Vision Improvement
 

The Bates method is a system of natural vision improvement invented by William H. Bates, M. D. in the early part of the last century. From his observations of patients who wear glasses, he came to a few conclusions.
Eyesight can change, for either the better or the worse. Poor eyesight is caused by the strain to see. The way to better eyesight is through relaxation of both mind and body. Below, I shall detail the principal exercises of the Bates method. Practise them and you will be doing yourself a big favour.
Scientific validity
Despite its long history (and critics over the decades), no one has yet proven nor disproven the Bates method. To the best of my knowledge, there has been no long-term clinical trials on the Bates method. It may all sound very unsubstantiated and "alternative", but there has been thousands of anecdotal accounts of success. We must explore every possible weapon in the fight against the epidemic that is myopia.


Centralisation
This is an exercise to promote correct use of the eye. More accurately, it should be named "vision habit" for the simple reason that you do this "exercise" throughout the day, not just during the session.
According to the structure of the eye, there is a small point known as the fovea centralis. This is where vision is sharpest: in the middle of the visual field straight in front of you. By centralisation, one should focus one's visual attention at a single point in front of you. When looking at an object for example, look at it part by part; bit by bit. Trying to see the entire scene clearly simultaneously is going beyond the limitations of the physical eye, thus creating strain, which is suposedly the root cause of bad eyesight.
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~hanwen/graphics/peacock.JPG
Focus at a single "eye", seeing only that one very clear and bright. Let all the other "eyes" become dull and soft. Move your gaze gently around the bright shining "eye".
When you have accomplished this, focus on a different "eye". Now, this will become bright and colourful while others become dull (including the first eye you looked at initially).
Have you tried the exercise? The experience of seeing only the central part of the visual field clearly is called "centralisation". Apply what you have learnt here to all waking hours. Make it a habit and encourage correct use of the eyes: an important part of vision improvement.

Sunning
Rationale
The Sun is important for our health. Sunshine enables us to manufacture the Vitamin D that we need. Eyes that have been deprived of sunshine are pale and lifeless. Extreme sensitivity to sunshine is called photophobia. People who are sensitive to light and glare usually solve their problem by wearing sunglasses. But is that a long-term solution or just a stop-gap measure?
Sunglasses prevent our eyes from getting adequate sunlight and causes even greater light sensitivity. The more we wear them, the more we are sensitive to light. Hence a vicious cycle develops.
Benefits of sunning
Bates recommend that we sun our eyes. We can reduce our sensitivity to light and sharpen our eyesight. Many people have reported that their vision improve after sunning. If you are worried about the effects of ultraviolet radiation causing skin cancer or cataracts, you don't have to worry if you go by the following guidelines:
 Only do sunning in the morning or evening, never during the hot afternoon sun.
 Do a moderate amount for each session. There is no need to sun your eyes until you are sun-burnt.
How to do it
Close your eyes and face the sun directly. Slowly move your head left and right to let the sunshine reach every part of your retina. Notice the sun moving in the opposite direction. Breathe deeply and slowly.
After this, you can do a variation. Imagine that your eyes shoot laser beams. Using your "eye lasers", trace around the edge of the sun. First do in a clockwise direction, then change direction.
After sunning, finish up the session by palming for about 2 minutes.

[b]Swinging [b]
Rationale
Bates postulated that one of the main culprits of bad eyesight is rigidity of the eyes. Staring is harmful for the eyes. The eye usually vibrates very quickly. This allows images formed on the retina of the eye to be sustained. If the retina is made motionless, either by injection of drugs or hard staring (try it for yourself if you are not convinced) , then visual images will fade and you will see an empty grey field instead. To break this habit of rigid staring, Bates used the technique of swinging to make the eyes mobile once again. There are a few variations of swinging:
 short swing ( move the head alone )
 long swing ( move the entire body )
In both techniques, the aim is the same. Try out the long swing to experience the feeling. Then you will understand.
How to do it
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Face the front and do not move the head nor the eyes throughout the exercise. Gently swing your entire body towards the left, lifting your right heel as you do so. Once you have turned 90 degrees, stop. Did you notice that the room seems to be moving? As you move left, it appears to swing in the opposite direction, in this case right.
Now, gently swing towards the right, this time lifting the left heel but still keeping the foot on the ground. Stop once you turn 90 degrees. I know this can be a bit confusing (get your lefts and rights sorted out first!), but this is definitely worth the trouble to learn.
Benefits
 Relax your body, especially the spine and the eyes
 Teach your eyes to work properly
The swinging motion in the long swing loosens up the spine. The spine can store a lot of stress and tension after a hard day's work at the office. Do the long swing to un-creak those bones!
But the main benefit comes from seeing the scenery move in the opposite direction. If you don't do it correctly, the view will appear to swing in the same direction! Properly done, this will encourage relaxation of the eye, enabling to vibrate in a smooth and relaxed fashion.
Tip for doing the swing
Do not glaze your eyes nor look hard at the surroundings while doing the swing. Instead feel the illusion of the swing, let the world pass you by. When I first started doing the swing, I made the error of glazing my eyes, and focussed on nothing. I first realised this when I noticed double images during the swing, which meant that I was unconsciously crossing my eyes. So, do take note of this!

