I stopped wearing contact lenses in July of this year when I was upset by the results of my eye test at my opticians. My vision only started to deteriorate when I first went to secondary school but it only reached -2 by the time I left college for university. I think this slow deterioration was down to the fact I never wore my glasses. I hated them. When I started at university I couldn't recognise my new friends so I bought contact lenses and wore them all the time in my first year. At the end of my first year at university my prescription was -5.5 in both eyes! It has been increasing steadily over the past eight years and, this time last year, it was -6.5 in both eyes.
In July a new optician told me it is -8 in both eyes and I was so upset I asked for a refund. I have just turned 29. This shocked me so much that I stopped wearing contact lenses altogether and went back to wearing an old pair of glasses (-5.5) for watching the tv, using the computer etc. I go without glasses or lenses for activities such as shopping, walking, cycling, cooking, reading. Shopping without glasses was interesting to say the least! I am getting used to remembering where numbers sit on the chip and pin device as I can't see them!
I never drive without my glasses but rely on my -5.5 pair. I can now see number plates clearly that are over 30 metres away and I can see the detail of the leaves on the trees and read all the road signs and this vision never fluctuates. It is consistently clear even over long journeys. So I know my eyes have improved to meet the prescription of my glasses but I will go back to the opticians to prove it to myself. The vision with glasses on isn't the problem it's when I take them off that I've started to notice things....
Without glasses, I can now see the blades of grass, the detail of the tarmac and little stones in the ground that I could never see before without my glasses. If I look up to look at distant objects, I'm still short-sighted but on looking down again, the ground comes in to focus.
The weird thing was, when I parked up today and I took my glasses off, I could read the number plate of a stranger's car, which was parked about 20m ahead but I had a form of double vision. I could see two versions of this number plate at once, the one above was clear as day but the other slightly off to the left and below, was a blur.
To my amazement, I have been able to read parts of subtitles and adverts on a 19" televesion from 4 metres away without my glasses. The words remain clear until I blink and then they vanish again but after a few moments they re-appear. The problem is, I also see this in a sort of double vision. The text appears once clear as day and, beneath it, slightly to the left, I can see the same text as a blur.
The same thing happens at the gym on the crosstrainer machine with the words 'fat burn' etc and even on the computer, which up until recently I have always needed my glasses for. I am not bothered by the double vision as I am thrilled that I am able to read these words in one way or another without glasses!! I just don't know whether this is all part of the process or whether only one eye is improving?
The only other concern I have is whenever I can truly see black when palming I start to get incredible eye pain. It lasts a few moments. It comes and goes. I've even moved my hands away and just tried closing my eyes and it still happens - so I know it's not from my hands. It feels like they are being crushed and compressed vertically. The pain settles after a few seconds but comes back intermittently - only when palming. Is this normal?
I'd like to hear from anyone else who is new to this and finding slight or strange improvements in their vision.
I hadn't seen this post before and just saw it now that the spambot posted a comment bringing it to the top. I'm surprised that no one responded to you, it sounds like quite a success story in progress!
My eyes have improved quite a lot from -8 as well and sometimes I see multiple images. What you could do is to put a Snellen chart in your house and read it with the left and right eyes separately to see if the double vision is coming from one eye by itself or if it's there because your eyes aren't fusing together. (If each eye sees a clear single image but it's double when you look with both then this is what Bates called squint) In his magazines and book he writes a lot about how to help this. I think palming and swinging are most recommended.
Pain when seeing black is not normal. Perhaps try remembering a different color. Is your vision better or worse after this pain? Perhaps contact a Bates teacher for one lesson to see if they can immediately suggest something.
Quote:Without glasses, I can now see the blades of grass, the detail of the tarmac and little stones in the ground that I could never see before without my glasses. If I look up to look at distant objects, I'm still short-sighted but on looking down again, the ground comes in to focus.
The weird thing was, when I parked up today and I took my glasses off, I could read the number plate of a stranger's car, which was parked about 20m ahead but I had a form of double vision. I could see two versions of this number plate at once, the one above was clear as day but the other slightly off to the left and below, was a blur.
I have seen this "situation" before. I had a friend with a -4 diopter "prescription". Afte useing these
preventive methods Bates/Prentice, he checked his own Snellen and found he could pass the state
DMV (of 20/40).
I would recommend you do this -- for your own satisfaction and safety.
Here is a Snellen you can use.
Just click here, and then on "DIsplay" several times:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/oph/ped/IVAC/IVAC.html">http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/oph/ped/IVAC/IVAC.html</a><!-- m -->
Since you can read numbers at 30 meters, your vision can't be that bad.
Bates says if palming does not work; try a different relaxation method.
You dont have to imagine black; just relax when palming, let the mind drift to pleasant thoughts.
Thank you for reading my post and taking the time to reply.
It has been some time since I posted here and I thought I would just give you an update. I think the double vision was a sign of progress. Before starting the Bates method everything was a blur. After practicing the Bates method, I started to get momentary "double vision flashes" where the blurry image (in the above case the number plate) became two images, one clear and the second a blur beneath it. I soon worked out a way to completely eliminate the second blurry image only leaving the sharp image.
I'm excited to tell you that for the past 4 weeks I have been having clear flashes many times a day without double vision! The clear flashes are also momentary but they are lasting longer and coming back more frequently. Today I counted them - I had a clear flashes roughly every other minute, each one lasting 20-30 seconds. In between everything went blurry for less than a minute until the clear flash returned. The clear flashes are amazing - I can only describe it as seeing everything as clearly as the moment you try on brand new pair of higher-prescription glasses, only without the headache and woozy feeling...and with fantastic depth of colour that I can't recall ever seeing. It's overwhelming how rich the colours are in the clear flash. I wish the clear flashes were permanent. I can't see on demand. It only makes the vision worse. That's the only annoying thing - sometimes I just can't have a clear flash when I need one but when that happens I just have to let it go, think about something else and a few minutes later the clear flash will come back.
I haven't been palming or using the test chart for over a month. What I have been doing is:
- making my sight deliberately worse and then correcting it immediately both close-up and far away (let me know if you want to know how I did this exactly)
- practicing central fixation (i.e. looking at a blurry person on tv then trying to see them worse by looking at the blurry corner of the tv, then looking back etc)
- always being aware of what I am looking at and then seeking out an edge or a corner of the object I am looking at rather than taking in the object as a whole
- not wearing my glasses for anything (even if it means hunching over my laptop every now and again to type this when the clear flash lapses!)
- taking buses and trains so I don't have to wear my glasses for travel
Most of the time watching flat screen tvs from afar, looking at the laptop or pc monitor provoke clear flashes but oddly enough, despite my clear flashes, I can't see the images on my 1990s crt tv. Has anyone else experienced this?
I am making some progress with my blurry tv though...if I glance around the screen I invariably find one really small less relevant part of the picture that is clearer than the rest. For example, there is a stand-up guy on tv at the moment, I can't see his facial features but I can see one of his hands almost clearly, but everything else on the screen is a blur. If I now look at the clear hand then look back to the face, parts of his face start to appear. Then it goes and it's all blurry again. Glancing around again, his hand and face are blurry but one fold of the curtain behind him is clear...if I glance at that and glance back at his face, his face starts to come into focus until I blink.Weird.
I hope you found this post helpful.
Thanks again for your replies and advice. I will check out that link. It would be great to have your feedback and learn about your experiences...
