Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable, irreversible blindness in the world. Various therapeutic strategies, including alternative and complementary medicine, have been used for the disease. In this research, we investigated the effect of accupuncture in glaucoma management.

27 patients with POAG were included. In addition to their routine treatment, included subjects received acupuncture treatmentin 17-points (for two sides of the body) for 12 sessions in 4 weeks (3 times a week, every other day).

The mean intraocular pressure over one week before treatment was 15.29 mm Hg. Mean intraocular pressure during one week and one month after acupuncture treatments were 13.81 and 14.44 mm Hg (a statistically significant reduction; p<0.05). In 2nd and 3rd month after the acupuncture treatments, IOP changes was not statistically significant.No long-term adverse effects were observed in this study for acupuncture techniques.Two-third of subjects reported a subjective improvement in their vision.

Accupunture resulted in a mild and trivial IOP reduction; however, considering its costs, required traind personal, and time-consuming nature, we believe that the current method and modality of acupuncture for glaucoma are not reasonable and economical.Further researches in this field are needed.