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<![CDATA[Eyesight Improvement Forum - FAQ]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/ Sun, 28 Apr 2024 04:16:32 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Questions I get often]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2652 Sun, 15 Dec 2013 02:14:18 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2652
1) I understand the shape of the eye and cornea determines how well we see. If we relax the outter muscles, does the shape of the eye change back to its normal shape? Is this what bates thought?

I don't know about Bates's opinion on this, but I do know Peter Grunwald who developed the Eyebody Method believes this. The eyeball returns to its normal healthy round shape as the extra-ocular muscles relax. During a workshop Peter told us his eyeball measured that he should still be wearing -1 glasses (he used to wear -10), even though he could see 20/20 with no glasses. He said the perfect round shape lags behind the vision improvement. But if I could see 20/20, I wouldn't care WHAT shape my eyeballs were! Also remember the eye is a ball filled with fluid, so it shouldn't stay in an elongated shape unless you keep straining.

2) Did you have double vision or ghosting due to astigmatism? were you able to successfully get rid of it? I wore a pair of -1D cly glasses which i believed was an overprescription and caused my eye problems to increase.

The -1.75 CYL correction I wore for most of my life was the first thing to be removed from my glasses when I saw a behavioral optometrist. I don't remember any double vision but the CYL may have prevented me from seeing that. Now, without any correction at all, my vision is not always perfectly sharp and clear, especially if I'm getting tired, but I can't say I experience any double vision. My posture is much straighter now than it used to be when I was younger. See this article for astigmatism info: http://www.iblindness.org/1051/yes-but-i...tigmatism/

3) What's your opinion on plus lenses? There are a few people who had success with plus lenses and it seems logical. I first read about them in a book called "take off your glasses and see" by Jacob liberman.

My behavioral optometrist used to offer "opposite glasses" to his patients when I studied with him, to wear for short periods, plus glasses for the myopic and minus ones for the farsighted, to break up their habitual seeing pattern. It made sense to me, but I was so seriously myopic, anything which made things even MORE blurry wasn't something I was interested in. As my vision has improved, my goal is to see well without glasses, so I am still not interested in wearing them, either for correction or for therapy. So I don't have much personal experience to offer on this topic. I'd just remind you that this is a tool, not an end in itself, to teach you better how to use your eyes and mind in a relaxed way.

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OK, end of questions and answers. I hope that was helpful. Please don't send me PMs when you can ask here, and get the benefit of everyone's knowledge besides mine.]]>
1) I understand the shape of the eye and cornea determines how well we see. If we relax the outter muscles, does the shape of the eye change back to its normal shape? Is this what bates thought?

I don't know about Bates's opinion on this, but I do know Peter Grunwald who developed the Eyebody Method believes this. The eyeball returns to its normal healthy round shape as the extra-ocular muscles relax. During a workshop Peter told us his eyeball measured that he should still be wearing -1 glasses (he used to wear -10), even though he could see 20/20 with no glasses. He said the perfect round shape lags behind the vision improvement. But if I could see 20/20, I wouldn't care WHAT shape my eyeballs were! Also remember the eye is a ball filled with fluid, so it shouldn't stay in an elongated shape unless you keep straining.

2) Did you have double vision or ghosting due to astigmatism? were you able to successfully get rid of it? I wore a pair of -1D cly glasses which i believed was an overprescription and caused my eye problems to increase.

The -1.75 CYL correction I wore for most of my life was the first thing to be removed from my glasses when I saw a behavioral optometrist. I don't remember any double vision but the CYL may have prevented me from seeing that. Now, without any correction at all, my vision is not always perfectly sharp and clear, especially if I'm getting tired, but I can't say I experience any double vision. My posture is much straighter now than it used to be when I was younger. See this article for astigmatism info: http://www.iblindness.org/1051/yes-but-i...tigmatism/

3) What's your opinion on plus lenses? There are a few people who had success with plus lenses and it seems logical. I first read about them in a book called "take off your glasses and see" by Jacob liberman.

