Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jun 11, 2025
Date Accepted: Sep 9, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Ocular massage on intraocular pressure and Schlemm’s canal dimensions: A randomized controlled study protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Ocular massage has been reported to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) temporarily. This could be related to an enhanced aqueous humor outflow; however, the mechanism is unclear.
Objective:
The study aims to examine the impact of digital and EyePeace ocular massager on IOP fluctuations and to investigate whether the observed reduction in IOP is attributable to morphological changes in Schlemm’s canal.
Methods:
Participants’ eyes will be initially randomized into (i) digital ocular massage (DOM) group, (ii) EyePeace ocular massage (EOM) group, and (iii) no massage (NM) groups (1:1:1). The primary outcome measure will be IOP. The secondary outcome measures will include anterior segment optical coherence tomography assessment of the Schlemm’s canal (SC) and trabecular meshwork (TM). Additionally, adverse events in the quality of vision (QoV) will be monitored and documented using a mobile app-based questionnaire. All assessments will be performed at baseline and 10 minutes after DOM, EOM, and NM.
Results:
Data collection was completed in the summer of 2025. The expected results will be published at the end of 2025.
Conclusions:
This study will investigate the impact of ocular massage on IOP and SC dimensions using a randomized controlled design. Since preliminary evidence suggests that ocular massage may transiently reduce IOP due to enhanced aqueous humor outflow, this study will aim to clarify the underlying mechanism. By comparing digital ocular massage (DOM) and EyePeace ocular massage (EOM) with a no-massage (NM) control, it will assess changes in IOP and SC morphology. The findings are expected to provide insights into the role of mechanical manipulation in modulating aqueous outflow, potentially informing non-pharmacological for possible glaucoma management strategies. Clinical Trial: ChiCTR2400093512
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