Abstract
Purpose :
A recent pilot study demonstrated that foot reflexology can temporarily lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in ocular hypertension (OHTN) patients, however this study lacked a control and a more robust study is necessary to confirm its effect. We performed a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial to see if a shoe insert could be designed to both duplicate the effects seen by foot reflexology in OHTN patients and lengthen the treatment effect beyond the 90-120 minute treatment effect suggested by the original pilot data. We also performed a pilot study to see if foot reflexology could lower IOP in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients.
Methods :
This is a pilot study in POAG patients undergoing selective laser trabeculoplasty and a prospective therapeutic trial in OHTN patients recruited from the Temple Ophthalmology clinic. OHTN patients underwent a one-month medication washout. POAG patients performed a 5-minute foot massage on a massage board. OHTN patients performed a 5-minute foot massage with 3D-printed shoe inserts (study insert) or sham inserts. IOP was checked by a masked investigator pre-massage and 5-, 30-, 60-, 90- and 120-minutes post-massage. On two separate days, OHTN patients wore either study inserts or sham inserts for the full day. IOP was measured at 8 AM before wearing the inserts and again at 4 PM.
Results :
For the 18 POAG patients, IOP significantly decreased after 5-minute foot massage by 1.9 mmHg (10.1%, p=0.02) and 3.1 mmHg (18.0%, p=0.01) in the right and left eyes compared to baseline. For the 12 OHTN patients, the 5-minute study insert massage significantly decreased IOP by 2.7 mmHg (12.3%, p=0.003) and 2.2 mmHg (10.2%, p=0.004) in the right and left eyes. The sham insert massage significantly decreased IOP by 1.9 mmHg (7.9%, p=0.03) in the right eye. The difference between the study inserts and sham inserts was not significant. During the all-day trial, IOP decreased 1.6 mmHg (7.1%) and 2.3 mmHg (10.3%) for the right and left eyes. Neither was significantly different from the sham.
Conclusions :
5-minute foot reflexology temporarily lowers IOP in some POAG and OHTN patients. The study insert did not lower IOP in OHTN patients more than the sham. Perhaps a different application of foot reflexology or a different version of the insert would be more effective and remains a topic for future research.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.