Written By Jun Heo (許浚, 1539~1615), translated by Namil Kim, Wung Seok Cha et al. Published by Ministry of Health & Welfare (Korea)
13 External Eye Diseases 外障 외장
① An external eye disease is a disease of lungs.
② An external eye disease is a sickness in which the exterior of the eye is covered and the vision is obstructed.
③ It is said in the Divine Pivot (靈樞), “In diagnosing a sickness of the eyes, the sickness of which red veins descend is the disease of Taiyang; of which they ascend is the disease of Yangmyung; of which they flow inward is the disease of Shaoyang.
④ When the nebula of the red veins descend, it is Taiyang. Taiyang is in charge of the exterior; therefore, the eyebrow bone and the back of the head and neck hurt, and half of the head gets swollen and painful. The treatment is keeping warm and scattering the qi. When it is kept warm, use a Cured Tea Drink and when it is scattered, use Prunella Powder, and a Amazing Choice Decoction and such.
⑤ When the nebula of red veins ascend or flow laterally, they are all Yangmyung. It is in charge of the interior of the body; therefore, it is not hard to find out that there is heat or feces inside. The treatment is inducing diarrhea or keeping cold. For inducing diarrhea, use a Drink to Circulate Qi and Brighten the Eyes, Drain Green Pill or Imperial Warm White Formula added with Coptidis Rhizoma (黃連) and Phellodendri Cortex (黃柏). It was used on several occasions and showed to be effective everytime. When it needs to be cooled, use 1 branch of Coptidis Rhizoma (黃連) or use medicines such as a Cool Liver Formula.
⑥ When the nebula of red veins flows from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner, it is Shaoyang. Shaoyang is in charge of half of the exterior and half of the interior. The treatment is reconciling them. A Spiritual Immortal Pill to Remove Nebula must be used.
⑦ There are many kinds of external eye disease, such as accumulated heat of liver, Cloudy pupils, Pterygium, Symblepharon, Nebula covering the pupil, Deep rooted nail nebula, Bead like black nebula, Flower nebula with white spots, Nebula with deep blue scars, Jade-colored floating nebula, Favorable/unfavorable nebula, Nebula that resembles the crown of a chicken or a clam, Follicles like millet on the palpebral conjunctiva, Nonulcerative blepharitis, Dacryocystitis, Crab-like protruding eyes, Redness and pain in the eyes with exophthalmos, Hemiplegia due to wind pathogen, Trichiasis and entropion, Ectropion, Spirit-induced pain, Nebula risen sharply like a mud snail, Exophthalmos, Rolled-over spinner, Impact on the eye, Nebula formation due to eye damage, Bloody pupil, Difficulty in opening the eyes due to threadlike flying dust, Epidemic eye disease, Nebula Formation After Reddish Eyes, Innate red and itchy eyes, Red sore induced by pathogenic wind, Lacrimation while exposure to the wind, Entrance of heat induced by sudden pathogenic wind, Stiffened eyelids and painful pupils, Stabbing Pain As If Being Poked by an Acupuncture Needle, Difficulty in closing the eyes because of extreme itchiness, Dry and rough eyes, Ascending yellow membrane, Drooping of red membrane, Hyperemia in Infants, Hordeolum, Strabismus in infants, Flab Formation in an Infant, Bluish Blindness in Children.
13-1 Accumulated Heat of Liver 肝臟積熱 간장적열
① The eyes turn red, painful and swell. Light is shunned and they keep getting teary. It also feels too rough to open they eyes, and a nebula is suddenly formed, which makes one eye blinded and later both eyes blinded. This is caused by the accumulation of heat in the liver. Powder of Haliotidis Concha must be used.
② When eyes get swollen due to wind-eye, they are macerated; when eyes get swollen from heat-eyes, they are hard.
③ The reason for the eyes to become red and painful is because of excess heat of the liver.
④ When eyes are red and swollen, and feet are cold, washing the feet in warm water is effective.
⑤ When wind-heat invades the liver, prescriptions such as Remove Cloud Powder, Imperial Grace Buddlejae Flos Powder, Cicada and Buddleia Powder, Cleanse Liver to Brighten Vision Decoction, Scatter Heat Pill must be used.
⑥ When there is accumulated heat in the liver, Cleanse Liver Powder ‧ Drain the Liver Powder ‧ Drain Green Pill ․ Bupleurum Decoction ․ Four Substances and Gentian Decoction should be used. Otherwise wash with Blister Burn Powder.
