Question: When Should You Return for Additional Treatments

When a new patient receives eye treatments the first time, they often believe that whatever improvement they receive at that time is all they will ever receive, and that all subsequent treatments are for maintenance. Not true. With each treatment, the patient will usually regain some vision, and if they receive acupuncture treatment for degenerative eye disorders on a regular basis, at a rate that keeps up with their rate of vision loss, there will always be a net gain. Unless there is a significant event of vision loss due to leaking or bleeding when the patient’s macular degeneration condition has progressed to the wet type. To experience a net gain over time, you need to return before you lose everything you gained in your last treatment. This can be from once every three years to three times a year. The same is true for acupuncture for retinitis pigmentosa, treatments for glaucoma, stargardt’s disease treatments, or diabetic retinopathy acupuncture treatment.

Much of what I learn is through my patients.  For instance, most of those with retinitis pigmentosa tell me that, although there was positive change in the vision after the first course of treatment, it took about three courses of treatment to see a difference that changed their lives.     Most of you will notice positive change the first time you come, but the greater change came later, after going through two or three weeks of treatments or more.  I know this sounds like a lot but keep in mind that your vision problems developed over a long period of time, not overnight.  Treatment that claim complete recovery in a short time will most likely produce nothing more than disappointment.  Healing takes time.

Another great challenge is helping patients understand that the outcome of each course of treatment will vary.  Sometimes you will receive great benefit from a week of treatment and other times you won’t be able to detect any real change in your vision.  One of my patients, someone who has been coming since 1998, was here a few weeks ago.  She called to tell me that this past visit yielded the greatest results so far.  She is 83 and started coming when she was almost 70 years old.  I remember very distinctly her almost giving up back in 2006 through 2008, when she wasn’t improving much with treatment.  She was under a lot of stress then, and she also needed cataract surgery.  I know she is happier than I am that she didn’t give up.  We have no way of knowing what improvements are taking place from treatment. Only when improvement takes place in the area of the macula will a patient notice vision changes.  We know this treatment works.  Trust that it is working for you, and that it will continue working for you.

Finally, patients who are told “your macular degeneration is no longer dry; it is now wet.”  I know patients who stopped getting treatments because they believed the acupuncture treatment for macular degeneration would no longer work.  Your macular degeneration hasn’t “changed” to AMD wet, it has progressed to a more complicated disease.  You still have dry AMD and still need treatments.  If you want to keep your vision, don’t stop treatments.  The shots they give you for AMD wet only help stop the growth and leakage of the abnormal blood vessels; they do nothing for the underlying condition – the AMD (age-related macular degeneration).

This idea applies to all types of patients, whether you are being treated for back pain, peripheral neuropathy, headaches or insomnia, you need to think in terms of healing.  Give yourself time; it’s worth it.

Bottom line?  If you are uncertain, call me.  I will always find time to talk to you.

Lizbeth Ryan, DOM, LAc