I have had about -2.25 prescription for both eyes for quite some time. Two years ago I have decided that
I've had it with wearing glasses and contacts during the day and went with Ortho-K. Right now i wear retainers every night and sleep with them. Upon waking up in the morning my eyesight is 20/20. This however is still not the solution to the problem, but just a patch. Although i think Ortho-K has finally stopped the worsening of my eyesight, it has not corrected it permanently and never will. What i need to do is start doing Bates method and see there that takes me. I'm 26 years old and believe that I can do it.
But i need a little help figuring out what to do to start.
1. I need to buy some glasses, i'm planing on buying -2.0, -1.5, -1.0 and -0.5. Any suggestions where I can get these online without prescription in the US?
2. What exercises should I start with in the beginning, how many hours, etc?
I would discuss glasses in the 'other eyesight topics' forum to get opinions on that one or just search in the archives, there are thousands of posts about reduced prescription glasses.
For the right exercizes to start with... Think about it this way - you want to learn some ways to relax that you can use later to help you during your whole day to see better. There are many you can reada about in Dr. Bates's magazines. Here is just one:
A simple thing is to walk around your room without glasses. Do you notice that as you move forward, the world passes under your feet? Do you notice if you turn to the left the room turns to the right, and so on? The easiest thing to start with is noticing this movement at different distances. Then start to reduce the size of the movement that you can notice. For example, if right now you can notice you look at a chair and then look at the wall to see it move away, then slowly reduce that until you can look at the left side of the chair, then the right side of the chair. You see the chair swinging from right to left. Then later you will see a small pattern on the chair and see that swing from left to right, or up and down, and so on.
blink naturally and breathe while doing this. and don't stare! let everything move!
1. I need to buy some glasses, i'm planing on buying -2.0, -1.5, -1.0 and -0.5. Any suggestions where I can get these online without prescription in the US?
I don't believe that you can buy nearsighted glasses in U.S. without a prescription from an eye doctor. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the case. I would never recommend buying glasses online or from a retail store anyway. The lenses are a lot cheaper and are not always centered correctly; you get what you pay for. I would recommend going to your eye doctor and explaining to him that you are interested in improving your vision and that you would like a 20/40 pair of glasses. That's the lowest prescription you can have and still be legal to drive the U.S. I'm not an eye doctor, so you will want to verify your reduced prescription with him, but that should put you at about a -1.25. There should be no reason for you to have all of those different prescriptions mentioned above. Most important thing about glasses, don't wear them unless you absolutely have to, like driving, or a situation where you would endanger someone if you didn't have them on. You'll know what's right for you.
2. What exercises should I start with in the beginning, how many hours, etc?
First of all, the Bates method is not about eye exercises, it is about reestablishing the good vision habits back into the eyes that you had when you had clear vision. I would really recommend sitting down and reading Perfect Sight Without Glasses by W. H. Bates. Also, the Better Eyesight magazines will be a good source for you. You don't need to read all of them, but just focus on the basics, like the fundamentals of good vision, nearsighted stories and examples of what they practiced, memory to improve vision, etc. Thomas R. Quackenbush's book Relearning to See is good, but he gets more into scientifically proving the Bates method works rather than what you actually need to practice to get clear vision, but it might be good for you to look into it anyway. A typical day for me doing "eye exercises" is: four good palming sessions, preferably using my memory (I'm not going to explain how to do all of this on here so you have some homework to do), practicing the long swing at least once for five minutes, preferably more; going outside and sunning for half an hour (when the weather permits), being conscious all day long, like sorrisiblue mentioned, that things are swinging and moving in the opposite direction and that I am blinking and not staring; and sometimes I practice with the Snellen Card (I'm still trying to find a game that relaxes me while using the card). You should feel relaxed and/or have clearer vision after playing these games, if not, you're doing them wrong or they are not relaxing to you, which means you need to look into that activity more, alter it, or find something else that does relax you. The point of doing all of this is to learn to relax and relearn the good vision habits. Don't make hard work out of improving your vision. It should be easy, relaxing, and enjoyable.
The reason I wanted a set of -2, -1.5, -1 and -0.5 glasses is because as I gradually improve my eyesight, i will be in need of back-up glasses for driving and other situations. So since right now i have -2.25, i figured that those were the logical gradual progression.
I do realize now that I stare too much and that is probably the main cause of my problems. Sometimes i would catch my self working on a computer and not blinking for quite a while. Now I try to breath more, blink more, and just relax in general. So my journey has begun.
20/20 here I come. Right now at -2.25. Will keep you posted of my progress.
Hi, Just want to update everyone with my current status.
1 week without Ortho-k, Vision is at about 15/70 currently. It doesn't look like it's going down anymore.
Started to read the Use Your Own Eyes book - great material.
Saturday: Had my first clear flash for about 5-7 seconds. Have been trying to get one again since, but trying is bad, need to relax...
