From aeulenbe@indiana.edu Ukn Feb 14 13:04:05 1995 Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 22:55:45 -0400 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Reducing nearsightedness with reading glasses Status: RO X-Status: Here is the easiest, most common-sense way I know to reduce nearsightedness. First, get a hold of a pair of reading glasses (available at the drugstore for $10-$20). The power doesn't matter as long as the point when blur sets in is a comfortable reading distance away. Now, take something to look at: a picture, some reading material -- anything really, and hold it just at the point where things just start to get blurry. Now relaxedly scan the image. Look at each detail, point by point, breathing calmly and blinking regularly -- don't stare. The image should get clearer. Now push the image back and repeat. If you are able to do this while reading a book, great. But if you'd rather look at photos or an art book, that works just as well. If you can't get the image into focus, don't try harder; just pull in a little bit till it gets clear and then pull out again until the image is just barely blurry again. You are training your focusing muscle to relax (the muscle contracts to see things up close), so you must avoid anything that would cause stress and therefore contraction! Variation 1: do it with a patch ($3-4 at the drugstore or optometrist). Advisable whether or not both eyes are equally nearsighted, for three reasons: 1) it avoids the strain involved when two eyes must coordinate; plus, 2) it allows one eye to rest (pupil dilates = iris is relaxed; no light stimulus getting on your retinal nerves) 3) it ensures that one eye is indeed training, and not letting the other one do the work. Variation 2: Zooming. Take two playing cards, back patterns facing you, push one out into the blur while you keep the other one within focal range. Shift your gaze back and forth, comparing the images of the two cards. Move the cards back and forth. Be creative! If any I_SEE'ers can come up with a new variation, be sure to post it! ========================================================================= From aeulenbe@indiana.edu Thu Mar 2 06:54:47 1995 Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 22:55:13 -0400 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: "But I simply MUST read!" Status: RO X-Status: The first principle of myopia reduction is: maximize the proportion of time you spend distance-viewing. Since distance lenses (minus lenses) bring everything up close to you, this means getting rid of your myopia prescription lenses. Remember, when you look at the moon with as low as a -1.00D prescription, as far as you eye is concerned, you're only looking a meter away. So by all means you should NEVER READ WITH DISTANCE LENSES ON! Still, reading even without minus glasses is near work, the very near work that put you behind glasses in the first place! What should you do if you simply must read, and you can't stand having to "palm" at every page, and you don't have a window to look out of? 1. If your myopia is high enough, you can hold a book (or sit comfortably away from your computer screen) at your far-point. This will be enough to start pulling your eyes back into shape. 2. If and when your myopia is low enough such that it is inconvenient to read at the blur point, you will need some special equipment... ...reading glasses! You can purchase them at the drugstore for under US$20, and you don't need a prescription. Just walk into the drugstore and put a pair on and look at something at a comfortable reading distance. You'll probably find that the lowest available power (+1.00 or +1.25) is the best. Now you can read and look into the distance simultaneously! To find out where the "virtual moon" is, take the reciprocal of the lens power and read the result in meters. Thus, for a +1.25 lens, that's 1/1.25 m, or 0.80 m -- whenever you look at something 80 cm away in +1.25 lenses, as far as your eye is concerned, you're looking at the moon! And while you're at the drugstore, why not pick up an eye patch? No sense looking at a 2D page with 3D vision. Not only do you use twice the retinal forces that you need, you waste valuable brain energy keeping your eyes coordinated. You can keep your eyes super fresh and strain-free while reading by wearing a patch over one eye and looking through a plus lens with the other. Alternate eyes at regular intervals. For the first time in your life, your distance vision will be BETTER after prolonged reading! ========================================================================= From aeulenbe@indiana.edu Fri Mar 3 17:25:08 1995 From: c22at@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com Subject: "But I simply MUST read!" (fwd) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 10:02:24 -0500 (EST) Status: RO X-Status: > From: Alex Eulenberg > > For the first time in your life, your