First interview: Esther Joy van der Werf
The Rumble link for the video is HERE. Esther has been busy for decades treating vision without drugs, supplements, or corrective lenses. Since the plandemic, most of her clients have been online. She was kind enough to answer every question I could think of. I learned more in an hour with her than in all the expensive optometry and ophthalmology visits of my entire life.
Since I learned all this, I have been barely using my glasses and have been practicing sungazing and some of her other techniques. I have an appointment with Esther next week and will report back.
References
Her main website is www.VisionsOfJoy.org.
Optimal Eyesight is Esther’s book. It explains how eyestrain leads to myopia, astigmatism, dry eyes, light sensitivity, night blindness, computer vision syndrome, amblyopia, and strabismus and what you can do about it.
To avoid or eliminate the need for reading glasses, see Read Without Glasses at Any Age.
The Better Eyesight Podcast discusses Dr. Bates’s original work. I am subscribed.
For tips on improving your eyesight naturally and information on upcoming classes, sign up for Visions of Joy News.
HERE is another Esther Joy interview about reversing astigmatism.
Second interview: my physician friend John
John pulls no punches about what is being done to our eyes by the vision “profession:”
Transcript, abridged for clarity:
My story started at eleven when I had trouble seeing the blackboard. The ophthalmologist gave me glasses with a two-and-a-half diopter correction. These prevented me from playing soccer with my friends, skiing, and other activities. I was told that I would go blind without them.
With or without the glasses, I couldn’t see correctly. With the lenses, I was so dizzy that I sometimes vomited. My brain was not used to getting all that correction, and it caused massive psychological trauma.
I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what, why it happened, or how it started progressing. The ophthalmologist told me to always wear glasses, even for reading. This was almost impossible because of the high correction. I couldn’t see the letters in the books, but he said I must push on and get used to it.
Later, I learned that’s the worst thing you can do. Wearing glasses for long periods or reading is an abomination. I was so uncomfortable that I spent most of my time without glasses. Life went by, and many years later, I tried contact lenses.
That restarted the myopia. I was stuck at two and a half diopters; then later, I got severely poisoned by ethyl mercury from contact lens eye drops. Many eye drops and lubricants contain this, which has been camouflaged with the name “thimerosal.”
After several years, I became allergic to mercury, and it began to burn my corneas. This is a separate and more acutely severe illness than mercury toxicity. I was in my early 20s, and I was told that if I did not get a corneal transplant, I would go blind.
My doctors suggested semi-rigid contact lenses, which helped, and when I stopped all the drops except saline, my eye irritation improved. As this happened, I was undergoing many years of surgery, studying medical books, and other close-up work. Then, after 30 years, the contacts began ulcerating my eyes.
I couldn’t see well with glasses, so the optometrist gave me another set of contacts. At this point, I was 5.5 diopters. She decided to increase my correction to six, which brought back all my childhood trauma.
So I insisted on a half diopter less. She was shocked and didn’t like the idea. But wearing the new lenses, my eyes corrected half a diopter in three days. So I went back and told her to remove another half-diopter. After two weeks, I was 20-20 again. I had knocked off one full diopter in less than three weeks.
I started researching the topic. At first, I read traditional medicine because that was my background, and I had been trained to discredit alternative sources. However, most of the medical experiments related to these are ignored. For supplements and many alternative therapies, supporting research exists—there are tens of thousands of papers about vitamin D, for example. But these never translated into patient care.
I learned that myopia has been studied in lab animals by putting myopia-inducing glasses on them. Someone even did this experiment with goldfish. When the lenses were removed, every species reversed their myopia and returned to optimal sight. (As with everything in science, there are exceptions.)
I thought about what happens to our children.
As a surgeon in Africa, I never saw a child with glasses. Many of them were reading and going to school. Most of the schools were outdoors in natural light, and even if they were indoors, the lighting was excellent. After school, the kids would always go out into the sunlight and play in the natural light of the forest. But when I worked as a doctor in California, most African-American patients wore thick glasses.
Opthalmology claims that visual problems are genetic, but this is absolute nonsense.
That’s the same excuse used for all kinds of diseases—cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and neurological diseases. Whenever genetics are blamed, no progress is ever made. That is the point—we are trained to fail diagnostically and prescribe drugs. I think the psychopaths are doing this to us purposefully.