13-2 Cloudy Pupils 混睛 혼정
The white part of the eye is red at first, then later gets itchy and painful, and also gets teary. Also, the eyes tend to be closed and feel rough. They become hard to open. A few years later, the eyes turns blue and what looks like clotted oil covers the eyes. Red veins will also appear. Rehmannia Powder must be used.
13-3 Pterygium 努肉攀睛 노육반정
① It appears when the eyes had been red and swollen for a few years and then were attacked by wind-heat in the liver meridian. Also, it appears when one overworks oneself. It gets itchy or painful, and flesh starts to grow in the inner sides of the eyes. The mind is not comfortable, worries come endlessly, and they finally invade the eyes. Rhubarb and Scutellaria Powder and a Relieve Heart Formula must be used.
② The reasong why pterygium appears in the inner and outer corners of the eyes is because the heat of the heart makes blood exuberant.
③ Pterygium is caused by heat in the heart.
④ Red flesh in the inner sides of the eyes is caused by excess-heat of the heart meridian; red veins swelling out in the outer sides of the eyes is caused by deficient-heat of the heart meridian.
⑤ When pterygium appears, Rapid Effect Powder must be used.
⑥ To treat encroachment of pterygium to the cornea by washing, Angelica Gigantis Radix (當歸) (fine roots), Schizonepetae Spica (荊芥穗), Coptidis Rhizoma (黃連), Saposhnikoviae Radix (防風), Menthae Herba (薄荷), Mirabilitum (朴硝) and Borax (鵬砂) are cut in the same amounts, decocted, and warmed to wash the area. ⑦ These are all effective: putting soaked Coptidis Rhizoma (黃連) in pear juice; a mixture of breast milk, after giving birth to a son for the first time, and the feces of a male sparrow. Putting them in the eyes are effective.
13-4 Symblepharon 兩瞼粘睛 양검점정
① It is redness and ulceration of the lid margin. It refers to eyes that have been red, swollen, itchy, painful and macerated for a long time.
② It is the chronic symptom of eyes turning red and swollen. It is called red one-eye among the common folks. It is cured by poking the outer boundaries of eyes with bladed acupuncture to remove dampness-heat.
③ Redness and ulceration of the lid margin are caused by pathogenic wind ascending up to the eye system. It is the result of accumulated heat in the chest and an invasion of anger while eating; these two are piled up for a long time to cause the symptoms. The abscess around the eyes pops and swells, and a thin string-like worm emerge in the area; it does not heal for many years and gets very itchy. Put a Revive the Eyeballs Purple Gold Elixir on the area with silver linchpin. The itchiness is completely cured only when the worm is removed. Apply Ledebouriella Sagely Unblocking Powder without Rhei Radix et Rhizoma (大黃) and Natrii Sulfas (芒硝) and grind into powder. Mix this in alcohol, dry it under the sunlight, and take the medicine according to the right doses. Do not eat greasy food.
④ Dip a small amount of Smithsonite Powder and apply it on the eyes, or wash the eyes with Expel Wind Powder and a Grand Replicate Brightness Decoction.
⑤ Sagely Herbs Powder must be used to remove parasites in the eyes.
⑥ If both eyes of an infant are red and swollen, and do not heal even at the age of 3 or 4, Eliminate Wind Powder mixed in a decoction of Mori Cortex (桑白皮) must be used.
13-5 Nebula Covering the Pupil 膜入水輪 막입수륜
The scar of a sore on the black of the eye that was in the process of healing that did not completely disappear but instead invaded the pupil. It does not blind the eye, but it isn’t cured easily.
13-6 Deep-rooted Nail Nebula 釘瞖根深 정예근심
① The eyes are painful due to heat in the heart and liver. The nebula is chronic and looks like silver nails on the black of the eye. It is incurable.
② It is called nail nebula because a nebula that looks like a head of a silver nail appear on the eyes. A small amount of Powder of Haliotidis Concha must be dropped on the eyes.
13-7 Bead-like Black Nebula 黑瞖如珠 흑예여주
The pupils are covered with black bean-like objects, and are painful and teary. Any eye-drops must not be used. It is caused by wind-heat when the kidneys are already deficient. Antelope Horn Powder must be taken first and then a Tonify the kidneys Formula must be taken.
