I always thought diminished eyesight was permanent until my last year of acupuncture school. Under the guidance of Kiiko Matsumoto, the world renowned acupuncturist, my clinic team and I worked on a 54 year old man who had lost most of the sight in his left eye from scarring on the optic nerve due to an eye stroke. He came in to be treated by her for our grand rounds where students observe master practitioners at work. She recommended that he come to the student clinic and be treated. I was one of the team of three who treated him.
We asked Mark (I use his real name with his permission) if he would mind having a visual acuity test with his ophthalmologist before working with us and after. Over the course of a few months and 5 treatments later, the eyesight in his left eye improved 50%. It was an inspiring way to end my three years of acupuncture school and I graduated and took the National Boards with a real sense of confidence in the profession I was to embark on.
The reason I tell you this is not only encourage awareness in how acupuncture can help in unexpected ways, but to help open minds to look for unexpected directions in health and healing. Where there is life, there is hope. And where there is hope, seemingly impossible obstacles can be overcome.
Sometimes we can get rigid and narrow minded in our expectations of how we can heal. I am convinced that an open mind is a powerful tool in moving towards health, happiness and a true sense purpose in life.
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