Question: Helen writes, “What are the long term results of acupuncture for Retinitis Pigmentosa?”
Answer: Thanks for the question Helen!
Well, one of the good things of having practiced for a while now is that I have had many patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Ushers and other conditions. I’ll stick to RP because that’s the topic of this question.
It’s been about 10-12 years I’ve worked with some of my patients. a lot of them since teenagers, early 20’s; and now they’re into their 30’s. They’re supposed to be blind with seeing eye dogs or canes now and really visually impaired. However, they are quite functional and still driving which I am ecstatic about.
I have really seen a lot of vision preservation. Some people do dip and they go back and forth a little bit. I would say patients that I’ve worked with over time, 6-10, 12 years, are confirmed by their doctors. The doctor’s are just as surprised that they’ve actually maintained the vision with very little, if any, loss at all.
I’ve had patients who’ve dropped out of the treatment 10-11 years ago for about 4 or 5 years and they came back with some vision loss. We try to get some back but it does seem like those who kept with it really minimizes the vision loss. It’s pretty amazing.
Staying consistent seems to be the biggest long term benefit in terms of preserving that peripheral vision, the dark adaptation that people with RP experienced. Of course, the night vision as well.
Hope that helps Helen.
Your Turn
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