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+--- Thread: after 40 years.... (/showthread.php?tid=1850)
Re: after 40 years.... - RB120 - 07-18-2011
Hi Jim,
If I may ask a question, that was kind of touched on before:
You only used a single pair of +1.25 reading glasses for close work? When you did close-up work, did you have to bring your head closer to see clearly, or is the point just to keep things at a slight blur?
Congratulations on getting rid of those glasses, by the way, and in removing the line from your driver's license!
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 07-18-2011
RB120 Wrote:Hi Jim,
If I may ask a question, that was kind of touched on before:
You only used a single pair of +1.25 reading glasses for close work? When you did close-up work, did you have to bring your head closer to see clearly, or is the point just to keep things at a slight blur?
Congratulations on getting rid of those glasses, by the way, and in removing the line from your driver's license!
Keep things just out of focus. As soon as it clears, push it further away again. Repeat as necessary.
Be well,
Jim
Re: after 40 years.... - Diamond_Eyes - 07-28-2011
Congratulations jiminos! your journey is going well so far, keep up the good work and bravo again for your results
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-11-2012
a bump and an update....
every day, i continue to "not work" on my vision. i spend a lot of time reading and re-reading bits and pieces of Bates' works. there is always another nugget to be found.
with regard to progress.... i now see pretty consistently at 20/30. very often, especially when outside, my vision is 20/25 to 20/20. when driving on the freeway during the day, i can read signs as much as half a mile away with no problems. the scenery is clear and sharp. it's beautiful.
my left eye is still the weaker, by far. but... i figure it will around of its own accord. I am ecstatic with my progress. I have no idea where my glasses have gone off to, and i've no intention of ever trying to find them.
in short, the Bates Method and David's Method work. But, one must be patient and work diligently on NOT WORKING on vision improvement.
Be well,
Jim
Re: after 40 years.... - lou_deg - 10-11-2012
Jim, thanks for posting again, I wasn't around last year to read about your success.
jiminos Wrote:during the time that i was learning to see (learning not to attempt to force my eyes).... when i needed to drive, i wore glasses. in fact, i wore them right up until the morning that i drove to the licensing office to take the test. two reasons, safety and it is the law....What was the prescription that you were using in the end, the same as the one that broke (OD -2.5 OS -1.75 with astigmatism in both)? Also you mentioned that "the big breakthroughs came from three things... 1) i refused to wear glasses." But you were continuing to wear glasses, and despite that you were able to improve your vision dramatically and suddenly? The glasses didn't feel too strong to use as your vision improved?
Lastly, your eyes had unequal vision. Did both eyes improve at the same rate or did the stronger eye improve more because you used it more?
-thanks, Lou
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-11-2012
Lou,
perhaps i should have said i refused to wear glasses except when driving.... in Washington, the law still requires that one wear glasses if the corrective lens restriction is on the license. in my case, the restriction was still on the license. i am disinclined to disobey the law, so i wore glasses when i drove. other than while driving, i did not wear glasses. i drive half an hour in the morning to work and half an hour in the evening going home.
I am sorry if you got the impression that i wore glasses all the time. i thought it was reasonably clear in subsequent posts above that i wore glasses only when required by law.
The prescription for the glasses that broke was -2.5 od and -1.75 os.
my eyes had, and continue to have, different levels of visual acuity. i cannot tell you if the improvement in each eye was equal. i do not know. i've not returned to any facility to get my eyes checked, so i do not know what the prescription would be now. the visual acuity of my left eye is weaker/lower than my right. it is better than it once was. i continue to "not work" on it. through things like palming, sunning, swinging, noticing movement and imagination, i continue to "not work" on my left eye.... actually, that is not correct, i continue to "not work" on both eyes is more correct. i have never isolated my eyes one from another. i palm both eyes. i sun both eyes. i read the chart with both eyes. perhaps i should isolate my left eye, but for now i am happy and relatively content with where i am at visually.
hope that helps.
be well,
jim
Re: after 40 years.... - clarknight - 10-11-2012
jiminos,
Read the posts on here about the dangers of the plus lens method. Causes cataract. The guy that posts on that myopia free site had cataracts, astigmatism, lot eye problems the plus lens causes, ended up having eye operations but still advises the method. Please don't fall for it.