Testcard practice
Rationale
One of William Bates' recommendations was to let school-children practise reading eye charts every morning. He discovered that practice does make perfect. In one of his experiments, he discovered that practising reading eye charts improved children's eyesight.
Some critics have pointed out that due to the "learning effect", people may have simply memorised each letter. However, it is not a matter of memorising the chart, as a different one was used during each eyesight examination. Bates concluded that the stress of the eyesight examination had a detrimental effect on one's vision. Through constant practice, one will get used to the testing procedure and approach the eye-test in a worry-free fashion.
How to do it
Get yourself a small eyechart, preferably on a cardboard base. Look at a letter that you can see clearly. Go around the edges of the letter, slowly tracing the outline.
Close your eyes and visualise the black letter for about 10 seconds. After that, repeat with other letters. Breathe slowly and deeply all the while.
Finish up the eye exercise with a palming session. After regular practice, you will notice that the letters seem clearer and blacker. Yet some others have said this is due to the phenomenon of "blur interpretation". Any improvement in clarity is simply due to our own imagination. Well, try it out for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Clock rotation
Research has shown that the extraocular muscles play a role in the accommodation of the eye. The theory goes as follows: strengthen the muscles = clearer vision. You can try it for yourself, the results are usually quite noticeable even only after a minute.
Pretend that you are looking at the center a giant clockface straight ahead. Keeping your head still all the while, look up as far as possible towards the 12th O’clock position, hold for 2 seconds, then return to the original position. You must really feel the stretch in your eyeballs!
1st step (look at the vertical red arrow):
Look straight ahead - go to 12th O’clock - hold for 2 seconds - back to centre
http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~han.../clockroll.GIF

Next, do it for the 1 O’clock position, then 2 O’clock and so on. Always return to the center before moving on to the next hour. When you have finished one clockwise cycle (as indicated by the green arrow), do an anticlockwise cycle next.
This exercise will stretch your extraocular muscles, and will make them stronger and more flexible.

Eye rolls
This vision exercise is similar to the "clock rotation" exercise. Start from the 12 O’clock position, and slowly roll to the 1 O’clock place (without returning to the centre), then 2 o’clock and so on, until one whole cycle is completed.
http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~han...s/eyerolls.GIF

Remember to stretch as far out as possible all the time. Go slow, and do it properly. No prizes for the fastest roll in the West.
Again, this exercise puts your extraocular muscles through a good workout.

Near / far focusing
If you have read books on vision improvement before, you will know that they have been called many fanciful names before. But I will stick to one that conveys the essence of this exercise.
Near point stress has been quoted as a cause of myopia. It refers to the fact that people do too much near work, e.g. reading and computer. Near work causes the eyeballs to strain as they try to focus. As a result, the eyeballs adapts by changing its shape, becoming fatter and more circular.
This exercise will teach the eyeballs to return to its original shape, by simply by focusing near and far. Hold up a finger or a pencil in front of you, about 6 inches away. Choose a sailent object, e.g. a chimney, tree, flag etc. at least 20 feet (6 metres) away. These will be your near and far points respectively. Alternate between the near and far objects, looking at each for about 2 seconds at a time. Repeat until you feel your eyes really working, then persevere some more.
Simple?

The next 2 are not really exercises, more like relaxation techniques. Use them whenever you feel tired, have dry eyes, suffer from blurred vision.

