I started the Bate's method last June and think I've been stuck in a plateau for the past month or two. It's actually been kind of discouraging me and I haven't been as diligent about it. My eyes are both -5D, and I'm pretty sure that if I were to see an optometrist, my prescription wouldn't have changed at all. That's because my blur zone hasn't moved. However, I can see better than when I started. The blur starts at the same place, but it's not as blurry as it used to be. I now see multiple images and during a clear flash, I see a clear image surrounded by other images that form a blurry halo. I still can't see perfectly clearly out of -4 glasses but can see much better out of them than when I first started. I also never wear glasses at home anymore, and I've gotten used to functioning with blur. The only time I wear any sort of glasses at home is if I'm watching TV, I use pinhole glasses. I don't think they're helping my sight but I don't think they're hurting it either.
Anyway, I'm wondering what is the optimal level of undercorrection for functioning at work. I bought several glasses online with different strengths, figuring I'd work my way down. Is the lowest correction you can stand the best, or is it better to be more gradual? I read somewhere that if the blur is too much, your eyes may not try to adjust their focus because it's so blurry they just sort of give up. I've found that, even with -3 glasses, if I glance up close, my eyes feel strained and overcorrected, but with -2 glasses, they don't strain at all. Of course, I don't see very well with -2 glasses. I'm a teacher and I've actually managed to get through several workdays with -2 glasses on and was able to function and not have anyone notice. However, I wonder if -2 glasses will not be of much benefit for me and just cause unnecessary hardship for me at work.
For those of you who have done this for a long time, have you had long plateaus along the way? I wonder if there is a limit to the amount of correction you can get. I'm certainly not giving up because it hasn't been that long for me, but I'm hoping to get some encouragement. I REALLY want this to work because I hate being dependent on glasses, but I'm feeling doubtful I'll ever make it to 20/20.
I have the same experience. My overall vision improves at a greater or lesser speed, but my blur zone--and thus my required prescription for seeing 20/20--doesn't seem to change nearly as much. I think this has to do with myopia being caused by straining to see at ALL distances both near and far. It's just that we strain more to see far.
When we hit the plateaux, I think it means that there are strains that we're holding unconcsiously, and maybe at such points it's worth shifting to a different technique to see if something else works.
I think it is a very difficult time, when after the first amazing progress and the overwhelming realization that 'it really works' and you already start calculating - if in a month's time I improved this much, it will take me only x months to reach 20/20 vision - then suddenly progress slows down or comes to a temporary stop.
Maybe our visual system needs a time of stabilization, before the improvement really becomes permanent.
It is also very difficult to measure progress exactly, because you can't really compare the blurr you see actually to the blurr you saw some time ago, the remembrance is not so exact.
Also with the changing season, the sunshine is less bright, the sun in a much lower angle makes the vision not so clear as it was in summer.
But one of the worst things you can do now is to put yourself under stress, that you should reach such and such improvement by now and constantly test and compare your actual vision.
By doing so you put a lot of additional strain 'on your eyes' , which is an additional obstacle to progress.
When you accept, that your eyes will take the time they need - even though there are stories of people who improved much faster - and enjoy being 'on the right path' and look forward to have perfect vision some day, even if it takes longer than initially thought, then it is much easier to keep your eyes relaxed and profit fully of the improvement you already have achieved and your relaxed eyes get a better chance for further progress.
I am also very impatient with my progress, but when I compare the way I am seeing now to what I did before I started my eye training, I am not dissatisfied: I can get along without glasses almost all the time and it really feels good, even if I don't see everything as clearly as I would like. And it will get better slowly but constantly, and some day...
It sounds as though each of you are going through an astigmatism phase.
If you already had astigmatism ,it is changing,or if you did not have any,you now do.
You may have to get an eye exam and wear a proper cylinder correction,with a reduced sphere.
About the only other thing you could do is eliminate wearing glasses completely,which would be best,but not everyone can do it.
Reduced prescriptions often cause more problems,that often are nearly impossible to correct later.
Minus lenses act a a stimulant to the eye. The myopic eye muscles are already too strong,and stimulating them with any power of minus lense is not good. Plus lenses act as a depressant to the eye,and can be beneficial to myopic eyes. You could try getting plus one glasses and try to use them for reading,and not wear the minus at all.
Bifocal (this name makes me think you believe glasses are The Answer, by the way), it's not clear to me why you think people are going through "an astigmatism phase", and it's certainly not clear why you think this means they need a cylinder in their glasses! Do you work for an eye doctor?! Plateaus are a natural part of any vision improvement, and I agree with Nini that the body and mind may need time to integrate the changes made so far, before the foundation is solid enough to start making progress again. If I have a day of poorer vision, the last thing that occurs to me (actually, it doesn't occur to me at all!) is that I need to wear glasses. I just think I probably need more rest, and to be more patient with myself and not push so hard.