I learned that the eye treatment industry is a financial juggernaut, just like the pharmaceutical industry. Glasses, contacts, eyedrops, sunglasses, and doctor care cost billions and billions, and nobody thinks much about it.
How does it all start?
Psychological issues are often critical. As a child, you come from total freedom, and then suddenly, you are locked in a room and fed all kinds of garbage. You are required to do close-up work and reading. The light sources are often horrible fluorescent tubes. Hours and hours and hours of reading and studying, frequently locked into books.
In contrast, if you look at children in nature, such as aboriginal people, their eyes are constantly moving in all directions and all depths. Their focus is far, nearby, and on the other side. The head is always moving.
Books are pathological; for a child, it’s very pathological because he’s stuck with his neck bent, which means less blood flow.
Inside the eye is a flexible lens surrounded by ciliary muscles, which allow compression and dilation of the lens. This focuses light on the retina, and these muscles spasm when humans focus on close work at a reading distance for hours.
It locks in at a short distance, so vision is blurry when looking at the blackboard. This is a focusing or accommodation problem that produces myopia.
This muscle spasm is similar to what happens if you don’t lift weights properly or are stuck in one posture doing surgery. Most children experience this. They would heal if they went on a fishing trip to an island.
With this muscle spasm, the eye is functionally myopic, but it’s not myopic yet.
Here is what happens: You go to the optometrist or ophthalmologist, depending on the country. The examination environment is unnaturally dark. Usually, they try adding a half-diopter; when you read the same letters, it’s a little clearer. They give you an unnatural, overcorrected prescription that gives you “Superman” eyes. You are supposed to use the lenses all the time.
The third lens of the eye is its length, which can change by a few micrometers. Nomadic tribes, nomadic animals, or even animals in different seasons and environments may be able to adjust this slightly.
In myopia, the focal point is in front of the retina, which is why images are blurred. The eye has no way to chase that point. The opposite occurs in hyperopia, where the focal point is behind the retina. This can be changed using a lens.
When this happens, the eyeball is shorter. The focal point is behind the retina, but your eye can correct this if it strains. It can bring the focal point forward but not backward.
With a pair of glasses, your brain calculates the focal point. It reveals that you’re overcorrected, and the focal point is slightly behind the retina. The eye distorts the anatomy by elongating. It might be two millimeters; this produces several diopters of change.
But when that happens, your eye compensates yet again, and you start becoming myopic again. This is “progressive myopia,” and you need new glasses as the eye begins to deteriorate.
This process stretches the retina, making it thinner and more vulnerable.
The vitreous humor cannot stretch, so stretching the eye this way causes the plasma to enter and alter the composition of the liquid around the lens. This readily carries oxygen to the lens and may cause cataracts.
Therefore
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Retinal diseases of all sorts are caused by our efforts to correct myopia.
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Cataracts are common in myopic patients; this is also related to corrective lenses.
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Glaucoma occurs because the eye has been stretched, drainage is compromised, and the pressure in the eye elevates.
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In some cases, these cause blindness; our attempts to correct myopia are the leading causes of blindness in the West.
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Optic nerve degeneration and retinal detachment are also related to corrective lenses and the eye’s adaptation.
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By a certain age, if thick glasses are used, everybody has retinal problems, and some have retinal detachment. Ordinary, healthy people never do.
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Myopia doesn’t exist in the natural world; it is induced by civilization and encouraged by big companies. They know precisely what they are doing.
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Indigenous people focus their eyes everywhere and move their heads along with their eyes. They can learn to read just as we can.
Common sense is the least common of all senses.
It should be used to approach visual correction.
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Optometrists universally use corrective lenses that are too strong; they should generally be used to correct a half-diopter at most.
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Some people require a lot of time for this process, but others can speed it up and get rapid results.
When you’re reading, avoid glasses. You do not need them; they are too powerful. I was reading with 5.5 diopters, which made no sense. So I immediately went to using 2.5 diopters and could still read perfectly. My eyes were utterly relaxed. You can accomplish this using two sets of glasses.
You must be careful about driving; that is a different issue, and you should not take risks.
To improve your vision, use natural cycles and natural light, spend time outdoors, move all you can, try to see things at a distance, read signs, and read letters at a distance. Go out and walk. Never put your glasses on the first thing in the morning. Put them on a bit later. Let your brain know you have a problem you want to fix. It will take time.
Reduce your correction gradually. It takes weeks to months. Do not simply give your brain glasses—-make it work. Leave them off while you are in the bathroom. After a while, you will not need them for anything.
