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Acupuncture for congenital nystagmus |
| Posted on Feb 20 2010 at 6:51 AM |
| News / Blog >> Acupuncture |
Researchers examined the effects of acupuncture at the sternocleidomastoid muscles on foveation characteristics in congenital nystagmus (Effects of acupuncture on foveation characteristics in congenital nystagmus, British Journal of Ophthalmology 1998;82:115-120).
A local ophthalmologist asked our acupuncture team at Gloucester Natural Therapies Clinic to comment on this paper and this was my reply:
I found your journal articles very interesting and would like to make the following observations
· According to ‘a Manual of Acupuncture’ (Deadman et al) the Windows of the Sky points, amongst other conditions, treat:
1. ‘Disharmony between the qi of the body and with the head, with qi or blood rebelling upwards’; resulting for instance in dizziness, which might be treated by points such as Lu 3, St 9, Bl 10, SJ 16 and Du 16. Clearly, some of these points are on the sternocleidomastoid, and some are not.
2. ‘Disorders of the sense organs’, associated with symptoms such as visual dizziness, blurred vision, dimness of vision, pain of the eyes with inability to see, various ear problems, and so on.
· Whilst some Windows of the Sky Points are associated with the sternocleidomastoid others are not, e.g. Lu 3, Bl 10. Some points associated with the sternocleidomastoid (scm), such as LI 18 are not associated with the sense organs, LI 18 relating to scrofula, goiter, asthma and the like.
· Whilst points such as SJ 16 are clearly on the scm it is arguable that St 9 is not, lying between the scm and the thyroid cartilage. However, in Japanese acupuncture it is common to treat the nearest tender point, which might then include the scm.
From these general observations we might conclude that whilst the Chinese were unaware of the specific condition of congenital nystagmus, they were aware that points called ‘the Windows of the Sky’ were associated with disorders of the sense organs. We might also conclude that given a patient with congenital nystagmus they might well use this class of points in treating this condition. They would likely have used the points on the scm, but would have also used occipital points such as Bl 10 and GB 20 and more local points such as Taiyang, and GB 14.
There are also associations with the scm and congenital nystagmus, although rather loosely connected, in the modern field of myofascial trigger point pain.
The following is a quote from ‘Trigger Point Therapy for Myofascial Pain’, by Donna Finando and Steven Finando:
Referring to pain patterns associated with the scm they state: ‘Clavicular head: Pain refers to the frontal area – when severe it extends across the forehead to the opposite side. Homolateral pain deep in the ear. Symptoms are frontal headache, dizziness, and postural imbalance. Sternal head: Cheek, temple and orbit pain; pain that arches across the cheek and into the maxilla, over the supraorbital ridge. Vertex pain with scalp tenderness. Symptoms include dry cough and autonomic phenomena of the eye, including tearing and redness.’
They state that the affected organ systems are: Respiratory system; eyes, ears, throat; nasal sinuses.
This description from a modern discipline seems to tally very well with that of Traditional Chinese acupuncture.
I also found it interesting that the patient in the study suffered an exacerbation of symptoms whilst performing sit-ups – an exercise that is often found to create or worsen trigger points in the scm!
I wonder if there is more than just a neurological correlation going on here and wonder whether there is a facial or myofascial association as well?
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