Ординатура / Офтальмология / Английские материалы / Relearning To See_Quackenbush_2000

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glasses becoming, huge round lenses in ugly tortoise-shell frames being positively fashionable at the present time, there are still some unperverted minds to which the wearing of glasses is mental torture and the sight of them upon others far from agreeable. ...

Up to a generation ago glasses were used only as an aid to defective sight, but they are now prescribed for large numbers of persons who can see as well or better without them The hypermetropic eye is believed to be capable of correcting its own difficulties to some extent by altering the curvature of the lens, through the activity of the ciliary muscle. [This topic is covered in Part Two, "Accommodation and Errors of Refraction."]

The eye with simple myopia is not credited with this capacity, because an increase in the convexity of the lens, which is supposed to be all that is accomplished by accommodative effort, would only increase the difficulty; but myopia is usually accompanied by astigmatism, and this, it is believed, can be overcome, in part, by alterations in the curvature of the lens. Thus we are led by the theory to the conclusion that an eye in which any error of refraction exists is practically never free, while open, from abnormal accommodative efforts. In other words, it is assumed that the supposed muscle of accommodation has to bear not only the normal burden of changing the focus of the eye for vision at different distances, but the additional burden of correcting for refractive errors. Such adjustments, if they actually took place, would naturally impose a severe strain upon the nervous system, and it is to relieve this strain—which is believed to be the cause of a host of functional nervous trou- bles—quite as much as to improve the sight that glasses are prescribed.

It has been demonstrated [by Bates], however, that the lens is not a factor, either in the production of accommodation, or in the correction of errors of refraction. Therefore under no circumstances can there be a strain of the ciliary muscle to be relieved. It has also been demonstrated that when the vision is normal no error of refraction is present, and the extrinsic muscles of the eyeball are at rest. Therefore there can be no strain of the extrinsic muscles to be relieved in these cases. When a strain of

these muscles does exist, glasses may correct its effects upon the refraction, but the strain itself they cannot relieve. On the contrary, as has been shown, they must make it worse. [TQ emphasis].. .When glasses do not relieve headaches and other nervous symptoms it is assumed to be because they were not properly fitted, and some practitioners and their clients exhibit an astounding degree of patience and perseverance in their joint attempts to arrive at the proper prescription. A person who suffered from severe pains at the base of his brain was fitted sixty times by one specialist alone, and had besides visited many other eye and nerve specialists in this country and in Europe. He was relieved of the pain in five minutes by the methods presented in this book, while his vision, at the same time, became temporarily normal.

It is fortunate that many people for whom glasses have been prescribed refuse to wear them, thus escaping not only much discomfort but much injury to their eyes.

Others, having less independence of mind, or a larger share of the martyr's spirit, or having been more badly frightened by the oculists, submit to an amount of unnecessary torture which is scarcely conceivable. One such person wore glasses for twentyfive years, although they did not prevent her from suffering continual misery and

lowered her vision to such an extent that she had to look over the tops when she wanted to see anything at a distance. Her oculist assured her that she might expect the most serious consequences if she did not wear the glasses, and was very severe about her practice of looking over instead of through them.

As refractive abnormalities are contin­ ually changing, not only from day to day and from hour to hour, but from minute to minute, even under the influence of [the paralyzing drug] atropine, the accurate fit­ ting of glasses is, of course, impossible. In some cases these fluctuations are so extreme, or the person so unresponsive to mental suggestion, that no relief whatever is obtained from correcting lenses, which necessarily become under such circum­ stances an added discomfort. At their best it cannot be maintained that glasses are anything more than a very unsatisfactory substitute for normal vision

The idea that presbyopia is "a normal result of growing old" is responsible for much defective eyesight. When people who have reached the presbyopic age [forty! experience difficulty in reading, they are very likely to resort at once to glasses, either with or without professional advice. In some cases such persons may be actually presbyopic; in others the difficulty may be something temporary, which they would have thought little about if they had been younger, and which would have passed away if Nature had been left to herself But once the glasses are adopted, in the great majority of cases, they produce the condi­ tion they were designed to relieve, or, if it already existed, they make it worse, some­ times very rapidly, as every ophthalmolo­ gist knows. In a couple of weeks sometimes, the person finds, as noted in the chapter