distance vision will be BETTER after > prolonged reading! > I found that the most effective way to force my eyes to focus beyond my blur point is by reading one same word over and over. I really worked in that after 1-2 minutes of reading the word, I could trace the edges of the letters that form the word. I usually do this every three/four pages of reading materials (ie. read four pages AT/JUST BEFORE the blur point, focus on one word slightly BEYOND the blur point). Do you guys think that this could accelerate/inhibit my eye training? Another thing that I notice is that I am becoming more conscious about having to focus my eyes at something near. The other day I was helping my wife to fix a piece of jewelry, and I realized that I was focusing to a near object (+/- 5 cm) w/ my glasses on!!!). Ouch, that hurt. This is the kind of thing that used to make my eyes more and more myopic (not anymore. my vision training have held my prescription constant since my junior high). If any of you are having progressive myopia, watchout for this kind of thing, and try to avoid it. Andy ps: Vic, what's the status of your bet w/ that doctor from SMV? ========================================================================= From CmdrGray@aol.com Wed Mar 22 01:31:10 EST 1995 From: CmdrGray@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 01:29:36 -0500 Subject: Vision Freedom Status: RO X-Status: Hello again, Thanks for responding to my post so soon. I already had the appointment with Dr. Westgate about two weeks ago. He said that he hadn't heard of VF or Mr. Severson. While I was there I just paraphrased the 60 page booklet I'd received in the mail to Dr. Westgate. He was familiar with the technique of accomodation to improve vision but said there weren't many studies on it's success and that in my case(-4.25 Left,-4.00 Right) there wouldn't be much improvement. I didn't get the impression that he was trying to mislead me or anything. From his experience and reading he just hadn't seen data pointing to vision improvement for anyone using accomodation or biofeedback procedures. I have to share a bit of my history to you: I've been under the care of Dr. Joel Halpern O.D. while going through orthokeratology for the past four years. Initially my acuity was in the 20/400 range for both eyes. After about seven months of the OrthoK I could see the 20/30 line on an eye chart with my right eye...20/50 with my left immediately after removing the lenses. Unfortunately, the effect doesn't last very long(eight hours max) and now the best I can see when I take the Ortho lenses out is 20/70R 20/100L. I am a pilot and college student studying Airway Science. My goal is to fly for a major airline but I'd rather fly for the Air Force. I could pass a Class I physical needed for the airlines as I am now. My hope was through, vision therapy, of increasing my acuity to the point of passing the Air Force vision test. From reading Mr. Severson's booklet this goal doesn't seem out of reach. If I could make drastic improvement with my acuity to say 20/60 in each eye with vision therapy or more specifically Vision Freedom I could get down to 20/20 using Orthokeratology. Why am I sharing all this? Dr. Halpern has helped me a lot and I don't w ant to lose his support. I originally asked him about the VF booklet and he then set up an appointment for me with Dr. Westgate to see if he knew anything about it and if it would benefit me. They operate under the same pra ctice, Halpern Eye Associates. As I stated earlier Dr. Westgate's news was not what I wanted to hear but I think he was being honest with me. With my next office visit with Dr. Halpern he told me about a seminar he'd just been to concerning the excimer laser and it's use for PK and how a U.S. firm is refering patients to Canada for treatment. Here's my dilema. PK would disqualify me for an Air Force commision as would any other surgical technique to modify the refractive power of the cornea. I'd like to go the Vision Therapy route but my doctor doesn't have any data concerning significant improvement for myopes or anyone else. While undergoing OrthoK I can't effectively use the techniques outlined by Brian Severson. Dr. Halpern told me that he would be more than happy to help me in any way he could but he'd need evidence of vision improvements in other patients, data, or something to those effects in order to justify the suspension of my OrthoK treatment at this point. Could you send me, Dr. Wesgate, or Dr. Halpern any information on other doctors who use plus lense therapy or the book titles you listed in your last message. I'd really appreciate it. --ps I the Prodigy Browser to get the FAQ at http://silver.ucs.indiana.edu/`ae ulenbe/ but it wouldn't accept the address. Is there another way to get it? Thanks for your time ========================================================================= From jonesm@swim5.eng.sematech.org Fri Mar 24 11:07:38 EST 1995 Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 09:48:32 -0600 From: Mark Jones Subject: Re: Distance glasses make all vision closeup vision Status: RO X-Status: [Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 10:32:43 -0500 (EST) [From: Alex Eulenberg You mean your myopia is so high that you cannot read at all without glasses? This is a very worthwhile question that leads to another question of mine. When I read without glasses, I must hold the paper 6 inches from my face. Also, I feel eye strain when I read thusly. My questions are: 1. Should I read without glasses anyway? 