Healing Your Eyes with Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture, Acupressure, & Chinese Herbs (Paperback)

by Andy Rosenfarb (Author), Marc Grossman (Foreword)
Key Phrases: healing your eyes, chinese medicine, internal qigong, Left Eye, Treatment Principles, Vision Field Scan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“As an optometrist for more than twenty-five years, I see Andy Rosenfarb as one of the emerging leaders in complementary and innovative approaches to vision care. His zest for integrating the ancient traditions of eye care with modern scientific knowledge of the body is a great contribution to the paradigm of twenty-first-century vision care.”
—Marc Grossman, OD, LAc, from the foreword

“Andy Rosenfarb’s inquiring mind and tenacity in refining his techniques come together in this incredible book to provide a service both to patients and the medical profession. A summary of current research and new clinical techniques, Healing Your Eyes with Chinese Medicine emphasizes the practical and useful—what helps people of all ages see better. This is an important book.”
—Greg Bantick, Senior lecturer, Australian College of Natural Medicine, Brisbane, Australia

Product Description
For the past ten years, Andy Rosenfarb has successfully used acupuncture and Chinese medicine to treat a wide range of eye conditions. His treatments include moxibustion techniques, tuina (massage), microcurrent stimulation, Chinese herbs, and qigong exercises, along with “essential acupuncture” where essential oils are placed on acupuncture points. The culmination of his work—which includes a recent pioneering study involving metabolic testing–is this handbook for healing the kinds of conditions too often considered almost impossibly challenging or irreversible.

The first half of Healing Your Eyes with Chinese Medicine explains Traditional Chinese Medicine and its perspective on the eyes, which is based on the idea that the eyes and the brain work in tandem, not isolation. The second half focuses on proven methods derived from Rosenfarb’s practice, including nutritional, supplemental, and lifestyle adjustments. Individual chapters cover eye disorders such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and many more. This book is intended as a practical manual to help readers understand their eyes and vision more comprehensively, and to learn new, affordable ways for retaining the precious gift of sight.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books; 1 edition (June 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556436629
• ISBN-13: 978-1556436628
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #149,320 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had read this book in acupuncture school...., July 22, 2007

By	Ken Andes (Suffern, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Another reviewer wrote that this book is not geared towards practitioners, I disagree as I was able to immediately use much of the information in my clinic.

I graduated from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in 2002 and have been fortunate to operate an extremely busy Chinese Medicine practice since early 2003. I also participate in NIH funded research on Chinese Medicine through UMDNJ (University of Medicine and Dentistry, NJ). Over 90% of my patients are "medical throw-aways" who come to Chinese Medicine as a last resort after conventional medicine has failed. A significant percentage of these patients have been those with degenerative eye disorders.

After reading Andy's book on eye and vision disorders, I feel that this book should be a required text in modern acupuncture schools. When I was in school there were no books devoted to the exclusive practice of Chinese opthamology within a modern clinical setting. What little material I read on Chinese opthamology was isolated to theory and pattern discrimination...and of limited help in real world practice. If I had read this book four years ago when I started my practice, I would have had a greater success rate with my opthamology patients.

The information in this book reveals why Andy is considered by other acupuncturists to be a leading authority on traditional Chinese opthamology. This book is clearly a labor of love as he gives away many of the "secrets" that he has learned from specializing in eye disorders for the past 10 years. Any acupuncturist looking to specialize in eye disorders needs to read this book. There is a detailed explanation of Chinese meridian theory and how each elemental pair relates to treating certain eye disorders, and even after years of working as a professional acupuncturist I was able to find new information in this section. Yet what makes this book different from conventional text books is the conversational style of teaching that the author has, and the large amount of "real world" information presented that is only available from someone who has experienced plenty of success (as well as early failures) in his field.

For example, the book integrates Western and Eastern medical theories by breaking down the different part of the eye into their five element classifications (ie: sclera=metal, macula=water) and how specific western diagnoses of eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration can be treated using traditional zhang-fu and meridian theory. His categorization of various opthamological diseases into five-element theory is then used to explain how the most common Chinese herbal formulas can be used to treat different disorders such as diabetic retinopathy and myopia. Additionally, there is information on the use of self-care exercises for the eyes, a unique explanation of essential oil therapy using Chinese theories, micro-current stimulation, and an explanation of how modern visual acuity tests can be integrated into a Chinese Medicine practice. Most of the above information I have not found in other texts.

As an acupuncturist I found this book to be a goldmine of clinical information for my practice. But if you are suffering from degenerative vision loss and are looking for alternative treatments, I feel that this book would be an excellent start to learn more about natural methods for healing the eyes. I have treated many patients with degenerative eye disorders and I know how terrifying the experience can be...but there is hope if you remain persistent in your search and keep an open mind. Knowledge and understanding will always overcome fear, and this book will give you a new level of understanding if you suffer from vision loss. Admittedly, there may be some parts of the book that might be difficult for the lay person to understand. The information has not been watered down and the author assumes that you have an intense interest in the subject. You will have to read the theory section in the first few chapters several times to be able to understand the more detailed information in the second half of the book, but this is to be expected as Chinese Medicine is a vast subject that takes many years to grasp.

Bottom line: Highly recommended for both clinicians and patients. Five Stars!!!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for patients and practitioners alike, July 11, 2007

By	C. DiStefano "office_books" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is written in a way that both patients and practitioners alike will be able to get a lot out of it. The layout is clear, and it is very readable.

I was drawn into the book from the beginning. Even though I am very well acquainted with the basics of Chinese medicine and the organ functions, they are presented an a different context in this book. Everything is given within the context of the eyes and eye diseases. This allowed me to take the knowledge that I had on treatment principles in general, and apply it to eye patterns.

Perhaps the most outstanding aspect of the book is the holistic approach presented to working on eye diseases. There is information on lifestyle, eye exercises, qigong, herbs, acupressure, acupuncture, essential oils, magnets, and moxibustion. All of this information can be used by practitioners to improve their ability to treat eye problems. More importantly, it is written in a way that the patient can go home and do eye exercises, qigong, acupressure, or any of the other home treatment modalities presented in this book to further their eye health.

Overall an excellent book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have Book for Practitioners, July 10, 2007

By	E. Goldschmidt (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book helped to fill the gap of this specialty. Andy gave descriptions of terms I have never heard of before that allowed me to appreciate it even more instead of hearing all the same 'ole boring descriptions/definitions that many others use or copy from other books.

The chapters were well organized and well suited for the beginner who wants to understand the organ functions pertaining to Chinese medicine and how a practitioner will treat eye disorders.

I now know what "snail-shell moxa" is by the pictures in the book.

Relating the western diagnosis to Chinese medical terms make this book useful and important to the practitioner as well as the authors own clinical experience he shares in this book.

I think anyone interested in vision health whether you are a practitioner or layperson will greatly benefit from this book.