Blinking
This one is a real help if you have dry eyes. Solution: produce more tears to moisten the eyes.
You can stimulate the tear ducts by squeezing your eyes shut really tightly. Then blink normally a few times, and squeeze again. Repeat a few times, and your eyes will feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Palming
This is when you cover your eyes with your palms. A few things to take note:
Do not rest on the eyeballs directly. Only put pressure around the eye socket.
Please make sure that your hands are clean. Introducing germs and bacteria to your eyes does not help matters much.
Gently cover your eyes so that you can see no light. In the darkness, you may see brief flashes of light. This is normal, and simply indicates the spontaneous firing of the neurones in your eyes. But if the light flashes are too intense, they may indicate that you are too tense. Loosen up a bit! Nobody’s watching you.
This is a wonderful relaxation technique for the eyes. The duration is up to you. It can be as short as 10 seconds up to a few hours but try to make it about 30 minutes: That's when the benefits can really be seen.

Hope this is of help to those asking questions about vision improvement.

*note, I do not promote eye exercises in anyway nor do I accept any resposibility for any actions resulting from your conducting eye exercises.

Darren

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Success=Work=Success!



[This message has been edited by DarrenMoore (edited 23 June 2000).]

Sunning is a good exercise too - close your eyes and move your head round in a figure of 8 whilst facing the sun ***REMEMBER EYES CLOSED THOUGH***

It also helps with your tan!

I've started doing eye exercises about two months ago and wear 40/20 eye glasses but I cant yet see significant results. I'll be glad hearing any success stories and tips from people who made it.

Hi amirfl,have you taken the very important step of getting rid of your glasses except for when absolutely necessary.This is essential.I have been following the bates method for only one week and although very slight,there has been an improvement.The main achievement so far is that now I am able to go all day without my glasses whereas before I would have developed blindidng headaches soon after getting up.I view this as a very important starting point and you must also keep an open mind and be prepared to stop TRYING to see.This is the root cause of stress which in turn is the root cause of bad vision.Have you checked out some of Mr Magoo's previous threads?Best of luck! El CId

El Cid, Thanks for the reply. good to hear that the bates method works for you. I'm trying to go without my glasses whenever I can and hope to see the results soon.

question to DarrenMoore\Magoo(or anyone else with few months of experience with the bates method),
have you had any progress since your last postings?

Good on yer Cid - keep up the good work and you too can have a Class one medical just like mine!!

Can anyone beat my record of three months from -5 dioptres to passing a JAR eye test?

Mr (Motivated) Magoo

Must get back to studying my grondschool notes now - 100% is the aiming point for each of the exams.

Nice to hear, Mr. Magoo. Congrats ! I am not among the pilots fighting for my medical, and haven't been close (or have I ? -1.5 and -0.75 is -2.25 ... hmmm I *WAS* only 0.75 from the new JAR limit, now I have 1.75 in "headroom"). I just don't want to be dependent on glasses, if I can avoid it !

I improved from

-1.50/-1.25 -0.75 diopter

to about

-0.75/-0.50 -0.50 diopter

during a few months. Should go and check my vision again soon - my medical is not up until january 2001.

The closer one gets to perfect vision, the harder to achieve the rest - so they say.

I never really liked the sunning/swinging/palming exercises - maybe I am too stubborn and oldfashined for that. I don't say they don't work - I wouldn't know, maybe, maybe not. The key elements in my improvement is not exercises (too lazy for that), rather

Wearing glasses only when absolutely necessary - i.e. flying, driving, at the back row of a large movie theater
. Alternately wearing weaker glasses as a compromise.

Wearing reading glasses (AKA "Computer glasses") for ALL near work. Wear them now, wear them while reading. Whenever I get home or to an office, I take my normal correcting glasses off, only problem is not forgetting them when I am out ! Reading glasses can be bought many different places in standard +1.0, +2.0 etc strength - the ones that comes with "Vision Freedom" that you pay a fortune for, are +1, +2 and +3 - if you can read form a foot away with +3, your vision is back to normal !

For more info, check my home page on
www.danbbs.dk/~lohse (Click "Vision Improvement")

and you can download the entire Bates Book from http://www.danbbs.dk/~lohse/vision/p...ision-book.zip - entirely legal, the copyright have run out, says he who did this electronic form of the book.

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dk-DP - ex-"DanishPilot"
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Show your nationality in your PPRuNe handle !!!

[This message has been edited by dk-DP (edited 03 July 2000).]

I found a mailing list for Vision Improvement a few minutes ago and thought some of you may find it useful:
http://www.egroups.com/group/i-see

Regards,
Darren

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Success=Work=Success!

Good place, that, Darren, I just joined it.