Avoid ciliary spasms by frequently looking away from close work and gazing into the distance. As you read, glance often at things beyond seven meters and then return to the book. Make your ciliary muscle pump your lens. Just a little glance makes all the difference.
Of course, we all have to work and read, but while we do, look at things from a further distance to test your limits. When reading, try to see your book from a few feet more. Log your results. Never bring it closer if you can see further. Work your eyes!
Form habits rather than doing exercises because exercises get boring, and you will drop them. Gradually move your books farther away and use proper light.
Reduce your reading glasses correction. You will progress, but some people need months or even years. I started at 5.5 diopters and now need no glasses.
Yogis have practiced sun gazing for thousands of years, and we can learn from them. Your eyes are safe if you stare at the rising and setting sun at dawn and dusk. The light must pass through more of the atmosphere than at midday. Start with ten seconds or so and progressively increase your exposure. This is healing and causes no eye damage. Do it without glasses and never behind glass. This blocks ultraviolet light.
Anyone with glasses or children should learn about this program. Some therapists can help. Putting glasses on young kids tortures them for the rest of their lives—it is a crime against humanity.
John’s references
“Eyeglass monopolies are ripping us off,” by Jim Arnold of Liar’s World substack. I’ll put this in a Parting shot soon.
Parting shot #1 from a reader
I was diagnosed with dry eyes that make it difficult to see. My ophtho gave me Restasis, an expensive eye drop. He told me to use it twice a day for life. But when I added vitamin D 5000 IU and vitamin K to my daily supplements, my seasonal allergies were reduced, and my dry eyes vanished.
My D level was 42 in 2014, but when it was checked after I supplemented D, it was 95. Every time I or someone I know asks their doctors for a D level in the last two years, they hear a new response, “Insurance doesn’t cover it.”
Yoho note: listen to Esther’s interview at the top to learn how to improve your blinking to eliminate dry eyes without a supplement.
Parting shot #2 from Polymath Paul about protecting your eyes
You may have heard of the carotenoids and antioxidants beta-carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin, lutein, and canthaxanthin, but have you heard of astaxanthin? One of the most potent carotenoids and antioxidants found in nature, astaxanthin benefits many aspects of health, from diminishing wrinkles to upgrading your workout routine.
Often dubbed the “king of carotenoids,” research shows that astaxanthin is one of the most powerful antioxidants found in nature. Its ability to fight free radicals is far higher than vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene.
Astaxanthin also helps decrease inflammation. Its antioxidant properties are believed to additionally protect against certain types of chronic disease and reverse skin aging.
Although studies in humans are limited, current research suggests that astaxanthin benefits brain and heart health, endurance, energy levels, and even fertility. Animal studies have demonstrated that the esterified type works best. This is the natural form produced when astaxanthin biosynthesis takes place in microalgae.
Astaxanthin is likely the best we have to protect the macula. My beloved grandfather struggled with macular degeneration for several decades. Losing his vision and ability to drive was like a death sentence for him.
It completely prevents sunburn for me, and thus I don’t need to slather on worthless, polluting, chemical-based sunscreens that kill coral reefs, bio accumulate in the body, do nothing about UVA rays, and only block the healing UVB rays that make vitamin D. Yoho comment: I did not verify this section.
Paul’s references
Astaxanthin Benefits for the Skin, Brain, Heart & Muscles
Myopia, a modern yet reversible disease
Get Affordable Eye Exams and Glasses Without Insurance
Mewing can replace your orthodontist Yoho note: I have not verified this, either, but it seems credible.
Epilogue: what happened to me?
After two weeks of practice and in-person instruction from Esther Joy, my visual acuity has improved. I will say more in a month or two.
Thank you for sharing this life affirming information FREELY to us all…
So interesting, thank you ! Have just realised that I occasionally wore magnifying lenses for close reading at night and now I need to wear them everytime I read…… my brother used to advise me to do exactly as specified in a section of your story- look up every few minutes and focus on an object in the distance. Also to look at green-toned things. That was seventy years ago now…..
I never ever wear sunglasses. Though if I worked in a situation with tons of glare I would, Such as being a sherpa or a mountaineer in snow capped ranges. Or if I were a fisherman.
I wear 1.50 glasses for my computer and have done so for 27 years. For reading books, I use a full spectrum 75 watt lightbulb/lamp and my prescription glasses. Or some 2.0 diopter glasses from Amazon.
