Objective To observe the effect of Lingnan fire needling combined with artificial tears in the treatment of xerophthalmia. Methods A total of 86 xerophthalmia patients were equally and randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The patients of both groups were received treatment with 0.1% sodium hyaluronate eye drops in their eyes 3 times a day

one drop in each eye. In addition

the patients of treatment group also treated by Lingnan fire needling on bilateral Shaoze(SI1)

Neichengqi and beside lacrimal puncta once a week. The treatment was conducted for 4 consecutive weeks. Before and after 4 weeks of treatment

the clinical efficacy

visual acuity

intraocular pressure

ocular symptom score

OSDI score

fluorescence staining(FL) score

schemer I

tear menisci height

tear film break-up time(BUT) and eye redness index were recorded and evaluated. Results After the treatment

self-comparison showed that the symptom score

OSDI score

FL score and eye redness index were significantly decreased(P<0.05)

and BUT was notably increased in both groups(P<0.05) in comparison with their own pre-treatment. The tear menisci height in the treatment group was higher than that before the treatment(P<0.05). Comparison between the two groups showed that the symptom score

OSDI score and eye redness index were obviously lower in the treatment group than in the control group(P<0.05)

whereas the BUT and tear menisci height were evidently higher(P<0.05). The total effective rate of the treatment group was 84.88%(73/86)

better than 76.74%(66/86) of the control group(P<0.05). Conclusion Lingnan fire needling combined with 0.1% sodium hyaluronate eye drops is more effective than simple sodium hyaluronate eye drops for xerophthalmia patients

with significant curative effect and no adverse reactions.