The Bates method: A cure for myopia that works. By nicolas in Op-Ed Tue Jun 05, 2001 at 04:45:02 PM EST Tags: Science (all tags)
	The Bates method is one that not only cures myopia, but also astygmatism, hypermetropia and nearly every eye problem that is not due to a trauma. It is said that even those could be benefited, however. I know this claim is a bold one, and that most people will find it pretty hard to believe. I found it hard to believe myself, but decided to give it a try, since what was explained couldn't possibly do any harm. To my amazement, it worked. Incredibly well that is. Some 6 months ago I had glasses that were fitted -5D plus astigmatism on right eye, -3D on the other, and I used to have amblyopia, meaning my brain switched off the right eye image: there was too much of a difference beetween the two eyes, even with glasses. Now I've got normal vision in the left eye, and the right is improving; it switches back on often now. I have recently started to teach some friends this method and they have benefited too.

This method has been known since the 20's. It was discovered by Dr. Bates, a respected american opthalmology surgeon who is responsible for discovering adrenalin. Soon after he demonstrated his method, curing some students that were fitted with glasses by his pairs, he was kicked out of the university by the head person that told him: "It's not possible to do what you said you have done, so you couldn't possibly have done it," or something to that extent :). He has been discredited and, generally speaking, his method has been trampled upon and dragged in the mud ever since. There's an enormous wealth of anecdotal evidence on the success of this method. But not even ONE scientific study has ever been conducted on it apart from the hundreds cures Dr. Bates and his wife have reported in writings. So what had he discovered? Simply that accomodation -the equivalent of focusing for a camera- is not the result of the eye lens changing form from the action of the cillary muscle, but is rather due to the action of the muscles surrounding the eye, the ones that also move the eyeball. They can press enough as to change the form of the eye when they contract, making it longer or shorter, depending of the type of eye muscles involved. So vision defects are caused by those muscles being chronically tensed -overelongating the eyeball, in the case of myopia, or overshortening it, for hypermetropia- in a habitual way. But his real brillance was in discovering that vision was extremely susceptible to mental strain. So, it does change a lot during the course of a day, even for people with normal sight, depending on the stress the person is under. The strike of genius came when he understood that there is a correct way to use your eyes, and that using them incorrectly blurred the vision. He also found out that vision was constrained by glasses. The eye could only see well through the glasses when it was reproducing exactly the strain it had when it was tested by the opthalmologist. So glasses couldn't possibly help anybody get better sight. Understanding that mental strain was at the root of the vision problem, he inquired to know what was and wasn't a strain to the eye. First there are what he called the illusions of the normal eye. They are illusions people with normal sight have all the time, and that are absolutely necessary for good sight. I'm going to try to demonstrate them to you. Please take off your glasses first :). Please also remember that I'm not a doctor, and that you try this at your own risk. In any case, if you feel strain, pain, or disagreable feelings, stop immediatly and try something different later. If you've had eye surgery, please be extremely cautious. If you have any doubt, consult with an eye doctor first. Oppositional movement: Hold a finger vertically in front of your face, not too far away. Look at the distance, and turn your head slowly left and right. Move the eyes always in the same direction as the head. You might see two fingers in your peripheric vision at times because you are focusing on the distance. Notice how they move when you move your head. They have an apparent movement which is the opposite of the movement of your head, i.e when you turn your head to the left, the fingers appear to move to the right. This is to be expected, and will seem obvious to many. This is extremely important. All people with good sight have this illusion permanently, but they may not be consciously aware of it. They can always demonstrate it when their attention is called to it. When you have vision defects, you probably unconsciously hold the belief that all things are seen stationary. Well they aren't. Everything is always moving in this way, and you can't see, or even imagine something clearly if you don't see it moving correctly. The first plane you are looking through, the finger in this case, move in a movement opposite to yours. The next thing seen will appear to move in the same direction that the direction you are moving -mainly because its movement is slower. This may not be obvious to people with defective sight. That's one of the reason they don't see well in the first place :). Movement: The eye, like any sensory input, relies on change. Have you never been surprised of the sudden calm when you switch off your computer? You didn't