what about other exercises other sites offer. Free ones .. like this one
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Near / Far focusing, Clock rotation, Eye rolls, Blinking...
Don't be so quick to disprove it. I started exercises like these before I even heard about Dr. Bates, and my vision improved from 20/90 in both eyes, to about 20/35 in both eyes. I've gotten lazy with them though, and my vision has seemed to stay steady around 20/50.
I think that by doing these exercises, just like stretching does before a workout, helps to loosen the tension in the muscles surrounding the eye. Less tension means less strain. Less strain means better eyesight.
You can get improvement if you practice 'clock rolls, stretching' or whatever other nonsense but really that improvement has nothing to do with the clock rolls or stretching. it's because afterwards you probably shifted your eyes more and that causes more perfect sight . anyway, the eyes don't need stretching.. in myopia they need flattening!
Yes, this is nonsense
Most of these eye stretching exercises aim to bring about stronger and flexible eye muscles thus striving to overcome muscular insufficiencies. But very few people realize that eye muscles are several hundred times stronger than what they need to be to provide us normal vision. Therefore, there is almost no point in strengthening the already strong eye muscles and hope that it will bring about better eyesight. They may help to remove temporary eye strain and that is all these stretching exercises can give. Though I am not a medical professional, I have worked a lot in healthcare software development, and have worked with MS patients and optic neuritis. Real muscular weakness/insufficiency of the eye is found only in people with inflammatory or wasting disorders such as MS, polymyositis, Myasthenia gravis etc.
The cause of the so callled muscular insufficiency of the eye is not in the muscle itself but in the mind. Therefore iron pumping eye exercises do not yield better vision. Due to a certain subconscious strain in the mind, the eye muscles go into a spasm and fail to achieve central fixation, and also fail to perform the micro shifts that are essential for good vision. The only approach that will work long time is the one that aims to remove the subconscious mental strain which will automatically bring about eye muscle relaxation. The process is usually hard because the cause is subconscious and will require considerable effort on our part initially to isolate the strain. Once we do it, there is no more effort to see and the eyes see just like our ears hear, our nose smells etc without us even being aware of the perception itself.
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It may be that a pure Bates approach is most effective when you have the live help of a skilled Bates teacher, but I feel like I've heard more success stories which were based on exercises such as "near/far focusing", "clock rotation", and "eye rolls". I remember a poster at the now defunct visionimprovementsite.com forum claimed that he had improved from 20/200 to 20/45 by "near/far focusing" and "eye rolls".
I second your campaign against LASIK. It could probably be the second biggest disaster to the human eye next to the eye glasses.
My brother-in-law had LASIK about twelve years ago ( he had -7.5D) but now his myopia is returning. No one knows about the long terms effects of these surgeries.
The most common problem faced by LASIKers is acute dry eye lasting upto five years and sometimes irreversible. See some of the horror stories of LASIK here - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/">http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/</a><!-- m -->
Most doctors are clueless in treating dry eyes( using drops is no good substitute for human tears) and if you are one of the unlucky LASIK victims you will be left stranded with terrible dry eyes forever. I had considered LASIK as an option long back and luckily turned away from it.
Daniel Wrote:It may be that a pure Bates approach is most effective when you have the live help of a skilled Bates teacher, but I feel like I've heard more success stories which were based on exercises such as "near/far focusing", "clock rotation", and "eye rolls". I remember a poster at the now defunct visionimprovementsite.com forum claimed that he had improved from 20/200 to 20/45 by "near/far focusing" and "eye rolls".
Interesting wonder where that user is now....
I remember trying the Eye Rolls and Near/Far Focusing, etc. I found them frustrating as I thought why would my eye muscles need to get stronger?!
Perhaps combining them with the Bates Method works?
I believe my vision has improved because of emdr therapy.. what a neat surprise !? - or maybe not?!
Having said that, I just recently reduced my prescriptioneven further again! YAY! I can attribute the improvement to no other, as I haven't done any eye exercises or Bates this year..
For those that are not familiar with EMDR , it is a therapy used for healing trauma. It consists of a light bar where your
eyes have to follow a moving light from left to right and then right to left again. This process works for about 30 seconds on and off for about an hour.
History of EMDR
In 1987, Francine Shapiro was walking in the park when she realized that her eye movements (back and forth from one side to the other) appeared to decrease the negative feelings she had with her own distressing memories. She assumed that eye movements had a de-sensitizing effect, and when she experimented with friends and colleagues, she found that others also had the same response to eye movements. It became apparent however that eye movements by themselves did not create comprehensive therapeutic effects (eye movements were not enough). Shapiro included other treatment elements, including a cognitive component, and developed a standard procedure and process that she called Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR)
itsme Wrote:I believe my vision has improved because of emdr therapy.. what a neat surprise !? - or maybe not?!
Having said that, I just recently reduced my prescriptioneven further again! YAY! I can attribute the improvement to no other, as I haven't done any eye exercises or Bates this year..
For those that are not familiar with EMDR , it is a therapy used for healing trauma. It consists of a light bar where your
eyes have to follow a moving light from left to right and then right to left again. This process works for about 30 seconds on and off for about an hour.
History of EMDR
In 1987, Francine Shapiro was walking in the park when she realized that her eye movements (back and forth from one side to the other) appeared to decrease the negative feelings she had with her own distressing memories. She assumed that eye movements had a de-sensitizing effect, and when she experimented with friends and colleagues, she found that others also had the same response to eye movements. It became apparent however that eye movements by themselves did not create comprehensive therapeutic effects (eye movements were not enough). Shapiro included other treatment elements, including a cognitive component, and developed a standard procedure and process that she called Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR)
Regards, Its me
Interesting.
Just a few moments ago I was practicing some Qigong (aka Chi-Kung) eye methods, mainly the acupressure ones, and I noticed improved vision. Very interesting. I noticed some similarities to the Bates Method, both incorporate Palming, and relaxation.
Perhaps a combo of Bates Method and Qigong would be beneficial....
Did you ever through your Bates and EMDR experience to feel your eyes strain to see up close? As if some muscle was tensing?
I noticed that a bit today.... as I had my eyes focused in the distance for a long time today (mountain biking without crutches) ( I had tons of clear flashes during too!)
But now my eyes feel extremely relaxed when looking in the distance rather then near.
