Natural Vision Improvement Frequently Asked Questions V1.1

Introduction

This comprehensive FAQ is my first introduction to Natural Vision Improvement. It was so long ago, I had to wait ages to download this textfile. I must say it has been very informative, even though this was written in 1995. If anyone knows of a newer version, please tell me about it.

Here's the real thing:


(a) This material is anti-copyright. Permission is hereby granted
to freely copy or distribute subject to the condition that only
this restriction is placed on such distribution or copying: that
this anti-copyright message and the same rights are transmitted
and remain intact and complete with any such distribution or copy
of this material.


NO WARRANTY: THERE IS _NO_ IMPLIED OR STATED WARRANTY WHATSOEVER.

THIS MATERIAL IS PROVIDED ON AN AS IS BASIS IN THE HOPE THAT SOME
BENEFIT WILL BE DERIVED THEREIN BY THE READER.

FURTHER THIS MATERIAL IS PROVIDED ON AN INFORMATIONAL AND ON A
DO IT YOURSELF ONLY BASIS AS THE PRACTICE OF VISION THERAPY
FREQUENTLY OVERLAPS WITH OPTOMETRY, AND THE PRACTICE OF OPTOMETRY
WITHOUT A LICENSE IS ILLEGAL IN MOST COUNTRIES.

ALL CARE HAS BEEN TAKEN BUT NO RESPONSIBILITY WILL BE ACCEPTED,
FOR INACCURACIES, OMMISIONS OR ERRORS.



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This work is dedicated to

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso The Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

May whatever merit there is in presenting this material on
natural vision serve to benefit each and every sentient being
throughout space.

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version 1.1 (Apr 18 1995)

Compiled by: Vic Cinc (vic@cia.com.au)

With help from: Alex Eulenberg
Rene Malingre
Karen deWeeger
Marco Terry
Richard Kucera

Comments, suggestions, reports of errors, request for inclusions,
ideas: please email to vic@cia.com.au

this FAQ is availlable at
http://www.cia.com.au/vic/faq.html


or email vic@cia.com.au

The FAQ will be posted occasionally to sci.med, sci.med.vision
and alt.self-help.

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[0.0] TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1.0] INTRODUCTION
[1.1] Can vision be improved?
[1.2] Can defective vision be improved?
[1.3] Does vision therapy take up much time?
[1.4] How much does vision therapy cost?

[2.0] CORRECTED VISION
[2.1] What do glasses do to they eye?
[2.2] But don't glasses give me perfect vision already?
[2.3] Are compensating lenses addictive?


[3.0] THE BEGINING
[3.1] How do I start?
[3.2] How quickly will I make progress?

[4.0] TEXTBOOK DEFINITIONS
[4.1] What is an optometrist?
[4.2] What is an ophthalmologist?
[4.3] What is a behavioral optometrist?
[4.4] What is an optician?
[4.5] What is the difference between sight and vision?
[4.6] What are vision problems?
[4.7] What are errors of refraction?
[4.8] What is accommodation?
[4.9] What is the far point?
[4.10] What is the near point?
[4.11] What is excessive accommodation?
[4.12] What is spasm of accommodation?
[4.13] What is insufficient accommodation?
[4.14] What is ill-sustained accommodation?
[4.15] What is inertia of accommodation?
[4.16] What is paralysis of accommodation?
[4.17] What is vergence (convergence & divergence)?
[4.18] What is insufficency of convergence?
[4.19] What is excess of convergence?
[4.20] What is a diopter?
[4.21] What is the cornea?
[4.22] What is the crytaline lens?
[4.23] What is the pupil?
[4.24] What is the retina?

[5.0] THE PROBLEMS
[5.1] What is myopia?
[5.2] What is astigmatism?
[5.2.1] What is the notation for astigmatism?
[5.3] What is hypermetropia?
[5.4] What is presbyopia?
[5.5] What is emmetropia?
[5.6] What is strabismus?
[5.7] What is amblyopia?
[5.8] How accurate are visual measurements?
[5.9] How do I measure my own accuity?
[5.10] What is average daily vision?
[5.11] What is peak daily vision?
[5.12] Should I keep track of peak and average daily vision in a diary?

[6.0] LETS GO!

[7.0] MASSAGE
[7.1] What are the signs of tension and strain?
[7.2] How do I relax strain in the body?
[7.3] How do I massage my face?
[7.4] How do I massage my neck?
[7.5] How often should I massage my neck and face?
[7.6] How do I stretch the muscles of the eye?
[7.7] How often should I stretch the muscles of the eye?

[8.0] PASSIVE VISION
[8.1] What is passive vision?
[8.2] Does sleep help reduce strain?
[8.3] What do I do if my sight is worse in the mornings?
[8.4] How often should I wear glasses or contacts?
[8.5] Should I go cold turkey and stop wearing glasses altogether?
[8.6] What are functional or fitness glasses?
[8.7] How long before I become accustomed to not wearing glasses?
[8.8] What is palming?
[8.9] How often should I palm?
[8.10] Can I do too much palming?
[8.11] What is sunning?
[8.12] What is skying?
[8.13] How much sunning should I do?
[8.14] Is sunning safe?
[8.15] Should I stop wearing sunglasses?
[8.16] How much blinking should I be doing?
[8.17] Should I be yawning?
[8.18] How should I be breathing?
[8.19] What are some breathing exercesise?
[8.20] What am I seeing?


