How Traditional Chinese Medicine Resolved My Aged-Related Macular Degeneration

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At age 73, I had been given the diagnosis of wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wet AMD) in the left eye, and cataracts had begun to form in both eyes. I would need cataract surgery to save my sight, but was told by my optometrist that I wasn’t eligible for this surgery as long as I had wet AMD.

This presented a formidable challenge, but I was up for it. I intended to research which treatments could truly resolve my issue of wet AMD. So, I compared both of what Western and Eastern medicine offered as healing approaches.

The traditional Western approach for wet AMD is an injection into the eye. This was strange to hear right from the start — an injection, an invasive therapy for the eyes. “How Neanderthal!” was my first thought. My second thought was, “No way would I do that to my body!”

A Western Medicine Specialist

I had a referral appointment with a retina specialist at one of the top five eye centers in the U.S. I figured this would be the best place to discover all of what Western medicine had to offer. Great start! The retina specialist explained the process and procedure his eye center initiates for wet AMD. A hole is poked into the eye to inject a medicine to stop blood from leaking from the tiny veins towards the back of the eye.

I asked if this is a one-shot treatment. He answered, “No, it’s a series. The first injection will last for 3-6 months, and the remaining injections are scheduled every 3-6 months for as long as it takes to clear up the wet AMD and its fluid leaks.”

I asked the specialist about the ingredients in the injection solution, but he could not tell me what those ingredients were, except that “they were deemed safe.” Without even any way to determine how long injections might be required, or knowledge about the injection ingredients, this was best treatment option being offered.

So, let’s speak in layman’s terms for easy comprehension:  Western medicine wants to puncture the eyeball with a needle, inject a serum that supposedly has safe ingredients, but those safe ingredients could have some very nasty side effects, like forming cataracts and hemorrhaging in the eye. And then, continue to have this procedure performed until they find a better therapy.

I advised the retina specialist that I would not be receiving the injections. He was in shock and insisted that wet AMD only gets worse, it never improves; it’s degenerative. I told him I would find a less invasive remedy.

The TCM Path

I was clear that I did not want to use the conventional Western medicine approach to heal my wet AMD. I had heard that some of the side effects of the treatments were equal to or worse than the malady I was seeking to resolve. In my experience, Western medicine does not seek to heal the person and root cause of any medical issue; it only addresses symptoms with a continuous consumption of pharmaceuticals that damage the liver, kidneys and other vital organs. I was determined not to take prescription drugs that had detrimental side effects!

I came to know about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) after I was previously diagnosed with liver and kidney issues. I found a TCM practitioner, and we agreed upon a 4-month protocol to heal and re-balance my liver and kidneys, which according to her, were the root cause of my bleeding wet AMD.

She shared that TCM is not a quick fix compared to prescription drugs, which will often get rid of symptoms by suppressing them. TCM, she explained, takes the entire body into consideration when treating a specific health issue: it addresses the root cause in order to balance the entire physical body. This was the approach I was looking for.

Within a few weeks I felt a big difference. New energy was flowing: I felt more vibrant and I was sleeping more deeply and restfully. All positive results and not one negative side effect from taking TCM herbs, unlike the endless list of negative side effects that accompany Western medical prescriptions.

There was still work to do however, towards balancing my liver and kidneys into optimum health. As I felt a difference within the first month of taking the herbal combination my TCM doctor supplied, I began to more fully comprehend that TCM takes time to work in balancing the body. It’s not the quick fix band-aid that prescription drugs offer.

Eyes Are The Mirror Of The Liver

I learned that according to TCM, “the eyes are the mirror of the liver,” which pointed to why my eyesight had begun to fail. Even though my liver lab results and findings had been improving, the wet AMD had actually started several months before I realized that ocular damage had occurred.

Working to dry up the fluid caused by wet AMD, my TCM practitioner compounded an effective combination of herbs that directly addressed the issues I was experiencing, treating both liver and eyes, and balancing my entire body.

In four months, my wet AMD had resolved. How do I know this? Partly because I began to notice differences in my eyesight. Additionally, I returned to the optometrist. He compared photo images of the wet AMD from August 2025 to the imaging four months later after taking TCM herbs.

The photo images from August 2025 explicitly showed a retina with leaked fluid causing wet AMD. Comparisons with November 2025 photos provided objective evidence of the changes. The eye doctor was amazed, and said that he had never seen wet AMD dry up before. He asked what I’d done, and I told him about the TCM herbs, as well as meditation and eye exercises that were recommended.

What Western medicine defined as incurable and irreversible with inevitable degeneration was resolved with Traditional Chinese Medicine with no side effects except great health. My eye health has been restored and my wet AMD is now gone. I am now eligible for cataract surgery!

Earl Valentovic loves connecting the dots, seeing how everything is in concert and in harmony with all of life. With interests in art, music, meditation, metaphysics and the art of creating beauty through bonsai, Earl loves nature and all it provides.

Find holistic Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in the Spirit of Change online Alternative Health Directory.

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