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-11-2012
clark, i appreciate your concern.... however.....
i have seen you post many times about the dangers of plus lenses.... but i've not seen you post any proof of your allegations. further, if plus lenses cause cataracts, then somebody needs to explain to me why millions upon millions upon millions of people using reading glasses or bifocals have not suffered from cataracts. the evidence does not seem to support your allegations, clark.
in all fairness, i do agree with some of your positions with regard to other approaches to vision therapy and improvement, but in those cases where we agree the evidence strongly supports your position and claims.
you tend to write in extremes, clark. whether it is about plus lenses or chiropractors, you are quick to point out how horrid and dangerous they are. but, you are slow to post the proof supporting your claims (and isolated incidents, as opposed to commonplace incidents, do not constitute proof). if one person in 100,000 suffers cataracts that can be proven to be caused by plus lenses, that is not a statistically significant number. if one person in 500 suffers cataracts that can be proven to be caused by plus lenses, then you might be on to something. if you have a bad encounter with a chiropractor, that does not make all chiropractors bad. it means you had a bad encounter with one bad person. if optometrists, opticians and opthalmologists practice what they are taught, that does not make them co-conspirators in a great cover up. it makes them people doing what they were taught and trying to make a living. so often, your posts seem more like rants against the many terrible conspiracies "out there" rather than carefully considered suggestions and advice. extremism in any direction is not a good thing.
again, i thank you for your concern.
i think i'm done.
be well,
jim
Re: after 40 years.... - clarknight - 10-11-2012
Many seniors and even younger people get cataracts after going into reading glasses. Yes its usually seniors or middle age but I get many people contacting me about this. One young lady developed bleeding in the retinas. She stopped the reading glasses and it healed. She started the reading glasses again and the bleeding returned. Stopped the glasses and the holes in the retina healed again. A man developed a black cataract and is blind in that eye. I deal with this stuff often, mainly because I teach for free so I get a lot of people contacting me. I am truly trying to prevent more people from being hurt. The websites that advise plus lens don't allow people that have had problems with the method, been harmed to post the truth. Only people that say they like the method are allowed to post.
For proof of the injury of chiropractic; contact U-Mass memorial for my 3 visits with a broken neck from the chiropractors. Also see; http://www.vocact.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/ChiropracticStroke
As for my students; I will ask them to post their stories here. Most hate to think about the things they suffered and I find it hard to get them to post anywhere. I must keep confidential their names, information. When I have the time I will start my own website, group asking all people that have been harmed by Plus Lens, 3-cups... and other unnatural vision methods to post.
Black and white; I have to draw the line when it comes to any chance of a person losing their sight. No exceptions. That's my job, I have to be there for people, give them safe, complete information.
Glad you have read my post, even though you disagree.
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-11-2012
last response then i'm done....
clark... "many seniors"... "one young lady"... "a man" .... out of how many millions... what you are giving is anecdotal. you cite three cases out of literally hundreds of millions of people around the world that have suffered cataracts.... i will not say you are wrong, but i will say that you have not sold me. you have still given no proof. not one study is cited. not one survey. you give only isolated cases.
regarding the chiropractic... i have no doubt you were hurt by a chiropractor. but that does not make all chiropractors bad. it does not make chiropractory bad. it makes the one person that hurt you a person that hurt you. you have made the claim that this chiropractor hurt you intentionally in order to sell you more sessions. frankly, nobody here is qualified to determine whether or not the injury was on purpose. we have only your claims. i have no reason to doubt you, but neither do i have any reason to believe the harm was intentional. i do not need to check with U Mass. besides, the law prohibits them from discussing you case with anybody except you and the care provider.
if it is, indeed, your job to give complete information.... then give COMPLETE information. not just one side. give strong, documented evidence. not allegations. not isolated cases.
i appreciate your passion. i appreciate your compassion. but, i do not appreciate the use of isolated cases or extremely small numbers of cases in order to make sweeping generalities. if you are going to attack any method, be prepared to present strong evidence to support your stand. failing that, you are ranting. (again, three cases is not strong evidence of a cause/effect relationship.)
you've put a lot into vision improvement, and you should be commended for your efforts. but.... try to keep in mind the story of the boy who cried wolf.... too much yelling without any evidence will result in people disregarding you. don't let that happen. you have too much good information.
avoid being negative about other methods. instead, be positive and discuss what does work, not what does not or might not work... not what might be harmful. because, the thing you claim to be harmful, might actually work in some cases... and then you are left standing trying to explain that.... and when you cannot explain those cases that do not align with your allegations, people will tend to drift away...
