture points coincide with trigger points, and many also coincide with motor points of muscles.
When an acupuncture point is stimulated, local cellular stimuli originating from there reach the brain through neural communication, and from the brain, they are sent to the corresponding organs. Consequently, chemical substances, hormones, enzymes are secreted, and some cellular changes occur in the body. There is no need for external medication. It’s crucial to maintain this process at the appropriate level, neither exceeding nor falling short, to prevent hyperfunction or hypofunction because our organism is programmed to function normally.
Studies have investigated the use of acupuncture in inflammatory eye diseases, glaucoma, ocular hypertension, dry eye syndrome, paralytic strabismus, ocular allergic diseases, facial paralysis, blepharospasm, and optic atrophy. Cho, a Korean physicist, and his colleagues detected increased activity in the brain’s visual centers using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) by stimulating acupuncture points around the eyes.
In a study investigating the efficacy of acupuncture in dry eye syndrome conducted by Nepp et al., 102 patients were divided into two groups according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): one group consisted mainly of patients with external factors (toxic, allergic, ocular surface inflammation and infection caused by medications, and contact lens use), and the second group consisted mainly of patients with internal factors (hormonal system disorders, immunological origin, psychogenic, and vitamin A deficiency). Acupuncture was administered to patients once a week for a total of 10 sessions, with each session lasting at least 30 minutes. Significant improvement in Schirmer test and BUT (break-up time) results and a significant decrease in the frequency of eye drop use were observed after treatment. Although no significant difference was observed between external and internal factors, more improvement in dry eye parameters was seen in the group where external factors predominated.
The least benefit from acupuncture was observed in patients with Sjogren’s syndrome. In another study conducted by Nepp et al., the efficacy of acupuncture was investigated in patients with ocular pain who did not respond to conventional treatment, including those with glaucoma, ocular migraine, dry eye, and blepharospasm. Significant improvements were observed in patients’ complaints. In another study by Gronlund et al. investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture in patients with dry eye syndrome, although significant improvement was observed in subjective findings in patients who received acupuncture compared to the control group, no difference was observed in dry eye parameters. The authors speculated that acupuncture improved corneal pain perception and accelerated corneal epithelial healing by stimulating the autonomic nerves, releasing various neurotransmitters such as substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), norepinephrine, met-enkephalin, and increasing blood flow and secretion through the activation of secretory glands, particularly through potent vasodilators such as calcitonin gene-related peptide, neuropeptide Y, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP).