If you are a big reader of books and magazines on paper. And your eyesight is not that good. Get a full spectrum bulb, 75u2013100 watts, behind you and shining on your book. You can test this easily. Go outside when the sun is shining brightly. Test how easy it is to read a book. I have loads of 75 watt GE Reveal bulbs . Full Spectrum. Contact me if you are interested.
I needed this. I wear glasses for reading and a different pair for driving. I seldom drive at night, but last night after shopping I drove home in the dark. The right lens corrected the vision in my right eye, but the left lens made the vision much worse in the left eye. I kept having to peer over then through.
And the cheap reading glasses I have now are much the same. I can’t afford new prescription glasses right now, certainly not ones with different prescriptions.
I will listen to this interview, and hope I can find something I can do to help myself. Before I turned 50 I had near perfect vision, never wore glasses, and could read very fine print easily.
Esther is available for coaching online, and her book has all her secrets.
Yes, thanks, I read the reviews of her book on Amazon, and I plan to purchase it soon. Already this morning, after arising I did not put my glasses on right away, and started becoming cognizant of some of the techniques she mentioned.
Thank you for the work you are doing.
Get an updated rx from an optometrist, then do Ester’s training and when you feel you have some type of results, go back to the same optometrist.
I don’t think they’ll be much change in your numbers, but who knows. Most of this is likely attributed to blur interpretation and pupil size.
Might be too late/hard to correct, but I hear John fine while Dr.Yoho you are so very feint. I miss hearing your input/questions!
John & Ester are both fascinating. Thank you!!
I was originally only going to transcribe this session, but John was so eloquent that I included it. Best and thanks for the comment.
Yu2019all are too kind to to mention my faint feint difficulty. Ha!!
Yes, Nama, you are correct. Dr. Yoho sounds so distant and faint. John is loud and clear.
In addition, I have been taking Vit D with K supplements for 2-3 years now, but not Astazanthin. I will be ordering that this weekend.
I followed your Rumble channel.
Check your D levels. Henry Lahore.
https://robertyoho.substack.com/p/269-doctor-tamara-santa-anna-and?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Flahore&utm_medium=reader2
sign up for my substack at robertyoho.substack.com to get all content.
I was Rxu2019d reading glasses in 9th grade which I wore through HS. Off to college, I stopped, my eyes improved and at nearly 67yo I read perfectly w/o them.
When I was a kid in the 1970s my sister was diagnosed with learning disabilities. For some reason, my parents had the idea to take her to Vision Training, taught by an opthamalogist trained at the Giselle (Sic) Institute.
After a pretty intense vision training program, her learning disabilities cleared up. My dad tried it next and he went from wearing Coke bottle glasses to 20/20 in about a year.
The idea was that you train your brain rather than your eyes
I went next, and went from being a kid who was fast becoming nearsighted to 20/20, which I remain to this day, age 63.
Everyone thought we were weirdos, but the results stand.
Thank you for this. I first heard concerns about glasses on a video that sounded like they would want to sell me something in the end, so I made a mental note but hadn’t researched it yet.
I originally asked for multifocals so I didn’t have to put reading glasses on ‘100’s’ of times a day, basically for convenience. But with increasing prescriptions every two years from then on, I wondered if my request had precipitated the deterioration somehow. Again, thank you.
I had the same experience.
Wish I knew all this befoire. Usual middle age eye change for reading. Then the first Caratact dropped to the center of my vision, only the 1. Went to the supposed highest-end eye center. The Usual film. What I got was a SLOPPY surgery, the cornea was left like a football, Astigmatism developed, did I mention the Wrong strength lens was used, and the eye burned for the next 17 years, not 1 Othomologist connected the two. When the second one developed it came, a better surgeon, the film developed. Bifocals were needed. BIG PROBLEM. VISION DIDN’T MATCH. I Saw Tiny letters. It took Lasix to fix that issue. Now yearly I need new lenses. And getting it right took time, and several optometrists to do so. I chose Zeiss lenses, if they were good for the Hubble I wanted the best. Today it takes a month to more to get them, if you can, the cheaper ones don’t work as well, and that is all they want to sell.
After my Son’s Qyuad Bypass he developed vision issues, The ophthalmologist said his cataracts had dropped. Turns out it was something in the Anethesia. And he wasn’t told what type was used, it has slowly cleared, leaving him sensitive to light, but not needing surgery yet. As he is 53 he needed Byfocals.