notice the amount of noise it produced, it was in the background, your brain was not noticing it because it was there all the time. It's only when a change occurred that you could tell. The same goes for the eye. It can't see the same thing for long (maybe 2 to 4 seconds) before the image fades. The problem is that people who don't see well tend to lock on a point and force to see it. They keep the same image on the retina. In short: they stare. This is doomed from the start. Just try to look without moving the eye and head at all at a point. After enough time, you'll notice that your vision blurs, that your eyes hurt, that it feels uncomfortable. Then look around a bit, relax, and look at the point again. You'll see it much more clearly. Centralization: The eye can only see well at a point near the center of the retina, called the fovea centralis. This is a very tiny area, tightly packed with cone cells, that are very sensitive to light and color, and that give a sharp image. Then as you go away from this point, the cones are quickly replaced by rod cells, sensitive only to light and movement, and not giving a sharp picture at all, maybe 20/200 at best. This is basic anatomy. People with poor vision often try to do the impossible, namely they try to see everything equally clearly in their visual field. This lowers the vision. Try it for yourself: look at a large object and try to see the whole object equally clearly. You can't and it hurts. The best you can do is shift your gaze to many different point of the object. Imagine you have a laser beam going out of the tip of your nose until it hits a small point in the object you are looking directly at. This is this point you see most clearly. This reminds you to always move your head with your eyes. The nose reminder is an invaluable help for many people relearning correct vision habits. Centralization combine with oppositional movement. When you look at a point and then at another, the first point seems to move in the opposite direction of your head and eyes. The slower and shorter the movement the better but the it must be wide and fast enough so that you notice the swinging of things. When you diffuse (trying to see everything equally clearly in your visual field), the illusion of oppositional movement is usually diminished. You can demonstrate to yourself that using the eyes improperly lowers the vision. Stare at a point. Imagine that things you are looking at don't move the least. Try to see everything equally well. Notice the worsening of the vision that follows. If you have vision defects, some or all of the disagreeable effects may or may not have been noticed. Please do it long enough to convince you that vision is always worsened when you use your eyes improperly. Alternatively you can ask someone with normal sight to try it and tell you the results. One of the most important part is realizing what you are doing wrong and correcting it. This is about what you unlearn, namely the improper usage of your eyes. Now what to do to get better? The most important thing is using your eyes in the correct way explained above all day long: centralizing and noticing oppositional movement. You'll progressively get better at it and will be able to do it longer each day. Please understand that there is no "exercises" to practice, no efforts to be made. There is a proper, normal way to use the eyes. The eyes must be used all day long in this way to have constantly good vision. This is the way people with normal sight use their eyes all the time. It is totally effortless. When asked what he called his method, Bates said that he was embarrassed to give it a name, because it was only the way nature had designed the eyes to work. The next, and perhaps most difficult step is to stop wearing glasses. Don't wear them at all, except when they are needed for security reasons. It's very difficult, but not totally impossible to get better while continuing to wear them often. There are also two very simple things to do to help improve your eyesight: breathing and blinking. You must get into the habit of doing them properly all day long too. Breathing: Most people seem to simply not breathe at all :). They hold their breath often, and don't breathe in the proper way. When you breathe properly, your belly must go round. This is because the diaphragm, one of the most powerful muscles in your body gets tense and cone shaped, pushing on the inner digestive organs, and giving more room to the heart. No air enters the belly of course; the diaphragm just draws air into the lungs. You also have some respiration done by expanding the chest and by moving the shoulders (especially women, that's a safety for when they are pregnant and can't breath as well), but the majority of work is done by the diaphragm. You can take a look at an anatomy book to get a clearer idea. To improve your breathing there is a simple exercise you can do. Lie down on the floor, put a thin book behind your head, raise your knees so they point upward in a comfortable way, put your feet on the ground hip wide apart, put your hands on your belly to feel it go round and wait there for 10 minutes or so, noticing the point of contact of your back on the ground. After a while, notice how your breath has changed. The better you breathe habitually, the better you'll see. If you caught