My behavioral optometrist used to offer "opposite glasses" to his patients when I studied with him, to wear for short periods, plus glasses for the myopic and minus ones for the farsighted, to break up their habitual seeing pattern. It made sense to me, but I was so seriously myopic, anything which made things even MORE blurry wasn't something I was interested in. As my vision has improved, my goal is to see well without glasses, so I am still not interested in wearing them, either for correction or for therapy. So I don't have much personal experience to offer on this topic. I'd just remind you that this is a tool, not an end in itself, to teach you better how to use your eyes and mind in a relaxed way.

-------------------------------------------------------------

OK, end of questions and answers. I hope that was helpful. Please don't send me PMs when you can ask here, and get the benefit of everyone's knowledge besides mine.]]> <![CDATA[Will I have to keep doing exercises forever?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1486 Sun, 30 May 2010 07:55:51 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1486 <![CDATA[How do you convert between 20/x and diopters?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1485 Sat, 29 May 2010 21:42:57 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1485 How do you convert between acuity (noted as 20/50, 20/100, etc.) and a glasses prescription in diopters (-2, -5, etc.) ?

You can probably find someone to suggest a conversion table or another way to convert it, but there is no such conversion. It's two different things that only correlate very roughly, and even then only sometimes.

Acuity is a subjective measurement of what sized letters you can read on an eye chart at 20ft. Other than your quality of vision, this will vary by lighting levels, the chart used, and how good of a guesser you are. A diopter is the unit of measurement used for prescribing glasses to "correct" your vision for either distance (20ft or farther) or reading distance (18in). It is determined by calculations involving the light rays not being focused properly by your eyes and how much of an angle is needed to correct it. There is also usually at least a small amount of astigmatism correction noted in the prescription. Various conditions or diseases will affect how well you actually see. Misusing your eyes by a greater or lesser amount than you habitually do will affect it as well.

Diopters should be of little or no concern to people improving their vision. You can't easily measure it yourself, and it doesn't correlate well to how well you actually see, whereas an eye chart is a much better representation of the changes in your vision over time.]]> How do you convert between acuity (noted as 20/50, 20/100, etc.) and a glasses prescription in diopters (-2, -5, etc.) ?

You can probably find someone to suggest a conversion table or another way to convert it, but there is no such conversion. It's two different things that only correlate very roughly, and even then only sometimes.

Acuity is a subjective measurement of what sized letters you can read on an eye chart at 20ft. Other than your quality of vision, this will vary by lighting levels, the chart used, and how good of a guesser you are. A diopter is the unit of measurement used for prescribing glasses to "correct" your vision for either distance (20ft or farther) or reading distance (18in). It is determined by calculations involving the light rays not being focused properly by your eyes and how much of an angle is needed to correct it. There is also usually at least a small amount of astigmatism correction noted in the prescription. Various conditions or diseases will affect how well you actually see. Misusing your eyes by a greater or lesser amount than you habitually do will affect it as well.

Diopters should be of little or no concern to people improving their vision. You can't easily measure it yourself, and it doesn't correlate well to how well you actually see, whereas an eye chart is a much better representation of the changes in your vision over time.]]> <![CDATA[How can I address my child's vision problem?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1479 Thu, 20 May 2010 20:28:26 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1479 <![CDATA[Can I keep wearing my glasses?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1478 Thu, 20 May 2010 20:26:29 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1478
Try pinhole glasses if you need to wear something sometimes. They still have the drawback of helping to produce a sort of clear vision despite continuing misuse of the eyes, but people often find for whatever reason that wearing pinhole glasses results in a feeling of instant relief for the eyes, as if much of the eyestrain just disappears, whereas prescription glasses do not help produce the same beneficial feeling.]]>
Try pinhole glasses if you need to wear something sometimes. They still have the drawback of helping to produce a sort of clear vision despite continuing misuse of the eyes, but people often find for whatever reason that wearing pinhole glasses results in a feeling of instant relief for the eyes, as if much of the eyestrain just disappears, whereas prescription glasses do not help produce the same beneficial feeling.]]> <![CDATA[What about other vision improvement programs?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1477 Thu, 20 May 2010 20:14:44 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1477 <![CDATA[What is a clear flash? Is it real or just an optical trick?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1476 Thu, 20 May 2010 20:11:05 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1476
The misunderstanding about this revolves around the fact that there are certain misleading ways that vision can be "improved" temporarily. I have "improved" in quotes because such ways do not improve the process of vision as a way to correctly use the eyes without strain and promote good vision long term. These include:

* Squeezing the eyes shut tightly and opening them
* Narrowing the eyelids (squinting)
* Producing heavy tears

These are optical tricks having to do with the way light enters the eye and possibly the shape of the cornea or other unknown factors. They are not recommended. They can't be maintained as a way to support correct use of the eyes, and they may even be harmful long term as much as glasses are in the aspect of incorrect biofeedback.

With sudden clear vision that is "real", or in other words produced by the visual system as a response to the support received in the process of correct use of the eyes, people also commonly feel different in a variety of ways. Their eyes may feel lighter, other muscles in their body may relax such as in the face, neck or shoulders, they feel mentally calmer or quieter, and various other physical or emotional sensations.]]>
The misunderstanding about this revolves around the fact that there are certain misleading ways that vision can be "improved" temporarily. I have "improved" in quotes because such ways do not improve the process of vision as a way to correctly use the eyes without strain and promote good vision long term. These include:

* Squeezing the eyes shut tightly and opening them
* Narrowing the eyelids (squinting)
* Producing heavy tears

These are optical tricks having to do with the way light enters the eye and possibly the shape of the cornea or other unknown factors. They are not recommended. They can't be maintained as a way to support correct use of the eyes, and they may even be harmful long term as much as glasses are in the aspect of incorrect biofeedback.

With sudden clear vision that is "real", or in other words produced by the visual system as a response to the support received in the process of correct use of the eyes, people also commonly feel different in a variety of ways. Their eyes may feel lighter, other muscles in their body may relax such as in the face, neck or shoulders, they feel mentally calmer or quieter, and various other physical or emotional sensations.]]> <![CDATA[How long will it take?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1475 Thu, 20 May 2010 19:54:22 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1475 at least half an hour per day of practice, preferably with the feedback assistance of an eye chart at least some of the time, and the rest of the day you should apply what you learned during the practice time.]]> at least half an hour per day of practice, preferably with the feedback assistance of an eye chart at least some of the time, and the rest of the day you should apply what you learned during the practice time.]]> <![CDATA[Will it work for me?]]> https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1474 Thu, 20 May 2010 19:50:40 +0000 https://www.iblindness.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=1474 Will the Bates method work for my _____ condition?

It depends. This is an educational process that requires you spend some time at nearly every day to make any progress. There are many cases of reversing common conditions such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, as well as correcting conditions such as strabismus. There have been cases of improvement or complete recovery from diseases of the eye such as cataract, glaucoma and inflammations. There is disagreement on precisely how these various conditions are benefited, but the common factor among them all seems to be a misuse of the eyes leading to feelings of eyestrain and tension. When people relearn to use their eyes in the correct way, the entire visual system appears to work as a cohesive unit to self-correct and promote clear vision, whatever it takes.]]> Will the Bates method work for my _____ condition?

It depends. This is an educational process that requires you spend some time at nearly every day to make any progress. There are many cases of reversing common conditions such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, as well as correcting conditions such as strabismus. There have been cases of improvement or complete recovery from diseases of the eye such as cataract, glaucoma and inflammations. There is disagreement on precisely how these various conditions are benefited, but the common factor among them all seems to be a misuse of the eyes leading to feelings of eyestrain and tension. When people relearn to use their eyes in the correct way, the entire visual system appears to work as a cohesive unit to self-correct and promote clear vision, whatever it takes.]]>