When the symptoms of presbyopia appear, it means that the body has started aging. However, more and more people in their 30s are getting presbyopia early. Fortunately, there are some ways to protect your eyes and fight aging.
It is very common for people with presbyopia to have to hold things farther away in order to see them clearly. In addition, blurred vision and painful and swollen eyes may also be symptoms of presbyopia.
Dr. Wan Jung Wu, director of Rui Ming Chinese Medical Clinic, explained that when the eye’s crystalline lens and ciliary muscle, which are responsible for accommodation for viewing objects, start to age due to overuse, their function will deteriorate.
The initial manifestation is that when the patient’s eyes switch focus between far and near vision, there will be a momentary blurring of vision.
“This poor adjustment means that the eyes are deteriorating,” she said.
In the early stages of presbyopia, blinking can restore the eyes’ adjustment function to normal. In the later stages, it becomes difficult to see near objects clearly. In more severe cases, the area between the patient’s eyebrows becomes sore, the eye sockets easily become swollen and painful, and the intraocular pressure becomes greater. The patient may even have headaches, nausea, and the urge to vomit. This is because as the ciliary muscles’ adjustment function becomes poor, they’re required to work harder to see things, thus resulting in increased intraocular pressure and ensuing headaches.
Usually, presbyopia occurs slowly after the age of 40. However, in Dr. Wu’s clinic, there have been more and more patients in their 30s.
These young patients not only report eye problems, but also have a dull complexion, hair loss tendency, gray hair and/or dry hair. Dr. Wu pointed out that when presbyopia appears early, it means that the body is also aging early. In traditional Chinese medicine terms, this is because the vital essence and qi of the body’s internal organs gather in the eyes, and eye degeneration will affect the qi and essence of these internal organs. In particular, the liver and eyes are very closely connected, so when the liver blood is insufficient, not only will the eyes not see clearly, but it will also affect the patient’s face complexion and hair.
Dr. Wu believes that modern people’s excessive use of electronic devices such as cell phones and computers, coupled with the stress of life and work, weakens the liver’s function to regulate qi and blood drainage, resulting in premature aging. In addition, according to the theory of “liver and kidney sharing the same origin” in traditional Chinese medicine, the vitality of liver blood depends on the kidney essence, and insufficient liver blood will also accelerate the loss of kidney essence. Therefore, in the treatment of presbyopia, both liver and kidneys should be improved.
Sleeping at the Right Time Helps Repair the Eyes
To prevent and improve presbyopia, we must first change our habit of using eyes and avoid overexerting our eyes.
The ideal approach is to let your eyes rest for 5 to 10 minutes after every 30 minutes of eye use. When resting, you can close your eyes for one minute and rotate your eyeballs in circular motion to relax your eye muscles.
When resting, you can also massage the periocular acupuncture points, including Jingming（UB-1）Point, Zanzhu（UB-2） Point, Yuyao（EX-HN-6） Point, Sizhukong（SJ-23） Point, Tongziliao（GB-1） Point and Chengqi（ST-1） Point.
Dr. Wu recommended using the finger joints to press the above six acupuncture points at fixed times. We can massage each point in small circles for 5 to 10 seconds, and press them for three rounds when resting. If you can’t remember these individual acupuncture points, you can also use your knuckles to press around the orbital bones to help relax both eyes.
Maintaining a good routine is also important for the health of your eyes.
You should protect your eyes by nourishing your liver first, and specifically, by going to bed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. every night. According to Dr. Wu, the circulation of qi and blood in the eyes is mostly controlled by the liver and bile meridians, which both circulate between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.
“Sleeping during this time is good for your eyes’ repair,” she said.
If you have insomnia, you should resolve this problem early. Otherwise, you may experience premature aging.
2 Tea Recipes to Improve Kidney Deficiency and Delay Aging
The main purpose of dietary therapy for presbyopia is to improve kidney deficiency. Therefore, you can eat these dark-colored foods to nourish your kidneys, such as black beans, black sesame seeds, mulberries, blueberries, and walnuts.
You can also eat foods containing vitamins A and B, such as non-GMO soy products, green vegetables, carrots, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
Dr. Wu pointed out that since people nowadays often stay up late and overuse their eyes, most of them have a kidney yin deficiency. Therefore, it is recommended to eat some nourishing foods, such as yams, and mushrooms like jelly ear fungi and silver ear fungi, which can help improve dry eyes and eye fatigue, and slow down the aging process.
Kidney yin deficiency is a state of body that presents as night sweating, dry mouth and throat at night, lower back aches, aches in bones, burning sensation in the palmar and/or sole, red tongue without coating, and rapid and thin pulse
Kidney yang deficiency is a state of body presenting as lower back aches, cold knees, a sensation of cold in the back, a feeling of cold in general, tiredness, lassitude, abundant clear or scanty clear urination, urination at night, loose stools, easily depressed, pale tongue, and deep and weak pulse.
She also reminded us that foods that nourish yin are mostly cold, so people who are prone to diarrhea should not eat too much of them. For example, for such people, consuming one bowl of jelly ear fungus dew a day is sufficient, and two bowls at most.
In addition to diet, there are also herbal teas that can be used as part of a regular dietary regimen. Presbyopia patients can be roughly divided into two types: the ones with kidney yin deficiency and the ones with kidney yang deficiency.
Patients with kidney yin deficiency will experience symptoms of “dryness-heat,” such as having dry and hard stools, poor sleep quality, excessive dreaming, stinging sensation in the eyes, and a slight fever. This type of patients can drink the following tea to cleanse their livers and brighten their eyes:
Ingredients:
- 10 grams of mulberry leaves
- 10 grams of dried chrysanthemum flowers
- 15 grams of monkeygrass (Ophiopogon or Mondo Grass)
- 10 grams of dried Cassia seed
Patients with kidney yang deficiency are prone to coldness, dry eyes and fatigue, so they should drink the Goji berry and Chrysanthemum Tea below.
Ingredients:
- 10 grams of dried chrysanthemum flowers
- 15 grams of goji berries (also known as Chinese wolfberries)
- 15 grams of monkeygrass (Ophiopogon or Mondo Grass)
- 10 grams of Mongolian milkvetch
Method of preparation for both teas:
- Heat 1 liter of water to a boil.
- Put all the herbal ingredients into the boiling water, and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes with low heat.
- Then turn off the heat, let the tea cool, and serve.
A daily intake of one liter of one of these teas is sufficient. It is recommended to drink it all during the day to avoid it affecting sleep quality at night.
Dr. Wu reminded us that if someone has poor spleen and stomach conditions, such as flatulence after meals and a tendency to have diarrhea easily, he or she should hurry to cure these conditions first. The only way to restore the body to normal is to regulate the spleen and stomach first, so that their absorption function can be improved. Therefore, the kidney essence, which is part of the innate qi, can be replenished through diet.
Epoch Health articles are for informational purposes and are not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Please consult a trusted professional for personal medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment. Have a question? Email us at AskADoctor@epochtimes.nyc
