I can't see images far away clearly, and its something I've lived with for a while but I'd like to reverse. I play a lot of tennis and I wish I could pick the ball up early and see where my shots are landing and track the ball better. I'd also like to be able to just see everything better. I have prescription sun glasses for day and regular glasses for nigt, but I don't like wearing glasses all the time.
I've considered contacts, but I'm really afraid of an eye infection and don't want to go through the effort of putting them in every day. I have an auto immune disorder so I really don't want any kind of infections, and all the news about the contact lense solution has scared me away from them.
I remember years ago there was a comercial for some kind of eye exercise program that was supposed to improve vision. Where can I find info on that or anything else that might help?
I I recently started doing eye exercises to try to improve my vision. I created a blog where I record my progress with the exercises.
I havent' noticed any improvement as yet, but other people also post comments about their experiences as well. You can check it out at http://improvingmyeyesight.com/blog/ You are a good candidate for laser surgery. I think you are asking about the Bates method to reverse myopia. Here is all the infor (kind of long):
Bates Method
The Bates Method is a controversial system of practices that are claimed to improve sight and reverse ocular disorders to normal by eliminating "mental strain" and restoring the "natural habits" of seeing. It is the backbone of the natural vision improvement movement, and was first described in 1920 by ophthalmologist William Horatio Bates in a book entitled Perfect Sight Without Glasses, then subsequently in his monthly magazine entitled Better Eyesight.
The Bates Method is rejected by mainstream opthalmology. Still many people claim to have been helped by the method.
Bates writings fall under two main headings; his theory of accommodation, and his recommended practices for improving vision. The truth of his theory is a separate question from the efficacy of his practices. His theory that the eye does not focus by changing the power of the lens, but rather by elongating the eyeball, through use of the extraocular oblique muscles, is contradicted by mainstream ophthalmology. Supporters believe that even if his theory is wrong, his methods do work.
According to Bates, his method is applicable for myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia, strabismus, amblyopia, nystagmus, and numerous other conditions affecting the eye [citation needed].
Bates' theories
Accommodation by extraocular muscle squeezing
Accommodation is the process by which the eye increases optical power to maintain focus on the retina. So when the eyes change from viewing a distant object to a near object accommodation is taking place.
Bates rejected the orthodox view that accommodation was brought about by the action of the ciliary muscle on the eye's crystalline lens[1], and claimed that focus was maintained by varying elongation of the eyeball caused by the extraocular muscles. Although subsequently contradicted by experiments using modern equipment, Bates claimed that the lens played no part in accommodation and reported that the extraocular muscles, and in particular the oblique muscles, squeeze the eyeball to obtain focus by elongation. Excessive tension of the recti muscles may also make, according to Bates, the eyeball too short (leading to hyperopia, and excessive tension of the oblique and recti muscles makes the eye astigmatic.
Close work
Advocates of the Bates Method claim that viewing books, computer monitors, and other near-vision activities are harmless, as long as a person maintains the right vision habits. They claim that eyeglasses are an unnecessary crutch. Bates advocates also claim that the Tibetan eye chart has long been used for the purpose of helping to keep eye muscles toned, and that acupressure techniques can be used to improve vision and increase circulation to the eyes.
Eyeglasses
Bates wrote: "At their best it cannot be maintained that glasses are anything more than a very unsatisfactory substitute for normal vision" [2]. He claimed that eyeglasses injured the eyes and did not restore normal vision [3]. The refractive condition of the eye, he maintained, is constantly changing, from day to day and from hour to hour, and so the prescribing of corrective lenses can only ever be right at the time they are fitted, after which they force the eye to adjust to them. Ophthalmologists acknowledge some truth to this phenomenon, referring to 'hysteresis', an observed phenomenon of the eye taking time to restore its range after extended use at one distance[citation needed]. They also observe that hysteresis is greater in myopic subjects, who they find cannot adjust their focus so quickly as normal subjects[citation needed]. They would not regard this as 'injuring the eye' to any significant extent though.
