Can traditional Chinese medicine treat myopia in children?

Generally, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can assist in improving children's pseudo-myopia, while for true myopia, it mainly helps control progression but rarely reverses the condition. If there are concerns, it is recommended to seek medical advice early. Specific analysis is as follows:

If a child has pseudo-myopia (temporary vision decline caused by ciliary muscle spasm), TCM may help relax the eye muscles and relieve visual fatigue through acupuncture, massage, acupoint application, and other methods. Combined with herbal medicine to regulate overall body condition, this approach may aid in restoring normal vision. However, these interventions must be combined with scientifically sound eye-use habits to maximize effectiveness and prevent pseudo-myopia from progressing to true myopia.

If a child has true myopia (organic change due to elongation of the ocular axis), TCM interventions primarily aim to slow the progression of myopia—for example, by improving ocular blood circulation through massage or enhancing nutritional supply to the eyes via herbal regulation—thereby reducing the rate of myopia progression. However, TCM cannot restore an elongated ocular axis to its normal length and cannot replace corrective methods such as glasses or orthokeratology lenses.

After detecting myopia in a child, it is essential to first consult a healthcare provider to distinguish between pseudo- and true myopia; if opting for TCM treatment, services should be sought from正规 medical institutions; daily supervision of proper eye-use posture, limiting screen time on electronic devices, and regular vision check-ups are also necessary.