What Glasses Do to Us, that the large print

which he could read without difficulty before he got his glasses can no longer be read without their aid. In from five to ten years the accommodative power of the eye is usually gone; and if from this point the person does not go on to cataract, glau­ coma, or inflammation of the retina, he may consider himself fortunate. Only occasion­ ally do the eyes refuse to submit to the arti­ ficial conditions imposed upon them; but in such cases they may keep up an aston­ ishing struggle against them for long peri­ ods. A woman of seventy, who had worn glasses for twenty years, was still able to read diamond type and had good vision for the distance without them. She said the glasses tired her eyes and blurred her vision, but that she had persisted in wear­ ing them, in spite of a continual temptation to throw them off, because she had been told that it was necessary for her to do so.

If persons who find themselves getting presbyopic, or who have arrived at the pres­ byopic age, would, instead of resorting to glasses, follow the example of the gentle­ man mentioned by Dr. Holmes [see Chap­ ter 6, "Accommodation and Errors of Refraction—The Orthodox View"] and make a practice of reading the finest print they can find, the idea that the decline of accommodative power is "a normal result of growing old" would soon die a natural death.

TOM'S PERSONAL LOG: At age ю, I was given a prescription of -2.50 D for myopia. My glasses and contact lenses increased in power until at age 301 had approximately -8 D and - 1D of astigmatism. At that time I could not see anything clearly more than a few inches from my nose. For over twenty years, I suf­ fered with glasses and contact lenses, which made both my vision and my health worse.

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Potential serious problems due to blurred vision are discussed in Chapter 27, "Serious Vision Problems."

" W H Y G L A S S E S A R E H A R M F U L F O R C H I L D R E N A N D Y O U N G P E O P L E "

A N D E V E R Y O N E E L S E

In 1969, Joseph J. Kennebeck, O.D., a practicing optometrist for more than 50 years, wrote Why Glasses Are Harmful for Children and Young People. In this book, Kennebeck says that if a nearsight uses glasses that were given to him for distance (20+ feet) vision to see up close, he puts a strain on his eyes.

For nearsights, Kennebeck writes:

Glasses fitted at twenty feet are harmful and habit-forming at twenty feet and beyond... Inside of twenty feet the glasses are many times worse. Glasses are wrong at every foot inside of twenty feet. At ten feet the glasses are twice wrong; at five feet they are four times wrong; at one foot, they are twenty times wrong ... This is the rea- son glasses are not scientifically correct...

eyes cannot compensate through glasses made for twenty feet for all other distances, WITHOUT BEING HURT ... This is what brings on progressive myopia, which could have been prevented if the glasses had never been prescribed or worn 3

Nearsighted eyes have to over-accom- modate through nearsighted glasses to read at thirteen inches, as compared to normal eyes. Their over-accommodation adds up to the nearsighted lens power they wear for distance, say for example minus three diopters, plus the same three diopters that normal eyes use to see at thirteen inches, which makes six diopters of accommodation used by such nearsighted eyes through nearsighted glasses ... such terrific overaccommodation through nearsighted

glasses causes the increased progressive nearsightedness 4

... Nearsighted and farsighted glasses will create more of the same problem for which the lenses were prescribed and worn. If left alone, without glasses, and the [incorrect] eye habits in all close work were stopped, the eyes would return toward normal.5

... Where glasses begin, good eyes end.6

Regarding nearsightedness, optometrist Bruce May states:

Sadly, the most common approach to myopia is the least likely to prevent its further increase. Usually, corrective concave lenses are supplied for clearing distance seeing, along with advice that the lenses are to be worn all the time. This procedure can only increase the near point stress. It is almost certain that more myopia will develop.7

Similarly, a farsight who looks into the distance with his reading glasses on will also strain his sight.