2. Is the eyestrain I feel temporary due to the transition from glasses to no glasses, or does it indicate that I need training in reading properly without glasses? I have often thought that it would be a good exersize to read without glasses, and that over time I would notice that I can hold the paper further from my face. I have resisted this impulse because I was concerned that due to problems I am not aware of, I may make things worse. This was probably an illusion on my part. I should probably just do it and see what happens. Mark ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Sun Apr 9 13:41:58 EST 1995 Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 13:35:27 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Vision Freedom secret revealed Status: RO X-Status: I_SEE member Mark Jensen asks about Brian Severson's "Vision Freedom" method for reversing vision defects. Does it work? Yes. Is it worth shelling out $100 for? No! Here's the secret... The technique for myopia consists of reading some text at farther and farther distances. This is only common sense. The problem is, most people's arms (or keyboard cords) aren't long enough to make this practical. So you wear reading glasses -- glasses for people who need the text to be pushed back in order to read it -- which accomplish the same thing optically. This technique is over a hundred years old, incidentally -- I've read about it in several books by eye doctors of yesteryear -- Chalmers Prentice and Joseph Raphaelson). Now you can send Brian Severson $100 for these glasses, or you can go to the drugstore and buy them for $10-15. Your choice. If your myopia is severe enough, you can practice bare-eyed. Now for people with near-vision problems, I don't see what you need extra glasses for. Using whatever prescription you now have, just bring the text closer and closer until you are able to take your reading glasses off and continue. Of course, if you're just starting to lose your near vision, you can start practicing without glasses. In general, you're supposed to hold the text at the farthest point where it's still readable -- that is, just barely blurry. In a matter of minutes, if you read relaxedly and breath calmly, the text should clear up and you move the reading material in the desired direction. This technique works well in conjunction with the shifting and palming techniques of the Bates method. Shifting: As your eyes go right across the words and letters, the words and letters (or parts of letters) go left, and so on. Observe the contrary motion of the visual image as your eyes pass over it. Palming: It may happen that the text gets more blurry instead of less. At this point, you must stop, cover your eyes, and imagine something pleasant -- often a crisp black letter on a snow-white page helps, but it can be anything of any color, as long as it's easy for you to visualize. Then open your eyes and go at it again. And what you're reading should be something enjoyable. If you have to struggle with the content, the mental strain will hinder improvement. I have used this technique with great benefit. It especially helps to cover one eye with a patch while doing this, and alternate eyes at regular intervals, say, every ten minutes, or train a different eye each day. What I find is that the effect wears away if you don't keep at it. As for me, I was able to bring myself to 20/20 from 20/50 with the glasses/patch method in about a week, then I got lazy and now my vision has slipped back to about 20/30. To be effective, this technique reqiures that you sepend at least a half hour at it each day, the longer the better. If you can do it several times throughout the day, so much the better. --Alex ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Tue Apr 18 03:20:21 EST 1995 From: Vic Cinc Subject: I Don't see it! Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 18:12:56 +1000 (EST) Status: RO X-Status: >Actually...that subject refers more to my math homework than >to my letter.....to those who have taken combinatorics....I can >bet it's stress on the eyes...yeah..definitely. I'll >blame my myopia and astigmatism on math!!!! :-) >Anyways - I was considering the idea of starting the visual therapy >(name? vision freedom?) that requires using reading glasses.....