Heavy computer use is also a problem creating “DRY EYE” Of course Restasis is recommended. 1 drop, and I had an eye infection. Told the Cornea doc I didn’t want the crap. I’d read the side effects. Both my tear ducts are sealed, didn’t help much. OTC eye drops are a frequent daily must. Along comes the FDA, your Natural Similison DOESN’T MEET OUT STANDARDS. So it was pulled from the market. Not a thing wrong with them. Note: many OTC drugs were once prescriptions that newer more expensive ones were replacing, so they removed them. It is happening to more and more OTC meds.
If I were you, I would be sure my D levels were over 100 and use the rapid blinking technique. And speak to Esther. There is hope for us all, even me at 70. My vision is better after 3 weeks. Sungazing is essential.
Another invent the disease and then provide the useless cure. It’s been a pandemic for decades. I do not use glasses to read and try to keep them off as much as possible. They have been with me for about 60 years. I can’t see distances very well at least for sharpness.
My nearly 97 year old father has been getting shots in his one eye for many years. Now his good eye is acting up. He will finally quit driving in a few months. I don’t want to end up like this. You go to the doc, he finds a problem and then wants to drug it to death and you as well. No thanks.
Exactly.
From Rumble
“I got your Substack with all the links to her books and this podcast. Thanks so much. I am almost finished listening here, and already have learned a lot. She and you are both very easy to listen to, very well-spoken. Interestingly, I often use ASMR vids on YouTube to relax and doze off. My favorite and most effective one is SRP Asmr. He is an optometrist, and uses his calming voice while giving eye exams with his closeup devices, looking into your eyes with the bright lights, giving eye chart exams and color vision tests, checking for lens strength ( first or second, first or second ), etc. His practice is in England
Lol, thanks for reposting my comment from your Rumble channel.
another comment from Rumble:
“Thanks for sharing uD83DuDE4Fu2764uFE0F”
Thanks for sharing so much you are learning, Doctor. It’s so valuable. Great resources!
Another GIGANTIC topic. Another world of misinformed practices deemed normal. Dr. Yoho retired from surgery and took up dragon slaying! He uses the same precision, just a bigger knife. Thanks, Doc!
Dear Robert,thank you for all you are doing,and teaching me every time I read a piece you wrote. Do you have any insights about the newer HRT tibolone(Livifem), that is one of the most scripted HRT’s because of effect on post-menopausal woman’s libido.
If you avoid all the benefits of testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, DHEA, etc, and try to treat one symptom or two with a drug that does not produce the proven health and even mortality benefits of raising your levels, you are making a mistake. Read Hormone Secrets carefully a few times and decide for yourself. Those of us who have prescribed testosterone in adequate doses to women and men need no expensive adjunct for sexuality.
What a lovely human being. Her advice to trust your instincts over your doctor should be a mantra repeated daily. An Israeli friend told me years ago that wearing sunglasses was harmful. With light-colored eyes, I didn’t believe her. I just tried looking at the bright Cali sun and I couldn’t do a second. So perhaps my cool Ray Bans aren’t so great.
Thank you <3 In my 20s I wore 'cool RayBans' for a while too, which made me very sensitive to light, so I quit them as soon as I noticed that effect (only a few weeks after I bought them). My eyes are light blue/green, and I have no problem with our So.Cal bright sun. Give yourself time though, no need to rush this. Let the comfort of your eyes lead you, and use the sunning routine in Chapter 15 of my book Optimal Eyesight to help your eyes safely readjust to being comfortable in bright sunlight.
Thank you I look forward to getting your book. I recently switched back to glasses and wear them only when driving. I will also limit wearing sunglasses and do so only when driving and there is glare. Hopefully, with your book’s advice, I can ditch reading glasses.
I blink on and off when I sungaze. I do it every time of the day. I’ll let you know what happens to me. Despite Esther’s reassurances, I’m a little concerned. However, I thing the sungazing might be over half of the effects she describes. I cannot recommend this to others.
Thank you, Dr. Yoho, for the eye-opening interview of Esther. You asked really sharp and useful questions which made the interview extremely useful. I am going to work on the concepts learned.
So glad you posted about this. I read about Bates’ methods a long time ago, but couldn’t understand it. Fast forward 3 decades and over the pandemic policy period, I noticed a distinct decline in my eyesight requiring a switch to “new” prescriptions. I also found I was wearing them a lot more.