Dr. Thomas H. David, in his booklet

Improve Your Vision with Television, writes:

To put on glasses when one has developed a strain may give temporary relief, however, if incorrect habits of using the eyes are not overcome, the wearer returns to the eye specialist for an increase in his lense.8

The scope of these problems increases when lighting factors are taken into consideration. Most people who have blurred vision have more blur in darkness than in bright light. Better vision in bright light is due to the pinhole effect, discussed in Chapter 14. "The Third Habit—Blinking." One reason eyesight Is tested in darkness is to ensure you

are given the maximum correction needed for all situations.

A nearsight's vision is checked at twenty feet in darkness—the "worst case scenario." When a 20/20 prescription is given for this situation, it will automatically be too strong, not only for close vision, but for distance vision in bright light.

FARSIGHTED GLASSES FOR

NEARSIGHTS?

After wearing prescription glasses for many years, some nearsights lose the ability to see clearly up close while wearing their strong, distance glasses. (Since without corrective lenses a nearsight can still see clearly up close, the person is not truly "farsighted," as is often mistakenly stated.)

Many nearsights are given converging,"+" reading glasses to wear on top of their con- cave,"-" contact lenses for reading up close. For example, if the contact lense is -5 D, and the glasses are +2 D, the resultant combination contact lense/reading glasses correction

is-3D.

A person in this predicament could simply wear a -3 D pair of glasses for near vision, but without using the contact lenses. But a common motivation for using contact lenses is to not have to wear glasses in the first place. This scenario has led some people to enroll for natural vision classes.

TH E MONOVISION SOLUTION

Another solution to the nearsight's loss of near vision while wearing strong "-" contact lenses is monovision. One eye is fitted with a lense to see in the distance, while the other is fitted with a reduced lense to see up close.

The idea is to use only one eye at a time, like a chameleon. This can result in the loss of normal depth perception experience with binocular (two-eye) vision, as the brain tries to emphasize the picture from only one eye, and de-emphasize the picture from the other.

NEARSIGHTED GLASSES CAN DOUBLE

PERIPHERAL OBJECTS

As mentioned by Bates, when a person wears strong "-" diverging lenses, objects appear smaller through the lenses. As a result, nearsights who wear strong glasses can experience a doubling of objects, or parts of objects, around the frames. The stronger the prescription, the more the doubling.

FARSIGHTED GLASSES

C A N L O S E SOME OBJECTS

When "+" converging lenses are used, objects appear larger through the lenses. "Magnifiers" literally magnify. As a result, farsights who wear strong glasses can experience loss of objects, or parts of objects, at the borders of the frames. The stronger the prescription, the more the loss.

BIFOCALS AND "BIFOCAL NECK"

A common solution to the problem of strong, single prescriptions is the use of bifocals, or "progressive" lenses.

Bifocals are often provided as a convenience so that people will not need to switch between two different powers of glasses to see at different distances.

One problem with bifocals is that the neck becomes even more tense than when "singles" were used. Many people I have talked

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with acknowledge this fact. One eye doctor, who prescribes reduced-power glasses for natural vision students, refers to people wear­ ing bifocals as having "bifocal necks."

Before wearing bifocals, a person would be more likely to move the head up and down naturally to see objects far and near, respec­ tively. With bifocals, the tendency is to tilt the head back, lock the head and neck tight, and move the eyes down to see through the bot­ tom portion of the bifocal lens. This can cre­ ate a high strain on a person's neck.

Ophthalmologist R. S. Agarwal, in his book Mind and Vision, writes regarding bifocals:

The upper glass is meant to see distant objects, while the lower glass is meant for reading. One is not able to see through the junction between the two glasses. Hence one has to raise the eyeball to see distant objects and lower the eyeball to see the near objects. The eye is forced to move up and down in an unnatural way. This unnatural movement causes great strain on the eyes.9

June Biermann and Barbara Toohey write in their book The Woman's Holistic Headache

Relief Book:

Do you regularly hold your chin for­ ward? In this category we can put "bifocal headaches," headaches caused by sticking your chin forward to peer better through the reading flower] portion of your glasses. June suspects this was a contributing fac­ tor in her headaches.10

People with blurred vision have a tight neck because the same strained vision habits that tighten the eye muscles also tighten the neck muscles. Bifocals only increase that neck tension.