example, plus lenses helped me. i no longer use them because my vision is 20/30 to 20/25 most days... the little distance left to 20/20 will work itself out. and i do not have cataracts.... so your claim that plus lenses cause cataracts can be invalidated by one case... mine. i used them, i do not have cataracts... your claims did not manifest themselves in my case, so now i must ask... if this claim is wrong, how many other claims you make are wrong?..... can you see the logic of this, clark? if your claim is not 100% or darned close, be careful what you claim.... it is better to say you have a theory... but short of absolute evidence, avoid claims of absoluteness that are so easily disproved.
i am done hijacking my own thread on my SUCCESSES regardless of how those SUCCESSES were achieved.
i wish you well.
jim
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-11-2012
i need to make a correction to the above post.... it should say "out of hundreds of millions of people around the world who have worn plus lenses."
my apologies.
be well,
jim
Re: after 40 years.... - lou_deg - 10-11-2012
jiminos Wrote:perhaps i should have said i refused to wear glasses except when driving...i drive half an hour in the morning to work and half an hour in the evening going home.Jim, I didn't get the impression that you wore glasses full-time. But I was unsure how seldom or if not at all. Your experience shows that an hour a day of wearing glasses doesn't get in the way of vision improvement. You mentioned that you had/have astigmatism. Did you have then... and do you have now... double vision when looking in the distance? Also, I have a hard time seeing clearly indoors, especially when trying to recognize people in the hallway and looking at their eyes (eyes are so tiny to look at). Do you have issues with seeing clearly indoors or seeing at night?
I also have unequal vision in my eyes and been looking at ways to improve the weaker eye. Use of binocular vision allows for seeing depth/3D so I think activities that enhance depth perception would improve both eyes simultaneously. For example, looking at a large, full-shaped tree or a long building would be good. Good luck with the last hurdle to 20/20, if that is of significance to you any more. -Lou
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-25-2012
Lou,
an attempt to answer your questions... for quite some time now, i have not worn glasses at all.
i did, and likely still do, suffer some degree of astigmatism. as near as i can tell, it is diminishing as time goes by. i sometimes have issues with multiple images, but when that happens, i pick one image and focus on that one image. it seems to help tremendously. (Thank you to David for that advice.)
indoor vision really isn't much of a problem. my visual acuity is lower than when outdoors during daylight hours. but, in truth, that was the case even when i wore glasses.
visual acuity at night is, understandably, lower at night or in darkened conditions. but, that also was true when i wore glasses. but, i find that when i go outdoors in the evening, my acuity arrives at an acceptable level fairly soon. i can even pick out constellations in the night sky on a clear night. that wasn't the case a year ago. so, improvement continues every day.
the thing i have been working on most in recent days is fusion. my left (weaker) eye seems to have a mind of its own at times, and it wanders just ever so slightly off target when looking at small details... resulting in multiple images.... so... i do things like use a long string with beads on it for up close fusion... i do shifting from near to far as often as i possibly can... i take a couple minutes each day to read Ray Gottlieb's chart (i think it can be found over at the i-see website.)... i count street lamps as i drive down the street (i try to count as far ahead as i can while keeping the lamps in focus.)... i look to the horizon a lot...
thank you for the well-wishes. 20/20 or better is my goal. i am close... most days outside i am at 20/25 or 20/30.... inside 20/30 to 20/40... i am patient.
be well,
jim
Re: after 40 years.... - lfernand - 10-25-2012
Jiminos, congratulations for your success.
I become interested in that plus lenses thing for near work.
You said you had about -2 diopters, and used +1.5 lenses. I have more or less -7 diopters, that means if I use -4 diopters glasses (I have one) that would be the same thing proportionally?
And please explain again how does feel and look the near work with those plus glasses and that focus adaptation you spoke about .
Re: after 40 years.... - jiminos - 10-25-2012
I am not an expert. I can only speak to my own experience. The idea is to use lenses that do not give you 20/20 vision. For those with stronger minus lenses, then the proponents of plus lens use suggest using a weaker minus lens. For example, if you are at -7D, then a -5 or -4 would likely be recommended. the idea behind this is gradual adaptation. you did not become nearsighted overnight. you will not reverse your myopia overnight. slow, steady progress is the key to success according to plus lens proponents. (Steven De Angelis has written a book on his approach, which encompasses much more then plus lenses. I enjoyed his presentation.)
and, as always, each of us is responsible for our own eyes. if, at any time, you experience discomfort as a result of something you are doing..... stop doing it.
be well,
jim