Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Ophthalmology Department

The Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Ophthalmology of Tianjin Eye Hospital was established in the 1960s and is one of the earliest hospitals among China’s ophthalmology specialty hospitals to establish an ophthalmology ward integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Through the efforts of several generations of colleagues, the department has applied integrated traditional Chinese and Western medical treatment to common ophthalmic diseases, such as eyelid diseases, dry eye syndrome, visual fatigue, keratoconjunctivitis, scleritis, macular diseases, retinal vascular diseases, etc., particularly to difficult ophthalmic diseases such as uveitis and optic neuropathies; it has summarized standards for integrated diagnosis and treatment, developed several effective proven formulas, and achieved significant results in clinical application. The department has 1 chief physician, 2 associate chief physicians, 4 attending physicians, and 1 retired physician rehired; among them are 1 doctoral student and 3 master’s students. The department has undertaken and completed 6 bureau-level traditional Chinese medicine research projects and published nearly 50 papers in core journals. In addition to completing the hospital’s clinical teaching tasks, the department will subsequently undertake ophthalmology teaching at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In addition, department personnel actively participate in free medical consultation activities, disseminate ophthalmic health knowledge, and provide guidance on the prevention and care of eye diseases. Following the treatment principle of placing equal emphasis on traditional Chinese and Western medicine and using acupuncture and medication together, the department has achieved good treatment results and won the recognition of the majority of patients with eye diseases. Department specialties At present, the department provides an integrated traditional Chinese and Western ophthalmology outpatient clinic, an acupuncture and physiotherapy outpatient clinic, and a traditional Chinese ophthalmology ward. Over the past nearly 10 years, the department has developed rapidly in medical care, education, and research and has introduced multiple physiotherapy techniques, including “Chinese herbal acupoint application treatment,” “medication compression nebulization treatment,” “Chinese herbal fumigation treatment,” “wet compress treatment,” “periocular acupoint massage,” “helium-neon laser,” and “iontophoresis.” Acupuncture treatment Acupuncture treatment is a key program of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has a long history and outstanding efficacy and combines ocular acupuncture with micro-needle acupuncture to treat paralytic strabismus, ptosis, optic atrophy, eye fatigue, the prevention and control of myopia in adolescents and children, convergence insufficiency, blepharospasm, etc. Nebulization treatment Ocular-surface nebulization treatment uses an air-jet nebulization method to effectively convert the medicinal solution into droplets approximately 500 micrometers in diameter. Patients experience comfort, the treatment can be sustained, and drug absorption is better; it has good efficacy for various ocular-surface inflammations, allergies, dry eye, eye fatigue, etc. Massage therapy Massage therapy for the periocular region, head and face, and neck and shoulders is effective for ocular ischemic syndrome caused by cervical spondylosis, eye fatigue, etc., blepharospasm, periorbital neuralgia, convergence dysfunction, the prevention and control of myopia in children, etc.; the treatment process is comfortable and noninvasive and has received unanimous praise from patients. Chinese herbal fumigation treatment Chinese herbal fumigation treatment is a therapy that heats a traditional Chinese herbal decoction to produce Chinese herbal steam and has a warming effect. Its temperature is moderate; for conditions including meibomian gland dysfunction, viral keratoconjunctivitis, iritis, blepharitis, chalazion, and mite infection of the eyelid margin, it is used before meibomian gland unblocking treatment to promote meibomian gland unblocking. Chinese herbal acupoint application treatment Chinese herbal acupoint application technology is widely used. The Chinese herbal extract is carefully compounded by our hospital’s pharmacy department, and the medicinal prescription decoctions have been used clinically for many years. Used together with a medical cold-compress patch, the medicine penetrates through the skin pores, allowing its therapeutic effect to reach the acupoints directly; it is effective for eye fatigue, the prevention and control of myopia in adolescents and children, eyelid dermatitis, acute and chronic dacryoadenitis, dacryocystitis, blepharitis, etc. Iontophoresis treatment Iontophoresis treatment is a method of treating eye diseases in which direct current is used to introduce drug ions through the periocular skin. It is mainly used to treat uveitis, optic nerve diseases, severe vitreous opacity, etc. Helium-neon laser treatment Helium-neon laser has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and vasodilatory effects and is mainly used to treat meibomian gland inflammation, optic nerve diseases, etc.