Pulling sensations around the eyes

[Nanocyte]

Hello everyone,

I've been wearing glasses since I was about five years old, and over the last twenty years my prescription has gone up to about -7 diopters (about 20/800?). I also have a bit of astigmatism and I've noticed that I have a little strabismus in my right eye. I discovered the bates method about two years ago when looking into vision improvement, but I didn't take it that seriously and didn't really have any noticeable results.

I tried again about a year ago and got a reduced prescription and weaker glasses and contact lenses. While I was doing it last time, I found that occasionally when I blinked when I wasn't wearing my glasses, lines and edges would become clearer, but I would see double images. I eventually became able to control this somewhat and produce the effect at will along with a pulling sensation on the sides of my eyes. I didn't really notice an increase in my acuity though as I was still wearing my glasses and contacts quite often and only going without them for brief periods everyday, and I gave up.

I've finally decided to give it another try, and I'm much more dedicated this time. I've been going without any kind of lenses whenever possible, and I've just had my first weekend totally unaided by glasses.

Since I've been doing it this time, I've noticed two distinct feelings of pulling in my eyes. The first is the previously mentioned pulling on the sides of my eyes. I'm not quite sure if this is good or not. I just went for a long walk, and I had this pulling pretty much the entire time. I noticed that many things looked "clearer" while I had this feeling, but it was not an even clearness. This clarity was accompanied by blur and double images. I am occasionally able to make out signs and things with this, but its like I'm looking at a semi-clear image inside of a giant blurry blob with extra images obscuring it. It occurred to me that this pulling sensation might be my eyes releasing tension on only one axis causing an astigmatic effect, but then I haven't necessarily had any sustained benefit from this, and also I notice that my acuity was noticeably worse tonight when I came home. It also just doesn't feel right. It also thought that perhaps my eyes are trying to create clarity simply by producing more tension, almost like squeezing and twisting your eye manually to see clearly.

The second sensation is more in the back of my eye. This one somehow just feels better, I feel it very distinctly when I look at objects in my blur zone (which is basically anything more than about five inches in front of me), but I only seem to have this in the absence of the first type of pulling. When I was trying a bit of zooming, I noticed a tugging when I brought the object closer, then the same muscles tugging in the opposite direction when I pulled it away, or if I look at trees etc. I assume that this is my eyes attempting to release accumulated tension, and the sensation is pleasant. I almost feel like my eyes are lifting my head up when I have this feeling. I don't necessarily have a noticeable increase in acuity, however.

With the first sensation, I feel like my eyes are more locked. When I swing, I can do so easily without my eyes trying to lock onto anything, but I feel like this is almost because my eyes are locked in position in front of me. In fact, I think I get this effect sometimes when I'm swinging. My eyes do seem to be scanning at these times though, as I when I looked at an object with the intention of not moving, I seemed to sense movement around the object.

I'm more concerned about the first "astigmatic" pulling. Has anyone else experienced the second type?

I hope this post wasn't too long, and I appreciate any ideas anyone might have on this. Typing without being able to see the screen is kind of disorienting.

[David]

Hi Nanocyte,

A few things come to mind as I read your post...

A pulling sensation, wherever it is, might be chronic tension that has been there for a long time but you haven't felt. That's true in common tense areas of the body like the back and shoulders. People have back pain or poor range of motion and aren't sure why, and it often boils down to tension restricting proper use. Like when people get a massage and had no idea they were so tense until the muscles start releasing. I think it has to do with our minds not feeling a part of the body unless it moves, so something chronically tense isn't necessarily obvious until it starts becoming less tense. Or of course, feeling tension might mean it's increasing. The good news is you don't have to be sure which it is, because either immediately or soon you'll see the effect on your eyesight.

I'd avoid doing anything to make lines going any direction clearer. It's just another way of introducing tension and misuse into the act of seeing. Everything will be taken care of when you give up control and trust your eyes and the rest of your visual system to do what needs to be done to focus.

The swing is hard for many people. Keep experimenting with different ways of doing it - there's an unlimited number of ways of doing it wrong. I know what you mean about your eyes being locked in one position as you swing. As you turn back and forth, think about letting your eyes go loose, just taking in the light that comes into them. Don't try to see anything. If you don't see the illusion of movement right away, it's fine, just keep doing it.

Dave