With-The-Rule astigmatism and eye exercises

[falleninadream]

Hello everyone,

Its nice to find a community to talk to about our journeys !

I have a question about that WTR astigmatism and eye exercises, any insight would be helpful.

My current prescription is as follows :

OD : (170° -2) -0,75
OG : (180° -2) -0,5

So I have some myopia, but my biggest problem is astigmatism and those damn horizontal lines that appear blurry.

I did some research on that specific type of astigmatism and it seems like that is WTR astigmatism.
My cornea is shaped like an american football lying on its side and the vertical meridian is steepest, which means tension exists around that meridian.

Now about my question, some eye exercises aimed at reducing astigmatism include a form of stretching eye muscles.

In the case of WTR astigmatism, should you focus on stretching the superior and inferior recti muscles in order to release the tension around the vertical meridian ? Or is it the opposite and you should focus on stretching the lateral and medial recti muscles to counter the pressure existing along the vertical meridian ?

I do eye stretches, eye rolls and tibetan wheel but i am not able to feel tension in one specific direction. 

Thank you for your precious help !

[David]

Welcome, falleninadream!

I'd say no to all the above. See this:

http://www.iblindness.org/3822/introduct...beginners/

For astigmatism, with tip #5 in the above PDF, examine both of the double images, taking notice of as much as you can from each one.

[Nancy]

Hello everyone,

Its nice to find a community to talk to about our journeys !

I have a question about that WTR astigmatism and eye exercises, any insight would be helpful.

My current prescription is as follows :

OD : (170° -2) -0,75
OG : (180° -2) -0,5

So I have some myopia, but my biggest problem is astigmatism and those damn horizontal lines that appear blurry.

I did some research on that specific type of astigmatism and it seems like that is WTR astigmatism.
My cornea is shaped like an american football lying on its side and the vertical meridian is steepest, which means tension exists around that meridian.

Now about my question, some eye exercises aimed at reducing astigmatism include a form of stretching eye muscles.

In the case of WTR astigmatism, should you focus on stretching the superior and inferior recti muscles in order to release the tension around the vertical meridian ? Or is it the opposite and you should focus on stretching the lateral and medial recti muscles to counter the pressure existing along the vertical meridian ?

I do eye stretches, eye rolls and tibetan wheel but i am not able to feel tension in one specific direction. 

Thank you for your precious help !

The 180-degree and 170-degree astigmatism corrections mean that you've got a higher nearsighted correction in your prescription horizontally. That's where you've got the greatest strain. So I'd look left and right and left and right, slowly and gently, without my glasses (because otherwise you're fighting the prescription), noticing how this feels, seeing if you can make it as easy and strain-free as possible. Maybe this came from straining to read, with the horizontal lines of text? You also might try gentle massage of your temples, where the recti muscles start which are pulling too hard on the eyeball. And do without your glasses as much as you can, and consider a reduced prescription with less of an astigmatism correction. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Oh, and just in case you haven't read the article I wrote on astigmatism which I keep re-posting, it might help: http://www.iblindness.org/1051/yes-but-i...tigmatism/.

[falleninadream]

Hello David, Hello Nancy,

First of all, thank you both for taking the time to answer.

@Nancy : Thank you for helping me clear my question, when I see the following I always get confused:


It becomes even more confusing when I find contradictory information, one of your colleagues (www.forbestvision.com) indicates in a comment :

The regular with-the-rule astigmatism can be partly corrected by upward and downward eye movements. The regular against-the-rule astigmatism can be partly corrected by rightward and leftward eye movements. Smooth pursuit eye movements are more useful than the saccadic ones. The idea of this eye exercises is to decrease the corneal overrefraction in the steepest meridian by doing the cornea more flat in the steepest meridian to transform the toric cornea into the spheric one.

Source : http://www.forbestvision.com/controlling...sual-axes/

Both seem logical   , I would still like to focus a little bit on the right recti muscles.

Its been 5 months without glasses for me, I quickly realised I can do without, I only miss them when I see a movie and I know I am missing details. I already went through all the reading material in the website, including your very interesting article on astigmatism.

@David : Thank you for the tips, I subscribed to your mailing list and read the PDF. I am actually already practicing visual awareness anytime I can, which I find very powerful. I also went through your "revisited" bates method which I also find interesting. Nevertheless, in my case I feel that "Physical" relaxation in the form of stretches helps that "Mental" one I do when I practice visual awareness.

[Nancy]

It sounds like you're well on your way. The horizontal vs. vertical looking is a great example of knowing WHY you're doing an exercise, not just doing it "blindly" (ACK!). I suggested looking horizontally in an easy relaxed fashion, since that's where your strain is, seeing if you can still do the same right-left-right looking movement without trying so hard. The suggestion from someone else to look up and down had the same goal, I'm guessing, to give your horizontal looking muscles a rest! Hope that clears up some of the confusion. A lot of this work is common sense. Don't think so much! (I need that advice myself.)

[Shade]

I can only add that I suffer from a similar condition for a few months now. I see double horizontal lines. They haunt me wherever I look and mąkę me crazy. That's how schizofrenic people must feel and it ain't pretty. Seeing something you know is not real and trying to pretend that you don't really see it at the same time. It's a real nightmare for me. The one I can't wake up from. Ironically, I can find some relief only when I sleep.

[falleninadream]

Hello Shade,

I understand your feelings but you should try not feel so negative about it, especially if it has just been a few months. I know it probably sounds shallow, but you really should be thinking that sight is a gift, blind people do not even know what double vision is. Since you just started getting astigmatism this year, my understanding is that you can probably get rid of it faster than most (i have had astigmatism since I was a kid).

If you can't think positively about the process, I would advise you to use your glasses, nothing is worth the nightmare you seem to be living.

[Shade]

Thank you for your supportive answer. My vision problems began recently and I still find it difficult to accept and move on. Things would be different if I only knew what to do in order to reverse it. But, from the looks of it, even you, my friend, are not sure what to do exactly. I'm glad that you manage to keep positive attitude, though, and I really hope that you will find some answers soon.  
In the meantime I try to work with a book I have bought recently. It has been only two weeks since I started and it's still too soon to say whether it's working or not. In spite of my lack of hope, I keep doing the daily vision practices mentioned there. Every week there are supposed to be more practices added to the daily routine.
Waiting and doing nothing is the worst thing, I guess.
Glasses, on the other hand, aren't really an answer for me either. Not since I have heard about the Bates Method and the possibility of being cured.

[David]

Shade, it sounds like you're stuck in having no hope, as you say. I know you're practicing some things, but at the most you must be going through the motions with the small hope of "being cured" by them. The thing is, this is a process that demands you to learn what you're doing wrong and change the way you do things, not just be passively affected by exercises.

I mention this because anyone stuck in that pattern will make no progress and will inevitably give up before long. I would like to suggest a book or video to get you on the right track as far as having confidence in your own abilities, not really related to vision but just in general. But I don't know what would appeal to you. The ones I like are kind of new agey.

[Shade]

I have no idea how to determine what am I doing wrong or why am I seeing double horizontal lines and how to get rid of them.

As to the second part, new age or not, if it is going to help somehow then it's worth giving a try, because right now I'm depressed and don't know whether to give up and wear glasses or not. If you can, send me some titles, David.