"A Miracle Happened: An Unexpected Method Restores Vision Lost for 10 Years"

An 80-Year-Old Woman in New Zealand Participates in Chronic Back Pain Relief Trial
Vision Improves After One Month of Skin Electrical Stimulation Therapy

An 80-year-old female writer from New Zealand, who had suffered significant inconvenience in daily life such as driving and reading for over 10 years due to vision loss, gained unexpected fortune by recovering her eyesight after participating in an experimental treatment for back pain.

On the 19th (local time), local media including the New Zealand Herald and NewsHub reported that Dr. Lynley Hood (80), a prolific author, applied for a chronic back pain relief experiment led by the University of Otago and unexpectedly regained her vision. Dr. Hood began suffering from back pain after injuring her pelvis in 2020, which led her to participate in this project.

Dr. Linley Hood from New Zealand wearing an electrode cap that sends stimulation to the skin during treatment
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The treatment she received involved wearing an electrode cap that sends electrical currents to brain areas related to pain while lying still on a bed, planned to continue for three months.

However, an unexpected effect occurred after about a month of treatment. Dr. Hood’s eyesight, which had been severely impaired by glaucoma for over 10 years?making it difficult to drive, read, or write?improved significantly.

What is even more surprising is that she belonged to the so-called placebo group receiving 'sham treatment' among the project participants. The experiment organizers divided 20 patients into two groups, administering treatment five times a week during the first month. The first group received actual electrical stimulation to the brain areas controlling pain, while the other group received electrical stimulation only to the skin; Dr. Hood was in the latter group.

Dr. Divya Adhia of the University of Otago, who was in charge of the project, said, "It appears that the skin stimulation was transmitted to and affected the areas responsible for vision," adding, "Dr. Hood’s eyesight steadily improved over four weeks and is now almost 100% restored." She continued, "The recovery of Dr. Hood’s vision is so remarkable that ophthalmologists call it a miracle," and "We are conducting research on this issue together with ophthalmologists."

After regaining her eyesight, Dr. Hood has been busy pursuing tasks she had postponed for a long time due to vision loss. She expressed joy, saying, "Now I can read and write without any difficulty," and "It feels like I have gained a new life through the recovery of my vision." Dr. Hood also mentioned that she is planning to write books she had been considering for some time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.