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Blindness

What is Blindness?

Blindness is when you have difficulty seeing things.  Partial blindness is when you have blurry vision or find it hard to see the shape of objects, while complete blindness is when you can’t see anything at all, even light.  If you are legally blind, it means you can only see something from 20 feet away, which a person with normal vision would be able to see from 200 feet away.  Keep reading to find out more about blindness and how Chinese Medicine can help.

Blindness Symptoms:

If you are completely blind, you won’t be able to see anything at all.  However, if you are only partially blind you might experience symptoms like:

  • Cloudy vision
  • Only seeing shadows
  • Poor vision at night
  • Having trouble seeing shapes
  • Tunnel vision

Sometimes, blindness arises from a young age.  In fact, our visual system begins to develop while we are still inside the womb and is fully formed only after we are two years old.  If you notice any of the following symptoms in your baby, it could indicate eye problems like blindness.

Blindness
  • Poor visual tracking or focusing
  • Chronic red eyes
  • Rubbing their eyes very often
  • White pupil
  • Unusual eye alignment or movement beyond 6 months old

If you suddenly lose the ability to see, seek emergency medical attention.  Immediate treatment can help to restore your vision for some eye conditions.

Causes of Blindness:

While most causes of blindness relate to damage or conditions of your eyes, other health problems may also lead to blindness.  For example, having diabetes or a stroke may not directly affect your eyes, but can lead to blindness in some cases.  Otherwise, the main causes of blindness include eye conditions including:

Blindness
  • Cataracts – These occur more commonly in older people and cause cloudy vision.
  • Glaucoma – Eye conditions where your optic nerve is damaged.
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa – Occurs when your retina is damaged.
  • Amblyopia or Lazy Eye – This condition can lead to vision loss and cause difficulty seeing details.
  • Macular Degeneration – This is more common in older people and involves damage to the part of your eye that allows you to see details.
  • Eye Surgery – Complications of eye surgery may sometimes cause blindness.
  • Exposure to toxic chemicals or harsh objects.
  • Birth defects, or problems arising from premature birth.

How Can Chinese Medicine Help?

If you’re suffering from blindness, why not come along to Centre of Balance?  At our clinics, our professional, qualified practitioners use natural techniques from Traditional Chinese Medicine, which can help to heal many conditions including blindness.  These gentle techniques include acupuncture, acupressure, and individualised Chinese herbal medicines.

Researchers have found that acupuncture can be an effective and low risk treatment for eye problems like blindness.  One study found that, “Acupuncture entails minimal risk, if administered by a well-trained acupuncturist and may have significant, measurable benefits on residual visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, in particular scotopic sensitivity, which had not previously been studied.”

Blindness

What makes our treatments special is that they focus on addressing the underlying causes of conditions like blindness.  Often, we experience symptoms due to imbalances within our bodies which we may not even be aware of.  These can range from problems with the flow of blood or qi (energy), imbalances between major organs like the lungs, heart, stomach, and spleen, or even imbalances between elements like heat and cold or Yin and Yang.

These underlying imbalances often lead to groups of symptoms called syndromes.  In your appointment your Chinese Medicine practitioner will diagnose your syndrome based on your individual symptoms and Traditional Chinese Medicine principles.  From there, you’ll be given a unique treatment plan to fully facilitate your recovery.

For more information about how Chinese Medicine can help you, click here.

To find out more about Chinese Medicine and eye problems, click here.

Conclusion:

Blindness can refer to full blindness where you can’t see anything at all, or partial blindness where you may have trouble seeing things clearly or from a long distance.  Eye conditions like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and glaucoma can all potentially lead to vision loss.  Chinese Medicine is a great treatment for blindness, as it addresses the underlying cause of your symptoms, while presenting a very low risk of side effects.  So why not come along to Centre of Balance and give it a try?  We’d love to help you recover.