Then I came across a mention of Bates again on FB and so I did some searching again and came across Esther’s book and some podcasts.
I quickly read the book and decided to stop using any glasses (including sunglasses) and simply relax my eyes. I noticed a significant difference within weeks, using very basic relaxation techniques outlined in Esther’s book.
After that I booked a session with her. I haven’t worn any glasses for 1.5 years now. I have confirmation from my ophalmologist that my eyesight significantly improved although it is far from perfect.
The biggest challenge for office workers like me, is to get enough outdoor light but I’ll never go back to glasses.
2,000 UI daily, 1,000 was too low, so I upped it. Will see on the next blood work if it needs to be upped more. Also 5,000 ui A, and Lutein.
To clarify, this is vitamin D. To get my level of 130, I take 50,000 IU every other day. Results vary and blood levels should be monitored.
This has the potential to change our lives. I’ve spent quite some time today checking this out and will be working with the ideas. Her website is incredibly generous in offering a great deal of information, resources, ideas. I’m quite excited about this. I wonder if it could help with motion sickness, for example the learning to relax with the swinging.
very good article. I’ll see if I can run this by an eye surgeon in my area, that I know well. fingers crossed.
don’t expect objectivity
While some truth here, lots of things that don’t really work. This coming from an optometrist.
I really don’t have time for a long post but here’s a few thoughts.
Using the Bates method/sungazing/exercises doesn’t really improve ones vision. What sungazing will do is cause one’s pupils to shrink causing an increase of depth of field and an increase in the ability to see up close. Same concept with the really bright light someone was advocating. Great! you say.. it worked. However, not so fast. With smaller pupils now your night vision is worse.
In fact there is now a presbyopia drug out there that does just this called Vuity. It uses a miotic agent to shrink ones pupils temporarily. It also lists reduced night vision as one of the side effects.
Do some Dr’s overprescribe -sure. But most of the time without the glasses the person can’t function in the real world very well. With most older patients the prescription is usually pretty stable, and with many higher myopes, the rx will slowly drift downwards(as in get better) over time. (go up in teens, go down in 40’s-50’s)
But simply giving less than needed will almost never cause the prescription to go down – and I’ve had plenty of patients that have tried. I never had a problem doing it but really haven’t seen any lasting results, unless they were over prescribed to begin with.
Some of the dry eye info here is actually good.
If I was to try to give a formula for reducing myopia it would be this: Have every kid be outside for at least an hour a day and drastically reduce computer/cell phone use until after the age of 16.
Bottom line – specific situations for a specific person are often used as something that will work for most eye conditions for almost anyone, and unfortunately that isn’t quite the case.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I aways thought of optho as one of the least corrupt specialties, but in the context of what we see with the rest of medicine, the idea of no corruption seems far-fetched. The main point is that if the eye were just a series of lenses, ophthomology’s ideas would all be correct. But it is biological tissue that molds itself due to its stresses. Esther’s results seem to stand on their own to me.
Thanks for watching this interview and taking the time to comment!
I’d like to respond to some of your claims here, as it seems that you are not yet very familiar with the work of Dr. W.H. Bates, an ophthalmologist.
Dr. Bates’ way of sunning for the eyes is not at all like what is known as ‘sungazing’ these days. Nor is the Bates Method a set of eye exercises. Sunning the eyes, when done right, plus more time spent outdoors, absolutely does help vision improve. Bates’ way of sunning the eyes helps the pupil respond appropriately to light conditions; the pupils do not get ‘stuck’ in a small diameter, which seems to be your suggestion when you say it reduces night vision. Using drugs to reduce pupil size is obviously a very different thing, and not something I would suggest to anyone.
When it comes to helping someone improve their eyesight by lowering the prescription they use, you say that “simply giving less than needed will almost never cause the prescription to go down”. That’s likely true if that person isn’t taught how to release their eyestrain, but when they learn to relax how they see, their eyes adapt to the lower prescription, and they can continue to lower the lens power.
Dr Bates developed a large variety of visual relaxation techniques that reduce eyestrain, and he totally agrees that one technique may work great for one person while not at all for another. Not a problem: simply try one of the many other techniques until you find one that does work well. As eyestrain accompanies most every visual challenge, especially the functional problems, reducing it leads to clearer vision, improves circulation and aids the healing process. Why wouldn’t we encourage that?