Should be a good place to get advice from fellow "natural vision improvers" ...

reduced prescription question..

hello, how i'm currently -4.25d left, and -4.75d right...

as for the reduced prescription glasses, how many dioptres do i need to reduce?


also.... can anyone explain the centralisation part?

Wondering if anyone can help for the more blind among us.

Gatwick is booked for a weeks time and I have -4.75 and -4.25 on the prescription. This is within CAA limits but the prescription was from last November and I do feel that I'm pushing things a bit fine.

Are there any exercises to help relax the eyes in such a short period of time? What is referred to above seems to only have benefits in the longer term.

Ratpup

Sorry to let you know the whole Bates stuff is crap and BS

Refractive error is based on the distance from cornea to fovea and the refractive capabillities of cornea and lens. You can't alter this with excersises.

SR20FLYEDOC, I believe what your saying is wrong.

As I am aware the eye accommodates, not by a change in the shape of the lens, but by a change in the shape of the eyeball it's self, this change being brought about by 6 extrinsic muscles which control the movement of the eye in it's socket.

Bates' method sets out to help the eyes to accommodate better, and to teach people to trust their eyes.
"See what your eyes see, not what your brain tells you"

I speak as someone who practices the Method and has/is having success from it, as have many others.

I really don't appreciate pessimistic clipped posts that are full of doom and gloom. This forum is supposed to help people, and in certain cases give them hope.

That does not mean that people can not give their opinion and not agree with what is stated by others.

Accommodation of the eye is not achieved by the extrinsic eyemuscles, they are used to move the eyeball in the socket.

The accommodation is achieved by changing shape of the lens.

The refractive error is due to a mismatch between the lens and size of the eye.

FD

FD, I have no problem with people giving their opinions, but to say;
"The Bates method is crap and BS", is a rather uneducated and blunt comment don't you think??!

And in my opinion, the eyes do accommodate by use of the extrinsic muscles, as this is what W.H. Bates believed...
Just an opinion.

Speedbird,

Blunt yes, uneducated no.

Although I am safely within the limits for my medical and a very happy contact lens user I would love to be able to do without them.

I am not an ophthamologist but have done probably more ophthamology during my training than most other GPs, and given my self-interest did pay some attention when this subject came up.

The Bates method was developed in the early part of the 19th century when a lot of anatomy and physiology had not been 'discovered'

As we now know some theories need revision when new information becomes available, just today I saw that Stephen H is revising his take on 'black holes'

There are some factions in life who think that 'medicine' can not accept anything which does not fit in with its conventions. Reality is that there is no evidence that the Bates method works nor that the principles on which it is based are correct.

FD

Guys,

Regardless of the validity of Bates' ideas, what I sought was some sort of advice on methods to relax my eyes before this Class 1 next week.

Instead we have some kind of sidetracking argument over the empirical worth of some eye doctor's theories. I, like most people on this forum, am no opthalmologist.

However, my crude knowledge does extend as far as to indicate that my shortsightedness is within the CAA's limits - but only just.

It is for this reason (and not a desire to prove or disprove someone's faith in another person's work) that I am asking anyone with some common sense answer to the following questions to give me their thoughts which will be received with gratitude:

How can I relax my eyes before a sight test to ensure that they work as well as possible for me? How do I avoid straining my eyes? As a wearer of both contacts and glasses, what should I wear to the medical?

Ratpup:hmm:

I think the CAA wants you not to wear contacts before you do a medical with them. Not sure.

If you wear contacts it takes some time before your eyes have returned to 'normal' and you can establish properly the refractive correction needed.

From my own experience it seems that the refractive error measured is usually smaller just after taking the contacts out.

FD

This is a bit different from relaxation techniques but relevant to an aviation eye examination.

I'm not a medic or anything like that but have been doing quite a bit on Colour Vision lately and came across an article on the AOPA USA web-site, from which the following excerpt is taken.

I'm not suggesting that you or anyone else on PPRuNe uses this drug but this could be worth noting.

"And if you are thinking that color vision problems do not apply to you, remember this: Taking the anti-impotency drug Viagra may affect color vision. Don't go to see your AME for your medical until at least six hours after taking the drug."

I would be very interested to hear the opinions of any medically qualified persons on the relationship between the two.

Good luck with the medical,

2close

The relationship between taking Viagra and problems with colour perception are well documented. It affects the blue/green perception hence the warning not only not to take it before you go and see your AME but also not to take it 6 before you go and fly.

FD