Clients with blurred vision can be a source of frustration for holistic health practition­

ers. The neck and shoulders cannot release their chronic tension completely unless vision is normalized.

T R I F O C A L S , Q U A D R A F O C A L S ,

E V E N D O Z E N F O C A L S !

Modern technology can create almost any type of lenses for glasses. The student of one vision teacher had been given dozenfocals! The more complex the lenses, the more unnatural the vision experience, and the greater the strain.

P R O B L E M S W I T H C O N T A C T L E N S E S

The painful "adaptation" period experienced by wearers of hard contact lenses is a message to stop putting foreign objects into the eyes!

Some problems experienced by some con­ tact lense wearers include:

*Lenses not fitting the cornea properly ф Lenses are not durable

*Inconvenience of handling

*Non-compliance with hygienic measures in cleaning, disinfection, and storage

*Sudden pain and dizziness

®Distortion of the cornea

®Irritation of the eye and eyelids

фCornea abrasion and infections

®Allergic reactions to cleaning solutions * Protein buildup on lenses

* Restrictions from some occupations * Continuous expense

* Allergic reactions * Red eyes

* Scar tissue on the cornea

* Possible melting of the lense onto the cornea with certain types of accidents involving electrical sparks

* Risks of oxygen deprivation to the

Chapter Four:

cornea, which can cause abrasions, especially with hard and extended-wear contact lenses

* Extended-wear contact lenses causing corneal ulcers, abrasions, and inflamma­ tion; possible partial or complete vision loss

*Corneal transplant

*Serious infections

*Vision loss, including blindness о Mucus trapped under the lense

*Interference with normal blinking and tearing

*Inflammation of the upper eyelid

«• Drying out of the eyes

* Serious safety hazard if dust lodges between contact lense and cornea

®In 1986, contact lenses had the highest number of product-related injuries reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission for all medical

devices; 33,458 injuries were linked to contact lenses.11

A V I S U A L B I O F E E D B A C K — I N T H E W R O N G D I R E C T I O N

For most people, strong corrective lenses cre­ ate a negative biofeedback loop:

1.The initial mental and physical strain of incorrect vision habits abnormally tightens the eye muscles, creating blur.

2.Corrective lenses lock the eye muscles tight. The mind and body are now con­ fused. Clarity is supposed to be experi­ enced only when a person has relaxed, natural vision habits. Blur is a message of imbalance from the mind and body telling you to return to the normal, relaxed way of seeing. Strong corrective lenses tell the mind and body that

everything is now "fine"—but it's not! The mental and physical strain remains.

3. This increased strain tightens the eye muscles even more, creating additional blur. It's as if the mind and body want to give you blurred vision, no matter what artificial approaches you take. Blur is a correct message telling you to eliminate excessive strain.

Unfortunately, most people in indus­ trialized cultures do not listen to this message.

In the next chapter, we discuss how a per­ son can minimize the strain caused by cor­ rective lenses, thus giving room for vision to improve when releaming correct vision habits.

Vantage Press, 1969), pp. 119-21.

2All quotes in this book which contain empha­ sis with italics are by the quoted author, unless otherwise noted.

3Kennebeck, pp. 26-27.

People who wear strong "corrective" lenses for blurred vision have two interferences to normal vision: incorrect vision habits and the strong glasses.

The first interference is the original incorrect vision habits acquired when the vision initially blurred. The correct vision habits are discussed in Part Four, "The Three Habits of Natural Vision."

The other interference to normal sight is strong glasses. Unfortunately, some people are given glasses when they are not needed. This can strain the visual system.

Some people are confused about what Bates said regarding glasses. Bates stated that the best approach while improving vision is to discard glasses permanently. He also stated that in cases where this would be "too great a hardship," glasses of reduced strength can be used while improving, but it may take longer to succeed. Therefore, it is not necessary to completely eliminate glasses immediately to succeed. Many natural vision students have succeeded by using reduced glasses during the transition period.

