Acute angle-closure glaucoma is a serious, emergency condition that requires immediate surgical and drug treatment to reduce intraocular pressure and prevent blindness. While chronic open-angle glaucoma is of slow onset and can be asymptomatic, acute angle-closure glaucoma is characterized by rapid onset of eye pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache. The pupil can appear to be green, thus, the disease is referred to as lǜ fēng nèi zhàng (绿风内障, green wind internal obstruction) in Chinese medicine. Asian populations have a 10%-15% higher risk ¹ of developing acute angle-closure glaucoma and tend to have poorer outcomes and more complications than non-Asian populations. It constitutes one of the main causes of blindness. For this reason an integrative treatment protocol using Western and Chinese medicine is thought to be the most efcacious approach.

This condition is associated with distending pain in the head and eye, an enlarged, light green pupil and a sudden decrease in visual acuity. The onset can occur in one or both eyes and most frequently afects females over the age of 50. The onset is very rapid and the condition can be very severe. It requires immediate treatment; otherwise it can result in blindness.

In TCM, acute angle-closure glaucoma is usually due to liver stagnation transforming into fire, causing qi and fire to ascend. Other possible etiologies include exuberant fre heat in the liver and gallbladder with wind fre harassing the upper body, or dampness in the spleen generating phlegm, which, when congested, transforms into fre and further leads to phlegm-fre congestion. These all may result in disharmony of qi and blood and obstruction of the channels, causing a blockage in the eye chamber. Because fluid drainage is blocked, fluid retention occurs with increased pressure in the eye.