(I >am not buying the package...). I was wondering, is there a chance >that I may *Worsen* my condition...I was going to include eye >exersizes.....Please, anyone with any experience,ideas,flames, >gripes,complaints,insults and/or compliments, Respond! hi I have just got my first pair of reading glasses. simply getting them was a bit of a comedy. me: "Id like a pair of reading glasses" lady: "oh no you need to go to an optometrist to get a prescription" me: "no no, I want a pair of +1 glasses I dont need a script for that". lady: "no I dont think you now what you want". me: "yes I do know what I want, can I please have a pair of +1 reading glasses". etc.. anyway she only had +1.5 and after a bit of convincing that I wasnt crazy took them home. I put them on and eek. yuk. makes everything look more myopic then without them. Not one to shy away from any experiment, I left them on for a while. surprise surpise after the inital headache and total inability to make out anything more then the big E on my eye chart, letters slowly started comming out of the increased blur! so I tried reading. eek! had to hold to book quite a bit closer then normal. and again after maybe 20 minutes I could start moving it away again. so clearly my eyes were able to compensate for the extra +1.5 by becoming more -ve, in other words less myopic!! this is a very intresting phenomena, just where do the eyes find room to change maybe .5d in a matter of maybe half an hour? Of course when I finaly took them off I could read more of my eye chart. I put on my -1.25 compensating (normal) glasses which were prescribed to give around 20/40 and I was reading the 20/20 line with ease and bits of the line underneath! the effect didnt last too long but obviously with daily usage it would become more and more permanent. so the answer to your question is your eyes will adjust to the glasses and become less myopic. keep reading matter at the border line of visibility and beyond to get a good effect. give yourself frequent rest as well. Vic From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Sun May 28 11:57:54 EST 1995 Date: Sun, 28 May 1995 11:54:04 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Case study: improvement with plus lenses Status: RO X-Status: This report was published by Chalmers Prentice, M.D., in his book "The Eye In Its Relation to Health" Age forty-three; myopia; had been wearing over the right eye -1.25 D, left eye -1 D, with little or no change for the space of two years; eyes in use more or less at the near point. I recommended the removal of the concave glasses for distant vision and prescribed +3.50 D for reading, writing and other office work. After reading in these glasses for several days, the patient was able to read print twleve inches from the eyes. This patient was of more than ordinary intelligence and understood the aim of the effort. In six months I changed the glasses for reading and writing to a +4 D without seeing the patient. After using the +4D glasses for several months he again came under my care for an examination, when the left eye gave twenty-twentieths of vision, while the right eye was very nearly the same, but the acuity was just prceptibly less. During this time the general health had improved somewhat, inc0uding considerable gain in the nrvous condition. Similar results have been attained in thirty-four like cass; but the prcess is ry tedious for th patients, and unless their understanding is clear on the subject, it is almost impossible to induce thm to undergo the trial. ----- Note that glasses this strong (+4) can often not be purchased without a prescription. However, one can wear one pair of glasses over another for an additive effect! --Alex ========================================================================= From aeulenbe@indiana.edu Sun Jun 4 12:15:44 1995 Date: Sun, 4 Jun 1995 12:15:43 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Glasses are glasses? Status: RO X-Status: Me: >[Raphaelson] argues that if you just wear +1.00 reading glasses >(available at any drugstore) for all prolonged near work, you won't go > myopic. Marco: > There is a point that you might be missing. From the above statment it seems > that you are trading wearing - lenses for + lenses. Glasses are glasses. I > thought the whole point was to get rid of them....... The point isn't so much to get rid of glasses as to eliminate the need for glasses in order to see clearly. For the near-sighted, plus lenses are a therapy to unbend the eyes, and let them see far. For those with normal eyes, wearing plus lenses while doing prolonged work prevents the over-bending of the eyes which creates near-sightedness. Raphaelson observed that contiual use of plus lenses did not lessen one's ability to see up close -- except in the aged (presbyopic): "It is only some of the aged and those who have very poor eyes who get accustomed to plus glasses and become unable to see clearly without them." (from _A preventive and remedy for school myopia_, p. 59) If one wears plus lenses for all extended near work, Chalmers Prentice (1895 -- _The Eye in its Relation to Health__) notes, "the nerve-impulses to the ciliary muscle will be no more than if the patient were leading an outdoor life and viewing objects at twenty feet or more. The nerve-centers are not called upon for so excessive an impulse, and they become habituated to sending the same amount of nerve-force as if an outdoor life were led.... Under these artificial conditions, the eyes may be used in the attainment of all the advantages of the highest civilization while the nerve-centers are no more taxed than if out of door pursuits were being followed." As for developing near vision... "...on leaving the school room they could be taken off and the natural use of the eye at all other times would be quite sufficient to cultivate and establish the habit of accommodation [focusing at the near point]" (ibid) --Alex ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Mon Jun 5 15:11:56 EST 1995 Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 15:05:07 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Re: Glasses are glasses? Status: RO X-Status: Alex: > For the near-sighted, plus lenses are a therapy to unbend the eyes, and > let them see far. For those with normal eyes, wearing plus lenses while > doing prolonged work prevents the over-bending of the eyes which creates > near-sightedness. Raphaelson observed that continual use of plus lenses did > not lessen one's ability to see up close -- except in the aged > (presbyopic): "It is only some of the aged and those who have very poor > eyes who get accustomed to plus glasses and become unable to see clearly > without them." (from _A preventive and remedy for school myopia_, p. 59) Marco: > Oh Alex, I did understand your point..*but*...If you have normal > eyes why not just take regular 'eye breaks' as opposed to wearing > + lenses.....the part that I don't like is that you seem to be > wearing a crutch to prevent another one. I understand your point > of wearing the + lenses, but I'd rather (personal choice) do as > follows: > > Every 20 minutes: > 1. Take a quick break and move your eyes in their sockets (exercises) > 2. Palm a minute. > > Any opinions (sans flames of course...) Alex replies: For preventing myopia, your plan might work. However, I think once every twenty minutes is not often enough. Also, if you're reading without glasses, the best thing to do would be to have a distant scene in back of the book so that you can constantly be focusing back and forth, say, between a faraway tree and the page. But just remember: with "plus" lenses you've got EXPANDED focal opportunities, unlike with "minus" lenses which lock you into a DIMINISHED focal playground. With a +1.00 lens, one meter gives you, optically, a world of focal practice. It takes nothing away; in fact it gives you the opportunity to try to see "beyond infinity" when you look at anything beyond a meter. If you want a little near-practice, you can always bring the book clear up to your nose. Whereas with a -1.00, it is impossible to look at anything that demands more than a meter's worth of focus. ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Mon Jun 5 15:39:50 EST 1995 Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 15:31:52 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: For high myopes Status: RO X-Status: On Mon, 5 Jun 1995, Mark Jones wrote: > Would plus lenses be advisable for more severe myopia > ( -8.75 R, -9.75 L) ? No! Just taking your glasses off will be plenty! Perhaps too much. You're going to have to bring down your prescription in steps -- something an eye doctor will have to help you with, since minus lenses are not available without a prescription. Once again, if you want the name and number of a behavioral optometrist in your area, send me a message! --Alex ========================================================================= From mat@kepler.unh.edu Mon Jun 5 17:47:49 EST 1995 From: Marco A Terry Subject: Re: Glasses are glasses? Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 18:47:44 -0400 (EDT) Status: RO X-Status: One sunny day Alex Eulenberg machine gunned this msg. on my wall: > > Alex replies: > > For preventing myopia, your plan might work. However, I think once every > twenty minutes is not often enough. Also, if you're reading without > glasses, the best thing to do would be to have a distant scene in back of > the book so that you can constantly be focusing back and forth, say, > between a faraway tree and the page. > > But just remember: with "plus" lenses you've got EXPANDED focal > opportunities, unlike with "minus" lenses which lock you into a DIMINISHED > focal playground. With a +1.00 lens, one meter gives you, optically, a > world of focal practice. It takes nothing away; in fact it gives you the > opportunity to try