Hi, I'm new, and I have a question that maybe you can give me some ideas about.
6 months ago I stopped wearing my usual prescription and began wearing reduced prescription. At first it was a slight change but then I decided to go much lower. My prescription is roughly -6.00 with -1.25 of astigmatism in each eye. The glasses I am wearing now are -4.00 with no astigmatism correction. It is very hard though because the astigmatism is significant.
My question is, to anyone who has noticeable astigmatism, is there a particular order in which I should be working on my vision? Like, fix the myopia first, then the astigmatism? or the other way around? or both simultaneously? And if so, should I get reduced prescription to reflect that, i.e. if I decide to fix astigmatism first, should I get glasses that match my myopia perfectly but have to astigmatism correction?
My Natural Eyesight Improvement teacher, Thomas Quackenbush says; astigmatism correction in the eyeglass lenses keeps the eye muscle/muscles causing the astigmatism tense, maintaining and increasing the astigmatism in the eye/cornea.
Try to remove all astigmatism from the eyeglass lenses.
The angle, placement, type, amount of astigmatism in the eye changes frequently and it is impossible for a eye doctor to prescribe a perfect astigmatism correction.
The astigmatism correction in the eyeglasses keeps the astigmatism in the eye and can cause more astigmatism to noccur.
Also; when practicing Bates method, the astigmatism will reduce and may change as the eye/cornea returns to normal shape and the astigmatism is being removed.
The astigmatism correction in the eyeglasses wil not fit the changing, reducing astigmatism in the eye and will also prevent the astigmatism in the eye from reducing and being eliminated.
All Bates activities remove blur and astigmatism, so the blur and astigmatism will be removed together or one may be cured before the other.
Try to go without eyeglasses.
If you need them for driving; get plain weaker lenses, no astigmatism.
If you cant see without some astigmatism correction in the lenses; get a reduced astigmatism correction.
Be aware this will block vision improvement but not as much as strong lenses.
Quote:Maack> 6 months ago I stopped wearing my usual prescription and began wearing reduced prescription. At first it was a slight change but then I decided to go much lower. My prescription is roughly -6.00 with -1.25 of astigmatism in each eye. The glasses I am wearing now are -4.00 with no astigmatism correction. It is very hard though because the astigmatism is significant.
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Otis> I always request NO ASTIGMATISM when I am forced to get a minus lens. The OD normally honors that request, since it
is very seldom that that degree of astigmatism will "interfere" with 20/20 vision. It is very easy to do the coversion.
Just take 1/2 the astigmtism value and add it to the -6 diopter. Thus the value of the "spherical equivalent" would
be -6.62 diopters.
Quote:My question is, to anyone who has noticeable astigmatism, is there a particular order in which I should be working on my vision? Like, fix the myopia first, then the astigmatism? or the other way around? or both simultaneously? And if so, should I get reduced prescription to reflect that, i.e. if I decide to fix astigmatism first, should I get glasses that match my myopia perfectly but have to astigmatism correction?
Otis> I would insist in clearing your Snellen first to 20/40 first. After you get to that clarity, you can
work to clear your astigmatism. In general, if you clear to 20/40, you will not have
a problem with "astigmatism".
You may find that astigmatism is the first thing you notice to change. But I wouldn't recommend trying to focus on the astigmatism first instead of myopia. Just consider it all as blur.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
I got a reduced pair with full astigmatism correction and it doesent work well for me. Same or slightly worse strain/headache/nausea symptoms I get from full strength glasses. And I have -2.0 & -1.25, -4.0 & -0.25 at about 10-15 degrees on both eyes. Reduction was one diopter on each eye.
Next I'm going to try reduced strength with the compensation Otis suggests see if that works for me. I used that same method for contacts in the past although I never liked them. I think its because the compensation was on top of full strength resulting in -2.75 and -4.25. Going to -1.75 and -3.00 or similar, I think should work better for me.
Or maybe I have no choice but to ditch glasses completely to get rid of my perpetual brainfog. Problem is that I have to ditch about everything else in my life alongside. Fear of change. Horrible how dependent one is on these silly transparent plastic gadgets. Hmm.. awareness of the illusion does not always help dispel, does it?
I want to thank all of you for your advice. It's really heartening to be hearing from people who are doing this / have successfully done this. It's a nice change from constantly explaining myself to everyone I meet.
David Wrote:You may find that astigmatism is the first thing you notice to change. But I wouldn't recommend trying to focus on the astigmatism first instead of myopia. Just consider it all as blur.
That seems to sum up what everyone has been saying, and it's what I imagined the answer would be when I asked the question. I asked at a time when I was particularly frustrated with my progress and feeling that maybe I'm on the wrong track by wearing such weak lenses, but you've all reaffirmed that the best course of action is to wear no lenses at all. Which is what I've been doing for the past two weeks, actually. No more reduced prescription. It's tough working at the computer, struggling to see during lectures, and walking down the street not recognizing anybody, but other than those times I don't miss them.
Anyway, thank you again, and good luck to anyone else who is on this path.
Horrible how dependent one is on these silly transparent plastic gadgets. Hmm.. awareness of the illusion does not always help dispel, does it?
