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Several practitioners are using acupuncture to treat AMD and are reporting some success with individual patients. They theorize that needles placed at certain points release energy to the liver. (In traditional Chinese medicine, the liver and gallbladder are thought to control the eyes.) The energy supposedly improves the function of the liver and thereby increases the blood supply to the retina. In some treatments, acupuncture is combined with microcurrent stimulation and vitamin supplementation.

This idea of increasing blood supply (and therefore oxygen) to the retina is an approach that is being studied by others. Accomplishing it through acupuncture is a relatively new approach. We will only have confidence in this treatment when it has undergone rigorous controlled tests on a large number of patients. The art of acupuncture is certainly safe when used by a certified professional. Whether or not it helps fight AMD is still open to speculation and has not been proven.