to see "beyond infinity" when you look at anything > beyond a meter. If you want a little near-practice, you can always bring > the book clear up to your nose. Whereas with a -1.00, it is impossible to > look at anything that demands more than a meter's worth of focus. > Marco Counters: Alex, I certainly respect your opinion and I know you are well read in the area, but I do not entirely agree with you in one little point: 20 minutes *IS* enough for some people (yours truly included). Then again I am a low mype. Someting that I have noticed: As a myope I notice that when I read I tend to get my head closer to the screen/book even though I can read from a farther distance. Something that I am trying to do is retrain myself to read stuff from 'close' to the blur point. Just my $.02 Cheers! Marco. --- Never hit anything harder than your hand..... (from rec.martial-arts) HomePage: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mat/ ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Tue Jun 6 23:09:41 EST 1995 From: Vic Cinc Subject: Re: Glasses are glasses? (fwd) Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 13:49:49 +1000 (EST) Status: RO X-Status: you have to make the distinction between plus lenses and minus lenses for myopes. minus lenses are forever. plus lenses are short term. once you conpensate for the eye focus short with minus lenses ( ie the eye is plus) thats it. it can only get worse from there. plus lenses on the other hand make vision worse. ie your eye isnt compensated. and to see it msut get more minus ie less myopic. the point is that it is not quite correct to call minus lenses a crutch because they are pretty much permenent, ie your eye is very unlikely to improve while you wear them. Vic ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Wed Oct 11 23:28:50 EST 1995 Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 23:12:52 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Plus lenses for myopia Status: RO X-Status: On Tue, 3 Oct 1995, Vic Cinc wrote: > If you are after *serious* improvement in your vision, and I dont mean > just the 5 minute restoration of palming then go and get a pair > of plus lenses (reading glasses) wear them while reading, or for > at least 2-3 hours a day. If you dont get noticeable improvements > virtually in a few days your eyes are not made of human tissue. > > Vic > Close, Vic. You left out some important information: plus lenses are suitable as therapy those with MILD MYOPIA only, that is, if you can get around fine without glasses, and what you need is a little "overload" distance blur to overcome. And even then, like any glasses, they can also cause headaches and eyestrain, especially at first. I'll post the details on plus lens therapy later. Or you can go ahead Vic, and post YOUR experience. --Alex ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Thu Oct 12 08:59:11 EST 1995 From: Vic - Deus Ex Machina Subject: Plus lenses for myopia (fwd) Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 23:10:48 +1000 (EST) Status: RO X-Status: Forwarded message: > > On Tue, 3 Oct 1995, Vic Cinc wrote: > > > If you are after *serious* improvement in your vision, and I dont mean > > just the 5 minute restoration of palming then go and get a pair > > of plus lenses (reading glasses) wear them while reading, or for > > at least 2-3 hours a day. If you dont get noticeable improvements > > virtually in a few days your eyes are not made of human tissue. > > > > Vic > > > > Close, Vic. You left out some important information: plus lenses are > suitable as therapy those with MILD MYOPIA only, that is, if you can get > around fine without glasses, and what you need is a little "overload" > distance blur to overcome. And even then, like any glasses, they can also > cause headaches and eyestrain, especially at first. > > I'll post the details on plus lens therapy later. > > Or you can go ahead Vic, and post YOUR experience. having worn + lenses for about 2-3 hours a day for the last week after work reading. I am geting almost continuous clear flashes during the day. :) I am extremely pleased with the results so far. I played with them in the past, but wearing them for a 2-3 hour at a stretch, only for reading seems to make a HUGE difference. highly recomended!!! I dont believe there is such a thing as mild myopia. all myopia is noxious. Vic ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Thu Oct 12 16:49:18 EST 1995 Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 16:25:47 -0500 From: stefansi@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu (Stefan Ivanov Stefanov) Subject: Re: Plus lenses for myopia Status: RO X-Status: Dear Vic and Alex, Your suggestions regarding wearing plus glasses when reading seem effective. I myself have been doing something similar for more than ten years. Since I am moderately myopic (-6.0 D) I use weaker glasses for reading (-3.O D) which has the same effect as