yourself not breathing, empty your lungs first, then draw air calmly in. I'm sure you'll find heaps of resources for proper breathing on the net. Get some yoga lessons eventually, they'll teach you proper breathing as well. Blinking: You probably don't blink often enough if you don't see well. And when you do, you do it hard. It is not so easy to blink properly, quickly, and without effort. Try to close one eye only, and try to close it without any strain or effort. This is how blinking should be done. Blinking is also very quick, maybe a 1/40th of second. In fact you shouldn't even have the impression that you haven't seen for a short while. This can only be done properly when it is unconscious. By practicing blinking softly, often, one blink at a time, in an irregular way consciously, you'll end up doing it unconsciously. Straining: This can't be said enough times :) Every time you make an effort to see you worsen your vision. Don't squint. Do nothing with your eyebrows. Relax your face and jaws. There is no need to make any effort to see clearly. The objects you are looking at are out there, but if you can see them it is because light has been refracted from them and then some of it has reached your eyes, and been focused on the fovea. So you don't have to make an effort to reach them. Focusing itself doesn't involve any effort of any kind, not even mental. Simply try to make the biggest effort you can to see something, you'll soon notice you see it worse. There is some better vision gained by myopes when they make their eyes smaller because of the pinhole effect, but it is detrimental in the end. Try to forget about your eyes and put your attention on what you are seeing. Look for some colors you like around you, first green, for example, then blue, etc... There are complementary activities that help release tension from the eyes: Palming: This is usually a very effective way to release strain from the eyes. Sit yourself at a table, put a pillow on it, put your elbows on the pillow and then your hand palms on your eyes. Cup the hand so they don't touch the eyeball. Close the eyes. Imagine that you see pleasant things. Imagine (between the ears! don't try to see it really!) without doing any effort that you see a white cloud, and, in the center of it, a small black dot. Imagine the dot moving. Move slowly the head and imagine that the dot move in a direction opposite to the head. Try to relax as much as possible the neck, face, jaw, eyes, etc... Try it for as long as you can decently bear, maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Then gently open your eyes and look around casually. Some people do not benefit from this practice, but most do. It is better to rest the eyes before they hurt. Even closing the eyes and relaxing for a few seconds is sometimes enough. Sunning: The sun is good for the eyes. Try to sit in the sun, eyes closed, and look at the sun. Move your head gently from side to side. Go easy at the beginning, especially if you are sensitive to light. The more sun you get, the better your eyes will be. NEVER look directly at the sun with eyes open! Try not to squint when there is a lot of light. Dark glasses are not a good idea, because they make the eye more sensitive to the light in the long term. They should only be used for a short time in extreme situations. A hat or cap is much better. Looking at oppositional movement: It relaxes the eye a lot when you look at things moving opposite to your movement. There are plenty ways to enjoy that. Dancing and theme parks are pretty good :). A more convenient thing to do is to sway your body from left to right gently while standing up. Look at something in the distance and notice the movement it has while you sway. The head and eyes can eventually move in the same direction as the movement of the body. Breathe and blink. Try to relax. There are innumerable variations on the sway. I hope the above was of some help to you. There are still lots of things to be said; this is only the core of the method. I'll try to answer any questions to the best of my knowledge and available time. Everything I've learned concerning this method was of great help to people I've taught and me. I found that nearly everything made sense in the long run, and was true. I am completely baffled by the years of continual misery others and I have suffered wearing lenses. This suffering that could have been so easily avoided by this method if it had been taught in childhood. After those years of bad vision habits and wearing lenses, recovering my vision has been a long process which has asked for a lot of dedication and motivation on my part. Nevertheless it has brought joy and improvement nearly every day since I've started. After all, what are 6 months of effort to have your eyes back? Had it taken me 5 years, I still would have done it. If your vision needs improving, consider giving this method a try before attempting eye surgery. Most of this presentation has been derived from a book by Tom Quackenbush, "Relearning to see". Yeah, his name made me laugh too :). A very good book nevertheless. It is very complete and easy to read. If you're seriously interested, buy it! And if you live in Paris, France, please contact me, I'll be glad to help you personally for no fee at all.

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