It would be too stressful and impractical

for many students with strong prescriptions to take off glasses altogether. Since relaxation is the key to normal sight, it is best to approach the vision improvement process in as reasonable and relaxed a way as possible.

W O R K I N G W I T H A

S U P P O R T I V E E Y E D O C T O R

If a student is unable to eliminate glasses immediately, he can consult with a supportive or "neutral" eye doctor to obtain reduced prescriptions.

If your eye doctor is not supportive initially, you may be able to educate him or her that there are now ophthalmologists and optometrists who give natural vision students reduced prescriptions and some who even teach their students how to improve their vision naturally. There are even eye doctors, several of whom this author has met personally, who have improved their own eyesight with the Bates method. Most likely there is at least one eye doctor in your community who will support your vision improvement program. They are your eyes, and you want to take care of them the best way you know how.

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T H E I M P O R T A N C E

O F R E D U C E D P R E S C R I P T I O N S

Bates wrote in May 8,1915, issue of the New

York Medical Journal:

As a general rule it is best for the student to discard glasses. In some cases of extreme myopia, where going without glasses entails too great a hardship, good results have been obtained by gradually reducing the strength of the glasses worn as the vision improves, but the process is then prolonged.1

Most people were given glasses due to the mastery of staring and other poor vision habits. Therefore glasses, to some degree, "rernind" the student to continue poor vision habits. Students can succeed with vision improvement by using reduced prescriptions or "transition" glasses, if they continue to practice correct vision habits while wearing them, and if they remove the glasses when they are not essential. In the long term, correct vision habits are more powerful than the negative effects of the reduced glasses.

D R I V I N G A N D W O R K G L A S S E S

If you need glasses for driving, you must obtain and use safe and legal driving glasses from your eye doctor. 20/40 is the driving requirement for eyesight in many states, while no state requires better than 20/25 sight for driving. Check with your eye doctor regarding the vision requirements for driving in your state.

If you have an occupation that requires safe work up close, wear glasses that are adequate for your task.

T W O P A I R S O F R E D U C E D GLASSES?

Many nearsights have obtained a reduced, legal, and safe prescription for driving. However, as Kennebeck emphasized in the last chapter, this prescription is too strong to wear up close. Wearing a distance prescription while seeing up close is a strain.

Nearsights have two options for their close vision: 1) If possible, do not use glasses; you may already be doing this, knowing intuitively that the glasses for distance sight are too strong for your eyes, and that you can function adequately up close without them. 2) If glasses for close vision are necessary, obtain a second, even weaker, pair of reduced glasses.

Bifocals create an even greater strain on the neck and visual system than single-pre- scription lenses. In the long term, increased blur and strain on the visual system is less convenient, especially if they lead to more serious vision problems. (See Chapter 27, "Serious Vision Problems") If different corrective lenses are needed for more than one distance, it is better to have two pairs of reduced glasses. Besides, the more you improve your vision, the less you need them.

If you have some older, weaker pair of glasses, you can ask your eye doctor to check their power. They may be fine for your first pair of reduced glasses. If not, you may be able to put reduced lenses into the old frames.

Although there is usually an additional expense in obtaining two pairs of reduced glasses, it is not more expensive in the long term. This is because the weaker of the two pairs of reduced glasses can often be used for the other distance as the vision improves.

How much money have you spent already on corrective lenses? 1 low much more would you spend for the rest of your life?

When vision with a pair of reduced glasses becomes crystal clear, they are no longer "reduced" prescriptions, because vision improved! It is then time to switch to an even weaker prescription. Many students are happy to pay their eye doctor for weaker glasses! And eye doctors who support nat­ ural vision students get more business!

"5&10" or E Y E D O C T O R

P R E S C R I P T I O N S ?