wearing plus glasses on emmetropic eyes. Initially, when my myopia was less, I used no glasses when reading. I am astonished how many myopic people do just the opposite. They go around without glasses but when they sit down to read or work on a computer they immediately put on the glasses. I will continue with the practice of changing glasses (or using plus glasses) for lack of a better solution. But what are we trying to achieve this way? We are relieving the ciliary mustle of the job of contracting the lens. I have dreamed of science-fiction glasses which change power depending on the distance you are looking at, so the ciliary mustle does nothing. In effect, this is an externalized lens. But how would you explain that some people have no problem with their eyes and yet do intensive close-up work? Genetics only? Maybe we should emphasize adequate training of the ciliary mustle as the key to long-term refractive stability. Stefan ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Mon Oct 16 13:33:12 EST 1995 Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 11:12:44 -0700 (MST) From: The Anomaly Subject: Plus glasses for myopia Status: RO X-Status: I am near-sighted at around -2.5 both eyes. When I wear plus glasses of +3.0, my eyes will attempt to adjust. When I take off the plus glasses I have near perfect vision in daylight. Even though the plus glasses work for me they do not seem to be changing the eye. In other words, if I am careful and use the plus glasses, my far vision is good, but if I use my eyes for near seeing (without plus glasses) such as reading my eyes go back to the -2.5. It seems that my eye muscles are learning to see in a range and that can bring them to 20/20 but my eyes are still at -2.5. Any comments on this? - Tom Suliga ========================================================================= From owner-aeulenbe_i_see_digest@indiana.edu Mon Oct 30 11:00:05 EST 1995 Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 10:41:48 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Vision improvement techniques Status: RO X-Status: D ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 09:20:20 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg To: Dan Lipofsky Cc: I SEE Subject: Blindfolds for better vision I think a blindfold can be an excellent way to relax the eyes, especially when sleeping. I saw in a catalog yesterday an advertisement for a "sleep mask". They said light coming into your eyes when you sleep can inhibit melatonin production. I must admit I don't know what melatonin does, although it appears to be an important hormone. All I know is that if I wake up with sun in my eyes, they're much more likely to be under strain when I open them. I once woke up in the middle of the night and found myself to have excellent vision and relaxed eyes. Then I went back to sleep. When I woke up, the sun was shining and my eyes were aching. I took this as strong evidence that light shining on sleeping eyes causes them to strain. My favorite way of excluding light during the daytime, however, is the one-eyed patch. This actually lets me do something and forget that I'm doing therapy. This lets my unconscious take complete control. It also makes reading easier since the two eyes don't have to coordinate. Less brain strain. It also saves you eye-energy. But if you try this, I think it's good to switch patches every now and then so one eye won't get lazy! Robert-Michael Kaplan says in his book "Seeing Without Glasses" that 4 hours is the optimal amount of time to wear a patch. --Alex On Tue, 17 Oct 1995, Dan Lipofsky wrote: > > It seems the main point of palming is to keep light out > of your eyes. If this is the case, would a thick > blindfold work as well? If not, why? I would certainly > relax more if I didnt have to hold my hands over my eyes > for this exercise. > - danlip > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 28 Oct 1995 09:58:49 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg To: I SEE Subject: Theory behind plus lenses Here's a briefing for the newcomers: Plus Lenses are convex lenses. They are available at most drugstores without a prescription. They require your eye to focus less close up than without them. Thus they are used by people who see better in the distance (presbyopic, farsighted) to read. However, people with myopia can benefit from the use of plus lenses because they require the eyes to focus farther. They can be used as a part of a cure of myopia due to unresponsive muscles. Even people with elongated eyes may have part of their blur being due to unresponsive muscles. Basically, putting a plus lens on makes you more myopic while you're wearing it. In order to see clearly, your eye has to focus further away than it would normally. But you won't be able to see PERFECTLY clearly, since your myopic eye doesn't have the range. However, the eye will improve, at least temporarily. Essentially, the