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References:

Badii, C. (2019, September 5). What You Need to Know About Blindness. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/blindness

Centre of Balance: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine (n.d.). Archive for category: Acupuncture for Eye Problems. https://balancetcm.co.nz/category/acupuncture-for-eye-problems/

Centre of Balance: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine (n.d.).  Would You Like to Experience More Energy, & Less Stress & Pain? https://balancetcm.co.nz/

Bittner, A. K., Gould, J. M., Rosenfarb, A., Rozanski, C., & Dagnelie, G. (2014). A pilot study of an acupuncture protocol to improve visual function in retinitis pigmentosa patients. Clinical & Experimental Optometry, 97(3), 240–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12117

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Monica

I am originally from Hebei province in China. I hold a NZ bachelor’s degree of health and science with a major in acupuncture. I am honoured to be an acupuncturist at Centre of Balance. Helping patients to alleviate their pain brings me the greatest joy. Chinese medicine emphasises the unity of human beings and nature. During the treatment, I hope to not only relieve your pain but also help you to understand the principles behind acupuncture’s effectiveness, as well as the significant impact of diet, emotions, lifestyle habits, and living environments on disease recovery. Self-healing is an ability that our bodies are naturally endowed with.

I studied acupuncture in New Zealand and completed one and a half years of supervised clinical internship before graduating. In the early stage of my training, I mainly worked with patients experiencing neck, shoulder, and lower back pain. Under the guidance of senior clinical tutors, I gradually developed hands-on experience and confidence in treating musculoskeletal pain conditions.
As my clinical exposure expanded, I began treating a wider range of internal conditions. Alongside traditional acupuncture, I was introduced to Umbilical Acupuncture and Tungs-acupuncture Points. What interested me most about these approaches is that they often do not require needling directly at the painful area, yet can still achieve very effective results.
I was especially inspired by observing my supervisor use Umbilical Acupuncture to treat common conditions such as insomnia, menstrual irregularities, and even rheumatoid arthritis, with very positive outcomes. Another supervisor was highly skilled in Tungs-acupuncture Points and achieved excellent results in treating pain, infertility, menstrual disorders, and a variety of women’s health conditions. After completing my studies and entering clinical practice, once I observed Dr. Szenan Phua using Tungs-acupuncture points to help cancer patients relieve pain, which further strengthened my trust in this treatment method.
I later completed training in Dr. Tan Balance Acupuncture, which had a strong influence on the way I approach treatment. One of the most noticeable features of this method is how quickly patients often feel improvement, especially with pain conditions. Dr. Szenan Phua’s New Balance Acupuncture combines meridian regulation with structural adjustment and internal organ balancing, including techniques such as pulse balancing and spinal adjustment.
From my clinical experience, pain is rarely just a local issue. It often involves underlying organ weakness or structural imbalance. When these aspects are addressed together, treatment can be more thorough and longer-lasting. I also apply this approach to internal conditions, particularly in fertility and women’s health. This includes supporting natural conception, IVF preparation and embryo transfer, pregnancy support, early-pregnancy nausea, and late-pregnancy labour induction. I combine these treatments with concepts learned from a few additional fertility training, which has given me a broader and more flexible clinical perspective. This has reinforced my belief that acupuncture should be adapted to each individual rather than applied through fixed formulas.
Two other areas of study that have been very helpful in my clinical work are Tongue Diagnosis and Dr. Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture. Although tongue diagnosis is taught in my standard Chinese medicine training, further study allowed me to deepen and refine my diagnostic skills.
My first formal training was in Li’s Tongue Diagnosis, which looks not only at organ patterns, but also at how different areas of the tongue reflect the body’s structure. This system also explores personality traits and changes during pregnancy, making it both clinically useful and engaging. I later attended online lectures on Yin’s Tongue Diagnosis and studied the related materials independently. this learning has helped me make clearer and more accurate pattern differentiation, allowing my acupuncture treatments to be more targeted. It covers a wide range of conditions, including skin disorders, oncology-related presentations, mental health patterns, and joint or limb problems. In practice, tongue observation often provides valuable insight even before a patient begins describing their symptoms.
In addition to the methods above, I regularly use local bloodletting techniques, which can be very effective for improving circulation, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. I also incorporate auricular (ear) acupressure and stimulation, which I commonly use for allergies, insomnia, headaches, stress management, and various internal conditions.
In my clinical work, I value taking the time to listen carefully to each patient and to understand their overall health, lifestyle, and concerns. Based on each individual’s condition, I also provide personalised dietary guidance and lifestyle or wellness advice to support overall health and long-term wellbeing. I commonly support patients with musculoskeletal pain, such as neck, shoulder, knee, and back pain, as well as stress-related conditions, sleep issues, migraines, digestive concerns, and women’s health and fertility-related conditions.