Bates cited many disadvantages to eyeglasses, maintaining that they adversely affected color perception, contracted the field of vision, and caused dizziness and headaches when the wearer viewed objects off-axis [4]. Although some of these symptoms are still experienced from time-to-time by some of today's eyeglasses wearers, improvements in modern lenses have generally improved vision quality, such as anti-reflective coatings that have improved image contrast by reduced scattering
Mental straining alters the eye's shape
Bates claimed that straining to see at the near-point led to shortening of the eyeball resulting in hypermetropia (farsightedness), and that straining to see at the far-point led to lengthening of the eyeball leading to myopia (nearsightedness). At first this seems back-to-front, but by straining to see at the near-point Bates did not mean habitual close-work, or even tensing of the muscles, he meant 'straining' in a mental sense. He makes this clear in his chapter entitled 'strain' where he says, "if the muscles respond to the minds desire, they do so without strain". Some have assumed that Bates saw prolonged tension in the extraocular muscles as directly causing eyeball deformation [5]. His 'mental strain' is quite unconnected with muscle tension, and he sees the maladjustment as being in the brain, not the eye[citation needed].
Bates concluded that myopia was related to apprehension, or what some may call "anxiety". He reportedly felt that good vision was nature's way, and that any other way was a strained way of seeing. Bates believed that it was impossible to consciously relieve the eyes of this tensing, and instead developed his method as a means of effecting subconscious relaxation.
Light is the life-blood of the eyes
Bates believed exposure to light was good for the eyes. Modern research indicates that those factors, like a blurred image, which seem able to alter the axial length of the eyeball, are more effective in conditions of high brightness and/or contrast.
Bates' relaxation techniques
Bates claimed to have discovered that people with abnormal vision use their eyes differently than people with normal vision, and then created a system designed to help people to relearn the right vision habits. Advocates of the Bates Method claim that these vision habits are inseparably connected to normal vision. They assert that the Bates Method is a natural method that improves movement, relaxation, and circulation of the whole visual system. It is important to realise that Bates' 'exercises' are not true exercises aimed at muscle strengthening. They are mostly, like many yoga 'exercises', aimed at procuring a state of relaxation.
Relaxation [6] is at the core of the Bates Method, involving a set of practices which Bates advocates term "exercises in relaxation" and "movement exercises" [7]. They emphasise that the term "exercise" is used in the same sense as "memory exercise" and does not imply muscle strengthening.
Swinging involves deliberate movements of the body with relaxed awareness of vision.
Palming or cupping is one technique that advocates claim achieves relaxation of the mind and the eyes. Palming requires a person to gently cup the palms of the hands over the closed eyelids, and attempt to see "perfect black" in order give the mind and the visual system as much rest as possible. Then the person sits for five to fifteen minutes (or as long he or she wants) breathing deeply and easy with a good posture.
Sunlight exposure involves looking at the sun through closed eyelids. Bates considered light to be the 'lifeblood' of healthy eyes. The practice of opening the eyes briefly while looking at the sun is claimed to be effective by some supporters but this is one aspect of the Bates method that must be considered 'potentially dangerous.
Central fixation was considered very important by Bates. Recognizing that only a very small part of the retina is capable of the highest resolution, he claimed that many people, when reading, allow the central fixation needed to maintain a sharp image to wander, so that they are attempting to focus using a low resolution part of the retina. He emphasized that good fixation is about relaxing and allowing the eyes to change gaze rapidly and naturally, rather than straining to fixate, which results in staring. Staring is the result of tension, according to Bates, and very bad.
Aldous Huxley - famous advocate of the Bates method
The British writer Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World) was one such advocate. Huxley claimed achieving successful results in his book entitled The Art of Seeing. Huxley was among the students of Margaret Corbett, who trained with Dr. Bates in 1930 and later authored Help Yourself to Better Sight.
However, while Huxley undoubtedly believed his vision had improved, Bennett Cerf thought otherwise. In 1952 Cerf was present when Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses and apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty:
Then suddently he faltered鈥攁nd the truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address鈥攈e had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory he brought it closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch away he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonizing moment.[8]
Safety
Advocates believe the Bates Method to be safe. Critics concede that most of the Bates techniques are harmless, apart from the possibility that faith in the Bates system could deter people with eye conditions requiring prompt care from seeking conventional treatment. (One of his original exercises, however, involved looking directly at the sun, which in some situations may be dangerous; a 1940 revision of his book modified this by suggesting that the sun shine on closed eyes.)
