hi, i have been practicing the bates method for 2 weeks and no real improvement has been produced. my eyes are -1.00 in the left and -1.75 in the right. i palm for an hour or two everyday and practice a lot of central fixation (which is to look at something and see everything else worse, right?), and shifting. after i finish palming my eyes are bloodshot red, should i stop palming? after i finish palming i can see clearly but when i blink, it goes back to normal. i cant see the black when palming. i havent had any random clear flashes. also i dont understand swinging at all (could someone please explain). i am a 15 year old and our family isnt so rich, and we dont have to much money, i want to save my parents money instead of them buying me glasses. please, please can someone help me. i need some assurance that the bates method actually works.
What i seem to benefit most from is to follow the outer edges of objects, like cars, trees, mountains, rooftops etc. According to our hero Bates staring is baaad for your eyes, and using your eyes gently around objects increases the stream of blood to your eyes.
I've tried for two-three weeks actively, and from my current experiences i would conclude that Bates works. But i can't and won't say for sure before my vision is 20/20 all the time. I have clear flashes from time to time, 5-10 a day perhaps, and generally see a little bit better. But i also have some motivational issues, as when i am wriing this i find it harder than ever to see the text from half a metre away. But i believe it will be a little bit worse, before it gets better.
I'l let someone more experienced correct me if I'm wrong. But don't gve up, man, you can do it.
You should'nt lock onto objects. I find this difficult too. But it's kind of a dilemma as when everything is blur, you try to see clearly and therefore stare in an attempt to see clearer, which is counter-productive and eventually causes further myopia. With 20/20 vision you wouldn't naturally stare anyway. At least that's how I understand it. Doing these excercises will make your eyes relax and hopefully produce results in the end.
i tried something today. i was sunning for about 2 minutes and went directly into palming with no break for 2 minutes. while i was palming i saw blue, that turned into purple, then gray. after i opened my eyes i had 20/30 vision until i blinked. is what i am doing ok? can it hurt me?and how do i make those 20/30 results last??
There is something to be gained from palming, but you seem to be placing too much emphasis on it. Probably way too much. Keep it down to five to fifteen minutes at a time once or twice a day and I think you'll be fine.
I really think you ought to start swinging. I think this was the key technique as I worked towards good vision. You asked for some help with it, so here's a description from someone Dr. Harold Peppard, someone who knew what he was talking about:
"Stand with the feet about six inches apart. Turn the body to the right, at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes and arms should be left at ease to follow the motion of the body as they will. Now place the left heel once more on the floor, turn the body to the left, raising the heel of the right foot. By alternating this action of the feet, the body and head are turned in an arc of 180 degrees. The motion is performed smoothly and easily. Do not pay any attention to the apparent motion of the objects around you."
Find the speed that works most comfortably for you. I'd recommend doing this outside where you can take in plenty of sunlight. I think that one or two hours of daily practice would be far more beneficial with swinging, shifting, and central fixation work than they would with palming. The importance of these techniques is that they reteach the eye the proper habits of seeing while palming only serves to rest the eye as much as possible in a short amount of time. Binge-palming is just going to make you restless and that's no good. Also, make sure you're blinking. Chances are you're not doing it as much as you should.
If you're after some assurance, I went from a prescription of -2.25 in my left eye and -1.75 in the right to consistent 20/20 vision and often better in just over a year. I wasn't regular in my practice and I was working pretty sloppily in the beginning. Improve your technique and keep it up. You're gonna be just fine.
there's just one problem, i need to fix my eyes before sept 2 because if i start going to school and cant read the board, i'll have to put on my glasses. please please help.i have to make them good enough to read the board in 30 days. tell me if its possible
now, i've been doing it for 2 weeks and i think my vision has gotten better. when i do a tight hard blink and hold it for 2-3 seconds and open my eyes, i can see 20/10 until i blink! isn't that amazing, but after i blink it goes back to like 20/80, i havent worn my glasses in 2 weeks
Those hard blinks are counterproductive. You're abusing your eyes, which is what got you into this whole mess to begin with. I've gathered that most or all people with myopia can temporary improve their vision with hard blinks, but the bottom line is it IS temporary and doesn't do anything to help you learn how to stop straining your eyes.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
Hard blinks will cause you headaches if you carry on doing them to see better. As it does for me.
But, This is a very good sign of improvement, I think. The more your eyesight improves the better you'll see with hard blinks.
Anyway, hard blinks are a very handy tool for emergencies, instead of using the glasses! For example if I need to read something in the distance, I don't actually hard blink, but I blink just a bit harder than my normal blinking and it pops out!
I have almost clear flashes most of the time in bright sunny days, Their frequency and duration is increasing. By the way, one way is to use central fixation. You can avoid the hard blinks and instead, look on a tiny part of a black object and imagine a black period there. It will start poping out, maybe slowly at first, but gradually its speed will increase!
the bates method doesn't work . i've been doing it for the last 1.5 months and i went to the OD today and there was absolutely no change. i practiced very vigorously, and didnt even touch my glasses for the whole time. no clear flashes, no improvement, no nothing. i will try otis's technique, with the plus lenses, i have a pair of +2.5 lenses and will try but i'm not expecting anything
The OD has NO INTEREST in anything you are doing -- at all.
He does not want you to "progress".
I do not know where you are on your "Snellen", but I would
suggest reading the Snellens that I posted under
"Alternative Methods".
I have seen some serious over-prescriptions. It is
also true that a strong minus will make your vision
very, very sharp.
I hope you are in the range of 20/70. It would be
worth it to check, and veryify "clearing" by use of
the Snellen. You are more likely to "trust" vision-clearing
when you see it youiself. Why run off the an
OD (at considerable expense) when you do not
have to.
You must give the "plus" time to be effective. This
is true of BOTH Bates and the plus. But it does
take resolve.
You do not have to tell us what you see on your
Snellen, but you should write it down some where.
Be consistent -- if you read 1/2 the letters you PASS the
line.
From you discussion (about not wearing the minus) I suspect
you are in that range of about 20/70. I suspect your
"prescription" is between -1.0 to -2 diopters.
Also try the Snellen out-doors in sunlight. That is
a good baseline check.
Read with BOTH EYES OPEN. As your vision "clears" both
eyes will "clear" at the same rate.
The people in your "range" have been successful -- but
they truly "pushed" with the plus. It is not "easy", but
then nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.
skylin19 Wrote:the bates method doesn't work . i've been doing it for the last 1.5 months and i went to the OD today and there was absolutely no change. i practiced very vigorously, and didnt even touch my glasses for the whole time. no clear flashes, no improvement, no nothing. i will try otis's technique, with the plus lenses, i have a pair of +2.5 lenses and will try but i'm not expecting anything
skylin
Whenever someone says they've been doing the Bates method and it doesn't work, I examine what they've said about what they've been practicing, because I've never come across someone who seemed like they were on the right track and whose vision was not improving. Just two weeks ago in this same thread I said that you were abusing your eyes by doing those hard blinks. You didn't indicate that you would stop doing it, and it makes me wonder just what else you've been doing in the name of the Bates method. It's supposed to be about learning to treat your eyes better and see in a more relaxed, natural way.
Also, going to the OD isn't the most accurate way of finding out whether your vision has improved. It's about the most non-relaxing environment imaginable, from the psychological pressure to the details of the exam room setup, and anyone with a tendency to blur their vision is likely to do so given such conditions. Eventually, anyone should have better results in even those conditions, but it may take a while. As Otis suggested, you have to be your own judge. In my opinion, the frequency, duration, and quality of clear flashes is a pretty good indication of how well you're improving, though there are other signs too.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
