Non-pharmacological therapies for primary open angle glaucoma: A quasi-experimental pilot study

Purpose: One of the major causes of blindness is Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and it has only surgical treatment and lifelong use of medication. Hence many side effects arise. To overcome this, the drugless approach is in practice but the importance of Muscle Energy Technique (MET) and Myofacial (MFR) Release is not explored. Hence, our objective was to determine the effectiveness of MET and MFR on POAG. Methods: A total of 12 patients with POAG were recruited from the tertiary care teaching hospital through criteria based convenience sampling for the study. But nine patients with POAG completed the study. The age of the patient with POAG ranges from 15 to 30 years. MET and MFR were given to the patient for 30 min/day, six days/week for three weeks. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was assessed with Tonometer as dependent variable by Ophthalmologist. Pre and post treatment IOP change was established. Result: Pre IOP and Post are 23.1 ± 1.9 mmHg and Post IOP is 20 ± 1.4 mmHg respectively. The mean pre-post difference is 3.1 ± 1.9 mmHg with significance difference of p = 0.002. Conclusion: MET and MFR reduce IOP. This proves to be one of the feasible and cost effective treatments in the management of POAG. Clinical Trial Registry: CTRI/2014/09/4986.