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ConditionsEyes and vision

NAION (ischemic optic neuropathy)

For people after NAION, sometimes called a stroke of the optic nerve. Supportive care alongside your ophthalmologist and the physician managing your blood pressure, sleep and vascular risk.

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Read through

Two lenses, one plan

Wood 木 is the phase it is most often read through. Here the Western lens leads, with the classical lens alongside.

The Western lensAnatomy, physiology, biomechanics

A crowded disc and a drop in flow

The front of the optic nerve is fed by small branches of the posterior ciliary arteries. In NAION that supply is thought to dip, often during sleep when blood pressure falls, and a small, crowded optic disc leaves the swollen fibers no room.

Who is at risk
High blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol and a small disc are common threads. Some medicines are under study as possible contributors, and your doctor will review yours.
Arteritic versus non-arteritic
The arteritic form comes from inflammation of the arteries, giant cell arteritis, and needs steroids urgently. NAION is the non-inflammatory form.
After the event
Swelling settles over weeks and leaves a paler disc in the affected sector. The field loss that remains is usually stable, and attention turns to the other eye.

The classical lensChannels, patterns, the five phases

Sudden blindness, 暴盲

The classics group abrupt loss of sight under sudden blindness and read most cases as blood stasis blocking the vessels that supply the eye. Behind the sudden event they look for the slow ground it grew from.

The ground
Liver and Kidney depletion with age, qi too weak to move blood, or rising Liver yang in someone with high blood pressure are the usual backgrounds.
Moving blood carefully
Where stasis leads, a practitioner might consider a blood-moving formula such as Drive Out Stasis in the Mansion of Blood (Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, 血府逐瘀湯); where depletion leads, a nourishing one instead. Blood thinners are always checked first.

Patterns we often see

  • Qi stagnation with blood stasis qì zhì xuè yū 氣滯血瘀
  • Qi deficiency with blood stasis qì xū xuè yū 氣虛血瘀
  • Liver and Kidney deficiency gān shèn kuī xū 肝腎虧虛

Patterns are examples of how this is often read, never a diagnosis. Yours is read at your visit.

How we work: one plan

Visits combine M48 micro acupuncture with scalp acupuncture over the visual cortex, electro-stimulation when appropriate and Master Tung's points, plus a classical formula checked against every medication. Your physician manages blood pressure and sleep apnea, and your ophthalmologist stays your primary eye doctor.

Formulas here illustrate how pattern diagnosis shapes treatment. They are not recommendations; a practitioner selects and adjusts formulas for the individual.

What NAION is

Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) happens when blood flow to the head of the optic nerve drops for long enough to injure it. Most people notice it on waking: a painless dimming or loss of the upper or lower half of the view in one eye. It is more common after middle age and in people with high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea or a small, crowded optic disc.

There is no established treatment that restores sight once it has happened. Conventional care focuses on managing vascular risk factors, treating sleep apnea and reviewing medicines that may lower blood pressure at night.

Rule out the urgent version first

Sudden vision loss always needs same-day medical care. If you are over 50 and also have a new headache, scalp tenderness, pain in the jaw when chewing or feel unwell, tell the doctor straight away: that can be giant cell arteritis, the arteritic form, which is an emergency and is treated in hospital.

How we work with it

After NAION, visits combine M48 micro acupuncture for the optic nerve with scalp acupuncture over the visual cortex, electro-stimulation when appropriate and Master Tung's points. Because the classical reading centers on stasis, the formula often moves blood, which is why every blood thinner and blood pressure medicine you take is checked first. Night-time blood pressure and sleep are part of the conversation.

We follow the visual field and nerve scans your ophthalmologist takes, and what you notice day to day.

Questions people ask

How is NAION different from optic neuritis?

Both affect the optic nerve and can blur sight in one eye. NAION is a blood-flow problem, usually painless and often noticed on waking, while optic neuritis is inflammation and usually hurts when the eye moves. They are read and planned differently.

Can acupuncture bring back vision after NAION?

We cannot promise that. Research on acupuncture after NAION is limited, and lost nerve fibers do not regrow. Supportive care aims at the nerve tissue still working, at circulation and at the pattern behind the event.

Is there anything to do about the other eye?

Protecting the other eye is mostly about the risk factors your physician manages, such as blood pressure, blood sugar and sleep apnea. In classical terms the same pattern work that follows the first eye also looks after the whole picture.

From the journal

This is general wellness information, not medical advice.

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