Both the eye and brain are involved in eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve disorders, etc. In these diseases, not only are there blind spots and areas of normal vision but there are many areas of partial vision, or “residual vision.” According to psychologist Dr. Bernhard Sabel, Ph.D., by electrically stimulating nerve cells in the eye and brain, these residual areas “have the greatest potential for improvement.”

Dr. Sabel, a psychologist, founder of Sabel Vision Restoration Center (SAVIR), and head of the Institute of Medical Psychology at Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg in Germany, uses a technique known as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), also called microcurrent therapy, to restore vision in patients with various eye diseases.

What Is Microcurrent Therapy?

During a tACS session, your eye and brain are given very small, nearly imperceptible pulses of electricity through electrodes attached to the eye. The current travels through the retina, along the optic nerve, and then into the brain. You would undergo about 10 days of treatment. 

The therapy works mainly by enlarging blood vessels to increase blood supply to the inactive cells. With more oxygen and glucose (blood sugar), the cells can regain normal function and your vision can be recovered.

Microcurrent therapy also helps the brain to process visual information from the retina more effectively. With less blurriness, you can see more clearly and read more easily. Exactly how tACS accomplishes this is not fully understood.

Potential Side Effects

Sabel says the treatment has “very little” side effects, and no serious adverse effects have ever been reported by either his patients or those of his colleagues. In rare instances, some patients have reported mild:

• Headaches, which usually go away after a short time, and/or
• Tiredness

Aside from that, Sabel asserts, “there are no risks of this therapy.”

What to Expect from Treatment

Visual field improvement

In published studies, Sabel has documented improvement in patients’ visual field, or the total area you’re able to see when looking straight ahead (including side or peripheral vision). 

After the course of treatment, he has seen the size of a patient’s overall visual field increase by an average of roughly 25%. More specifically, he’s seen improvement in about 60% of the impaired visual area.

Better quality of life

How this treatment may benefit patients’ everyday lives can vary. You might experience:

• Visual field enhancement
• Clearer, less blurry vision
• Improved reading (independent of glasses)
• Feeling safer walking on uneven surfaces or unfamiliar ground
• Reduced glare and light sensitivity
• Seeing better at a distance

According to statistics, about 80% of patients report some kind of subjective improvement, while the remaining 20% experience barely noticeable changes or none at all.

‘Do Not Get Discouraged’

Improving vision is possible in diseases like glaucoma, optic nerve damage, and even brain damage after stroke or trauma, says Sabel. It’s better to focus on optimizing residual vision than on what you can’t do. People should not get discouraged by the current thinking that vision loss is permanent, he advises. “There is more light at the end of the tunnel.” 

*Sabel, B. (2020, October 15). Vision Loss and Restoration – Microcurrent Therapy (tACS) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL30if4OPH8