It’s only fair to get to know the actual techniques before judging or dismissing Dr. Bates’ work. If you do, you may find, as many others have, that the traditional Bates Method is surprisingly effective. (As a tip: do read Dr. Bates’ own extensive writings, don’t fall for the misunderstandings of his teachings by others that resulted in a set of ineffective eye exercises.)
I’ve had many patients over the years say they want to try this or that method. I tell them go for it and note it in their chart. I have yet to see one have an improvement where they’ve reduced or heavily influenced their need for glasses. Maybe such a person exists, but I have not come across them after over 20 years of practice.
When you are nearsighted with a fully grown eye (not a kid anymore), no amount of relaxing the vision is going to magically reshape the eyeball and cause it to shorten although as I mentioned, higher myopes do tend to drift downward once in their later 30’s and onward.
Likewise, once the lense in the eye hardens, near vision is lost. You can somewhat help the situation if your pupils are small. And in fact the muscles/zonules that pull on the lense to reshape it while it is still pliable continue working but the lense is now inflexible. Thus, no focus up close.
There are some supplements/eye drops you can take to keep the lense of the eye flexible for a bit longer(mainly NAC), but in the end, age gets us all.
Sometimes not wearing glasses or underpowered glasses can get you to have better blur interpretation, but I wouldn’t really call that an improvement as the underlying rx is still there when measured.
If you were in my area I would love to see a person that was starting treatment by this method and see where they are at in a year. I am not so dogmatic as to not give a person a chance. Maybe you can point me to some studies as I really don’t see how this could work.
Hello ‘Hindsight 2020′, I’m sorry I don’t know your name, but I do appreciate your response and your openness to learning more about Dr. Bates’ method, despite your belief that it can’t work. It’s also really a positive sign that you are willing to give a lower prescription to those who ask for it, not all your colleagues are open to such requests, so thank you for that!
You and I both work with people who come to us with eyesight issues, but we live in very different worlds of experience. I came into this work from a personal experience. My sixteen years of mild myopia (during which time I refused to wear the glasses that had been prescribed at the beginning) ended after just two weeks of learning to recognize my eyestrain patterns and substituting relaxed ways of seeing. As I was only mildly myopic, going from 20/50 to 20/20 wasn’t all that impressive, I understand that. But my boyfriend’s vision at that time was at about -4 myopia with astigmatism and he used his glasses all day long. In just one month of not using his glasses at all, he went from complete inability to even see the eyechart from 20 feet (so perhaps 20/400 or worse acuity), to reading 20/50. That significant change convinced me that the Bates Method truly works, and I only knew the basics of it back then. His result was far beyond my expectations. You can’t say that this big of a change in one month was due to ‘better blur interpretation’, nor was it a ‘slow drift downward due to aging’.
So what is this then? A lucky exception to the rule? I don’t think so.
In the 24 years since then, I’ve delved deeply into the methods, and I’ve helped countless people improve their sight, so my experience is that not only can eyesight improve, in many cases it is actually easy to improve, you just need to grasp what it takes to make the change.
It could be that I am just getting the ‘easy cases’ and only the people who are motivated to explore what it takes to help their sight improve. I don’t mind if people think so. Those who prefer the quick fix of glasses, and those who believe like you do that the natural options can’t work, they will come to you and your colleagues, and that’s totally fine. I’m not here to tell everyone to do what I did, I’m just here to point the way to those who would like to explore the natural options for improving their sight.
Why don’t you call Esther and have a chat?
I donu2019t really have the desire or the time. Bates foundational principle of the lens not changing shape during accommodation has long been proven incorrect with the advent of high resolution photography and his theory was an outlier even then.
So I would encourage you to have a refraction done by any optometrist, then do all of Esteru2019s exercises and then go back in a year or 6 months or however only it takes and report back to us. I would be very interested in that post. Best of luck.
Your point on the argument being one of relaxation/accommodation verses a mechanical/optical misalignment is spot on in this case.
Accommodation/relaxation can certainly play a part in optometry but this is certainly stretching things way past where they are applicable.(in my opinion)
Via email from Glen:
Whatu2019s not mentioned in this article besides the eye growing in length making you more nearsighted from birth to young adulthood is that the nucleus of the lens in the eye keeps putting on layers, making it thicker and more refractive convergence putting the vocal point in front of the retina.