13-8 Flower Nebula With White Spots 花瞖白陷 화예백함
① It is a white nebula covering the pupils with flower-like or scale-like spots around. It is caused by accumulated heat in the liver and lungs. Wear and Tear of the Eyes Paste must be dipped and dropped in the area, and Antelope Horn Powder must be taken.
② The flower nebula is a white nebula on the eyes that is in shape of accumulated jujube flowers or fish scales. Borneol Powder must be dropped into the eyes.
13-9 Nebula With Deep Blue Scars 水瑕深瞖 수하심예
Transverse blue scars are embedded deep in the pupil causing pain frequently. It is caused by all of the five viscera being invaded by heat. Clear Cold Powder must be taken.
13-10 Jade-colored Floating Nebula 玉瞖浮滿 옥예부만
It is a jade-colored nebula floating in the black of an eye. It does not cause pain, and the root of the nebula is not red. It must not be treated with acupuncture, and it must not be removed. It must be treated by taking Powder to Restore Clarity or dropping Wear and Tear of the Eyes Paste into the eyes.
13-11 Favorable/Unfavorable Nebula 順逆生瞖 순역생예
When a nebula starts to grow upwards, it is a favorable pattern; if it starts to grow downwards, it is an unfavorable pattern. A favorable pattern heals easily, but an unfavorable pattern does not heal well. Plantain Powder must be taken and Wear and Tear of the Eyes Paste must be dropped into the eyes.
13-12 Nebula That Resembles the Crown of a Chicken or a Clam 雞冠蜆肉 계관현육
① It is a nebula inside the eyelids in shape of a crown of a chicken or a clam. The color is blue or black. The eyelids must be flipped to detect it, but they are hard to flip and very painful. The eyes cannot withstand the light well. This is the result of heat invading the spleen meridian and being passed on to the eyes. Powder of Haliotidis Concha must be taken.
② The reason why the nebula in the shape of a crown of a chicken or the flesh of a clam has formed inside the eyelids is because wind-heat is in the spleen meridian. The eyelids must be flipped and the nebula must be removed carefully and lightly everyday with Gentianae Radix (觀音草). When it bleeds, stop bleeding by gently pressing down with silver spoon that has been dipped in liquid-medicine that treats wind-toxin. After scratching it off, the occasional application of liquid medicine will prevent further swelling.
13-13 Follicles Like Millet on the Palpebral Conjunctiva 瞼生風粟 검생풍속
① Millet-like follicles appear on the upper and lower areas of both eyelids, getting bigger to be as big as a rice grain. It’s either red or white but the pain is not severe. This is caused by stagnated blood blocking the liver. A Eliminate Toxicity Drink must be used.
② Follicles like millet on the palpebral conjunctiva is also called millet-eye. The eye feels painful as if something has gone in. There are millet-like pterygium above and under the eyelids, causing tears and pain as if sand has gone in. In such a case, the eyelids must be turned inside out and acupuncture must be applied, followed by a concoction or powder prescription to scatter wind-heat.
③ The reason why there is a scabies-like spot in the gap between the upper and lower eyelids is because heat exists in the spleen. An Augmented Schizonopeta and Coptis Decoction must be used.
13-14 Nonulcerative Blepharitis 胞肉膠凝 포육교응
① A glue-like object is in the eyelids, causing it to swell as big as a peach or plum. Hot tears occasionally flow down. This is a wind-toxin invading in. Eliminate Wind Powder must be taken and a Flowers and Grasses Ingredients Paste must be externally applied. ② The reason why the upper and lower eyelids are swollen like a peach is because there is heat in the spleen. ③ The eyelids swell and stick together if one eats too much while having stagnated heat qi. ④ Antelope Horn Powder or an Cleanse Eyes Decoction must be used.
13-15 Dacryocystitis 漏睛膿出 누정농출
① Pus flows out from the sore that’s been formed at the end of the inner and outer canthus. However, there is no nebula or pain. This is caused because wind-heat has entered the eyelids while the mind was not calm. A Swallowwort Root Formula must be used.
② Wind-heat has entered the eyelids and inner and outer canthus, forming cellulite, whereupon fluid and humor invade. Pus continuously flows out and hence it’s called eye leaking among common folks. Alternatively, eye leaking could also refer to a sore in the eye causing blood-pus to form and pus flowing out from the inner canthus. If this does not get treated early and becomes chronic, black spots will appear in the eye and the eye will be damaged. It will then be hard to cure. Eye drops such as Astragalus Powder must be used.