Farsights who buy "reading" glasses at the "5&10" store need to decide whether inex­ pensive glasses are the correct choice when obtaining reduced glasses. Some authorities warn people to not "compromise" eyesight with "imperfect lenses." The implication given in some literature is that some glasses might not contain lenses of as high a quality as oth­ ers, and that the difference could be based on cost.

Regardless of the cost, improperly made glasses can strain your eyes. There are many factors that go into making the correct pre­ scription. You will need to decide whether inexpensive 5&10 glasses are the correct choice.

C A N V I S I O N I M P R O V E W H I L E

W E A R I N G C O N T A C T S ?

Wearing contact lenses while improving vision is not the best approach for several reasons:

• Contact lenses are a foreign object in the eye. While improving vision, the eyes increase circulation in many ways. The more life force energy that returns to your eyes, especially due to the release of neck tension, the more likely your eyes will "reject" these foreign objects.

*For nearsights, strong, single-prescrip­ tion contact lenses are designed for dis­ tance vision. This means that reduced single-prescription 20/40 contacts would be too strong for close vision.

*It is important not to use any corrective lenses when they are not absolutely needed. Since it is impractical to con­ stantly take contact lenses out and put them back in, using glasses is an obvi­ ous advantage.

Many students do not like the idea of returning to glasses after wearing contact lenses. Temporary sacrifices are sometimes necessary to reach wonderful goals.

Some people have told me they will never take my natural vision class because they are not willing to go back to wearing glasses. (Stu­ dents can attend natural vision classes and continue to wear contact lenses.) If these peo­ ple could remember the joys of beautiful, naturally clear vision, they might think dif­ ferently. Students who have completely elim­ inated their need for both contact lenses and glasses are happy they were willing to use glasses temporarily.

One of my students held onto her contact lenses until she saw improvement of her sight, which occurred by the second class. She brought her contact lenses to that class and had a little ceremony in disposing of them into the trash can. After the course she became a Natural Vision teacher.

I have met some extraordinarily motivated individuals in the last seventeen years of teaching Natural Vision classes The follow­ ing is a most remarkable case.

A woman,Т. В., called me and talked with me about my classes. She said she was a scuba diver, welding oil pipelines underwater off

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the shores of Alaska! Since she wore contact lenses while scuba diving, returning to glasses was not very practical for her—at least, not initially. She was extremely motivated to get rid of any corrective lenses, especially because none of her colleagues needed them. (Peo­ ple who are in occupations closely connected to nature appear less likely to have blurred vision.)

Т. В., whom I later learned had healed her cancer by eliminating excessive stress from her life, requested temporary surface duty on a boat. She was then able to stop wearing con­ tact lenses and obtained reduced glasses. She enrolled for my class in June 1988, when she had 20/200 uncorrected vision. In July 1988, her optometrist measured her uncorrected vision at 20/70. At this time she received -1.75 diopter glasses to correct her to 20/40. In October 1988, she was seeing 20/20- with the same reduced glasses. Eventually, she elimi­ nated her need for corrective lenses and returned to her regular underwater scubadiving, pipe-welding work.

B U I L D I N G V I S I O N C O N F I D E N C E

Some students, especially at the start of their natural vision re-education, are a bit nervous at the prospect of using reduced glasses.

If you are one of these students or poten­ tial students, consider the following:

1. Many, if not most, people already know what reduced glasses are like, because they have usually experienced "reduced" vision through their glasses after a period of time.

2.When a student relearns to see correctly, confidence in your natural vision can grow quickly. As we shall learn in Chapter 10, "The Second Prin-

ciple—Centralization," only a small part of the visual picture we see is clearest, while most of the visual pic­ ture is "unclear"—even for those with perfect sight! People with blur tend to put their visual attention into the areas of the picture that are unclear. A per­ son sees better—instantaneously— when he shifts attention from the unclear areas back to the clearer area.

Students are often surprised at how many activities they can do comfortably fairly soon—with and without glasses. Many activ­ ities they did not think they would be able to do without strong glasses.

"Where there is a will...."

N O T E S

1 William H. Bates, "The Reversal of Errors of Refraction by Education Without Glasses" in the New York Medical Journal, May 8,1915.