The lens gets thicker throughout life, and this becomes less elastic, which makes the cilary body unable to change the shape of the lens so that it cannot fatten up and create convergence/accommodation to near objects also known as presbyopia. Also in bright light there is the pinhole effect which only allows parallel light rays in that do not need to be refracted. Different light conditions can also account for differences in visual acuity.
I am not taking a deep dive into the subject matter so some of these issues might be covered in the discussion. –Anon. eye doctor
Thank you for this timely article, as I recently had a thorough eye exam… and had filled my reading glass prescription about a month ago. I HATE what my reading glasses do to my eyes, and my driving glasses are apparently slightly “outdated”. I purposely have not changed them in about 20 years, thinking that I wanted to keep the same prescription for as long as possible and not get stronger glasses. Looking forward to diving deeper into this research with the links you provided.
there is hope for you and I hope there is hope for me; I’ve had cataracct surgery and see well at distance but less well close up
From a reader and worth a look:
https://www.healthline.com/health/do-your-eyes-grow
Whatu2019s not mentioned in this article besides CI growing in length making you more nearsighted from birth to young adulthood is that the nucleus of the lens in the eye keeps putting on layers, making it thicker and more refractive convergence putting the vocal point in front of the retina.
The lens gets thicker throughout life, and this becomes less elastic, which makes the cilary body unable to change the shape of the lens so that it cannot fatten up and create convergence/accommodation to near objects also known as presbyopia. These things are missing from your article and make it hard to not get the whole picture.
Whatu2019s not mentioned in this article besides CI growing in length making you more nearsighted from birth to young adulthood is that the nucleus of the lens in the eye keeps putting on layers, making it thicker and more refractive convergence putting the vocal point in front of the retina.
The lens gets thicker throughout life, and this becomes less elastic, which makes the cilary body unable to change the shape of the lens so that it cannot fatten up and create convergence/accommodation to near objects also known as presbyopia. These things are missing from your article and make it hard to not get the whole picture.
I was fitted with eye glasses near the end of my 5th Grade. While in the 5th grade classroom, we rotated desks one a week to that those in the back of the room would eventually be on the front row. I was poor student with a bad attitude after transferring from another school from the 4th grade. My 5th grade teacher treated me poorly and often embarrass in front of the class. I became the class laughing stock. So, I preferred to be in the back of the classroom all the time and did not complete assignments.
Back to the glasses. We had free eye exams and was found to be near sighted. So, I was fitted with glasses for that as well as astigmatism in my left eye. My 6th grade teacher was wonderful, she was aware of my situation and took a keen interest in my performance. My reading level went from 4th grade level to 8th grade level in just a few months. Was it the glasses? or proper learning environment, I believe both. In college I was always in the 95% in all subjects except Grammar. I earned three engineering degrees have several peer reviewed publications but may grammar still stinks.
I hate glasses and went to progressive lenses in my mid-50s. I went 10 years with the same prescription then I just stopped wearing glasses and refused to go back for another prescription. My eyes became stronger and I could do many things without them. I started wearing sunglasses while outdoors most of the time. Eventually my near vision changed sufficiently that I decided to go back to the optometrist. Therefore I ended up with a new prescription that was weaker (better eye sight) than my old one. The new glass enabled me to better read road signs and improved my reading. I still hate glasses but the astigmatism is still there so they are necessary. I was able to remove the prism which was an artifact of smoking too much Mary Jane in my 20’s but the prism forces my eyes adapt to the lateral distortion. (Note: Lateral eye distortion is common to those that consume Mary Jane). I had the prism in my glasses for 30 years. Not wearing glasses for over 2 yrs. removed that lateral distortion so my new lens no longer has the prism. (Praise the Lord!!)
I know this was long but want to make it entertaining, I hope it was.
See you in a few weeks.
I found that using an eyepatch alternating between both eyes helped a lot. Like 30 min-1hr a day each eye even while just reading or using internet. I recommended it to a friend and she said her eye doctor was amazed at how her vision improved and they issued her a weaker prescription to match.
I did very much I enjoyed listening to your podcast, until you said you use a shock collar on your dog, Will now unsubscribe.
This was so good! Thank you!!
I knew this was possible. I had heard about using micro current and also PMEF but both machines are expensive and I didnu2019t otherwise have access to either. Anyway, plan on getting her book and putting some effort in to see how good I can make my vision. I currently only use reading glasses and stopped wearing sunglasses a couple years ago.
Did I hear her say something about viewing the eclipse?
What is the brand name of the astaxanthin supplement used to keep from sunburned skin?