Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the effect of foot reflexology in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients and the effect of a shoe insert to perform continuous foot reflexology in ocular hypertensive (OHTN) patients.
Methods :
This is a prospective pilot study in glaucoma patients and a prospective therapeutic trial in ocular hypertensive patients. Patients were recruited from the Temple Ophthalmology outpatient clinic. Open-angle glaucoma patients were recruited from those about to have selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) for additional intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering. OHTN patients were recruited from the clinic. The glaucoma patients performed a 5-minute foot massage on a foot massage board (Figure 1) and the IOP was checked pre-massage, post-massage and 30, 60, 90 and 120 min post massage. OHTN patients underwent a one-month drop washout and then performed a 5-minute massage using a 3D-printed shoe insert (Figure 2) with the identical pressure checks. They then were randomly assigned to wear the shoe insert or a sham insert for one day. IOP was checked before inserting the insert and at the end of the day. The number of steps was recorded each day.
Results :
For the glaucoma patients, after the 5-minute foot massage, the IOP significantly decreased up to 10% at 30, 90 and 120 min after massage in the right eye and up to 23% at all time points in the left. For the OHTN patients, IOP significantly decreased 6-13% in both eyes at all time points. For the shoe insert, there was a significant reduction in IOP of 10% for the left eye IOP but not the right eye at 6%. Two OHTN patients did not respond to the all-day shoe insert when they had responded to the 5-minute massage and one patient didn’t respond at all.
Conclusions :
Foot reflexology significantly lowers IOP in both glaucoma and OHTN patients. The use of this shoe insert to try and replicate the foot massage had promising, but somewhat inconsistent results. A different shoe insert might be better able to replicate the effect of the massage.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.