same thing happens to a person who normally wears glasses and then takes them off. After a while, you start to see more clearly without the glasses. If you have ever had a less than full perscription, and then lost it for a week or so, and then put the glasses back on, you may have noticed that things were even sharper than they were when you were wearing them last. This is because your eye was allowed to stretch out, and now your old prescription is once again sufficient. Plus lenses for myopia is just an extension of that idea. There are two varieties: 1) increase the daily amount of blur to stimulate your eye to focus farther. This means wearing the glasses whenever you would be otherwise just sitting there doing nothing. Not recommended for crossing busy intersections or operating motor vehicles! 2) use them with close objects (ie texts) so that they are seen just at the farthest still-clear point. Gradually increase the distance at which you can see absolutely clearly through the plus lenses. The same can be done without the lenses by backing away from a wall, but plus lenses reduce the distance necessary to get the same effect, so you can hold the object in your hand. Before doing plus lens therapy, first you must be able to be comfortable living without your myopic glasses. Any improvement you make by the use of plus lenses will be counteracted by using myopic glasses. --Alex ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 20:33:18 +0800 From: Chen Hanwen To: i_see@majordomo.ucs.indiana.edu Subject: Plus lenses Hi! Got some questions here about plus lenses. 1) My myopia is L:-6.0D R:-4.0D. So, what should I get for my plus lenses? 2) What is the maximum period that I should wear them? 3) Any side effects? 4) Are the benefits permanent? Thanks! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 11:05:06 -0700 (MST) From: The Anomaly To: I SEE Subject: Re: Plus glasses for myopia On Mon, 16 Oct 1995, Alex Eulenberg wrote: > 1. When did you get your last prescription (-2.5D) (month/year)? Abount 1 year ago. I think it was -1.75 & -2.25 > 2. Do you ever actually wear -2.5D glasses? If so when? Do you wear another > (previous) "minus" pair? What lenses are they? I don't wear my latest glasses as they feel too strong and if I wear them for more than 5 seconds my eyes quickly get worse. I have a previous pair of -.75 & -1.25 which I wear at night when driving. > 3. What kind of eye activities had you been engaged the month prior to > this prescription? Studying hard? Outdoor activites? Had you been > wearing glasses? I am a computer programmer and I can't get away from looking at a monitor. I wish I could spend my time outdoors and look at things at a distance, but my job prevents this. > 4. Who did you see, an ophthalmologist or an optometrist? Just the standard eye-doctor when you go get inexpensive glasses. > 5. Did they put drops in your eyes before they gave you the eye-chart test? No, but he made me read a card with tiny letters and then darkened the room and had me look at an eye chart about 20 feet away. > How well can you see in each eye separately: > 1. Through +3.00 lenses -- what is the far point (farthest point when > things are absolutely sharp and clear) > 2. With no lenses -- what is far point I cannot measure this because my eyes are always changing slightly, either getting better or worse, plus I will always attempt to blink them and control them when seeing at a distance. The far point my be 5 feet or 50 feet. I will also get clear flashes that can last up to a minute. At night clear flashes are much harder to achieve and they don't last as long. I personally feel that in order for me to make continued progress and see 20/20 or 20/10 all the time I will have to work on relaxing certain muscles in my eyes. - Tom Suliga ========================================================================= From owner-i_see@indiana.edu Sat Nov 4 23:35:35 EST 1995 Date: Sat, 4 Nov 1995 23:28:33 -0500 (EST) From: Alex Eulenberg Subject: Finding the correct plus lens power Status: RO X-Status: On 1 Nov 1995, an I SEE member wrote me: > I wear -1.75 in both eyes, no astigmatism. How do I find > the number of the plus lens I need for the plus lens > therapy? Simply bring a book to the drugstore and find a pair that you're comfortable reading in. Most likely this will be the lowest power, +1.00 or +1.25. Still, you may find that the high-power (+3.50 - +4.00) lenses have a more beneficial effect when used for distance viewing. After a minute, as you accustom yourself to the extra-high blur with the glasses on, you may find that your glasses-less vision improves astronomically when you take them off, if only for a second or two. Remember, for this or any other myopia therapy to work, and to have lasting results, you have to wear your "minus" lenses as little as possible. --Alex =========================================================================