Criticisms of the Bates Method
Theory of accommodation/focusing
Critics of the Bates Method reject the theory that human eyes accommodate, or focus, due to elongation of the eyeball caused by 鈥渟queezing鈥?of the extraocular muscles, as has been claimed to happen in some animals. Critics of the Bates Method instead support the mainstream theory set forth by Hermann von Helmholtz that human eyes accommodate, or focus, due to the actions of the ciliary muscle (an intraocular muscle) and zonules changing the shape of the crystalline lens. To support this theory, critics of the Bates Method point to the action of various cycloplegic agents which temporarily paralyze accommodation by relaxing the ciliary muscle but leave the extraocular muscles, which control eye movements, unaffected. They also note that modern equipment, not available to Bates, has made possible the observation of the eye in great detail; such observations show the lens changing shape when the eye accommodates. [9]
Theory regarding the pathogenesis of refractive errors
Critics of the Bates Method contend that if the cause of myopia is continuous tensing of the muscles, either ciliary or extraocular, the Bates Method theory is that it should be possible to cure (or noticeably improve) it by causing intentional relaxation of the muscles; a process most commonly done using injections or topical administration of atropine. The mainstream consensus on this, however, is that no significant improvement of the vision is obtained when muscles are relaxed in this manner.
Efficacy
The vast majority of optometrists and ophthalmologists do not recommend the Bates Method. Martin Gardner, in Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, characterized Bates' book as "a fantastic compendium of wildly exaggerated case records, unwarranted inferences and anatomical ignorance." He suggested that the Bates method may however work, to a limited degree, by increasing the trainee's ability to interpret and extract information from blurred images.
Other eye-exercise methods
In recent years, the growing interest in alternative medicine has led to an increase in the popularity of the Bates Method and other methods claiming success via visual training through eye exercises. One particularly controversial area is the efficacy of eye exercises in the treatment of myopia (near-sightedness) and whether the use of eyeglasses makes myopia progressively worse.
Several points-of-view exist about the use of eye exercises to treat vision problems:
Traditional mainstream ophthalmologists and optometrists use eye exercises to treat a limited range of problems, particularly problems involving muscular imbalances and problems with coordination of eye movement between the two eyes. (See orthoptics.)
Functional optometrists and optometric vision therapists are licensed, credentialed doctors of optometry, who specialize in treatment that involves eye exercises. They hold that such exercises are useful in improving a wide range of visual conditions, including focusing problems. The methods used are said to be backed by clinical studies and publications in peer-reviewed journals. (See vision therapy.)
The Bates method differs from other health systems that use eye exercises in a way that can be categorized as alternative medicine. Like homeopathic medicine, the treatments used and the explanations of how they are said to work are rejected by mainstream medicine, despite personal testimony by people who claim to have been helped by such methods. Please browse www.nonihealthinfo.com & select testimonials.
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Agoes try yoga I am nearsighted. 18 months ago I began to improve my vision by totally relaxing my eyes. Feel those muscles that are squeezing your eyes into the wrong shape letting go. Good . Now the trick is to do that all day and all night. It is working for me. try laser eye surgery; i have serious doubts about the sort of program u're talking about. if they do anything at all it would be to help u see the money u're wasting. Running to the lasik guy I have some eye exercises that I got from VisionFreedom.com. If your glasses aren't terribly strong, this could be really good for you. If they are, it'll help some. Of course, when one signs up for that program, sharing the info one gets is prohibited, but I can say it has helped me somewhat. I no longer need really thick prisms in my glasses, for one thing. It is expensive, but does help. I'd recommend it.
It's not -- from what I can tell -- related to this Bates thing someone else answered with. If Bates is the one where you stare at bright lights to improve vision, forget it. That'll damage the eyes, not improve them. As the mechanism for near sighted ness is a gradual increase in the length of your orbit, I have serious doubts about eye exercises helping much or in any substantial way.
You should maybe look into Orthokeratology - or overnight wear therapy. If you prescription is under -4.00, this may be your best option if surgery isnt....... |