[9.0] ACTIVE VISION
[9.1] What is orphoptics?
[9.2] What is active vision?
[9.3] What is central fixation?
[9.4] How do I restore central fixation?
[9.5] what is shifting?
[9.6] what are saccadic movements?
[9.7] what is swinging?
[9.8] How do I exercise shifting or saccadic motion?
[9.9] What is peripheral vision?
[9.10] How can I test my binocular vision?
[9.11] How do I exercise peripheral vision?
[9.12] How do I exercise accomodation?
[9.13] Can accommodation be brought under conscious control?
[9.14] What is fusion?
[9.15] How do I exercise fusion and convergence?
[9.16] Can convergence be brought under conscious control?
[9.17] Can I invent my own exercises?
[9.18] How often should I do active eye work?
[9.19] What is a clear flash?
[9.20] Should I be concerned about adverse lighting conditions?
[9.21] What is the astigmatic mirror?
[9.22] How do I use the astigmatic mirror to reduce astigmatism?


[10] MENTAL VISION
[10.1] What is the role of memory and imagination in vision?
[10.2] How can I exercise my perception?
[10.3] Can hypnosis be used to cure visual problems?
[10.4] How is NLP used to cure visual problems?
[10.5] How is the de Silva method used to cure visual problems?

[11.0] BEHAVIORAL OPTOMETRY
[11.1] What is behavioral optometry?
[11.12] What is patching?
[11.13] What are pinhole glasses?
[11.14] What are anaglyph glasses?
[11.15] What are polaroid glasses?
[11.16] What are prism glasses?
[11.17] What is the Accommotrac Vision Trainer?

[12.0] EMOTIONS AND VISION
[12.1] What is the emotional nature of myopia?
[12.2] What is the emotional nature of hypermetropia?
[12.4] What is the emotional nature of presbiopya?
[12.5] What is the emotional nature of Macular degeneration?
[12.6] What is the emotional nature of Amblyopia?
[12.7] What is the emotional nature of Strabismus?
[12.8] What is the emotional nature of Glaucoma?
[12.9] What is the emotional nature of Cataracts?
[12.10] What is the emotional nature of Retinis Pigmentosa?
[12.11] What is the emotional nature of Retinal Detachment?

[13.0] EASTERN APROACH
[13.1] What are accupressure points for the eyes?
[13.2] Can accupuncture be used to relieve eye strain?
[13.3] How do I meditate?
[13.4] What eastern herbs are availlable?

[14.0] MOVEMENT & POSTURE
[14.1] Should I be more aware of my poture?
[14.2] How can I tell if my head is tilted?
[14.3] Do I lean my head forward/back too much?
[14.4] How do I sit up straight?
[14.5] What are Feldenkrais lessons, Alexander technique, Rolfing
[14.6] What is Craniosacral therapy?

[15.0] DIET & LIGHT
[15.1] What nutrients are essential?
[15.2] Should I be using full-spectrum lighting?
[15.3] Should I avoid tints in glasses and lenses?
[15.4] What is the relationship between light and mood?
[15.5] What is syntonics?
[15.6] Is there a Homeopathic remedy?
[15.7] What is eyebright?
[15.8] What is bilbery?
[15.9] What other herbs are of benefit?
[15.10] What are drugs that may adversly affect visual accuity?
[15.11] What are drugs that may adversly affect pupilary response?
[15.12] What are drugs that may adversly affect eye movement?
[15.13] What are drugs that may adversly affect eye pressure?
[15.14] What are drugs that may adversly affect the conjuntiva, cornea, and lens?
[15.15] What are drugs that may adversly affect the retina and optic nerve?



[16.0] CONCERNS
[16.1] I do a lot of reading what should I do?
[16.2] I spend a lot of time in front of a computer what should I
[16.3] One eye is weaker than the other what should I do?
[16.4] My eyes are dry and iritated what should I do?
[16.5] I already have 20/20 vision how do I get super normal vision.
[16.6] What is an example program for myopia?
[16.7] What is an example program for astigmatism?
[16.8] What is an example program for hyperopia?
[16.9] What is an example program for presbyopia?
[16.10] What is an example program for cataracts?
[16.11] What is an example program for macular degeneration?
[16.12] What is an example program for gluacoma?

[17.0] EMERGENCIES
[17.1] What should I do in the case of an eye wound?
[17.2] What should I do in case of chemical burns to the eye?
[17.3] What should I do in the case of foreign bodies in the eye?

[18.0] RESOURCES
[18.1] What resources are availlable to help me?
[18.2] How do I locate a behavioral optometrist?



[1.0] INTRODUCTION

This FAQ is devoted to bringing up to date information on the
process of natural vision and natural vision improvement. The
distilation of numerous theories and schools of thought are
presented here to maximise the opportunity that you may find the key
to your particular individual situation.

The discussion of "why's?" and theory is beyond the scope of this FAQ.
Similarly testamonials have not been included due to space
considerations. Only methods which have had outstanding results and
documented successes have been include here, procedures with
uncertainty have been noted as such.


[1.1] Can vision be improved?

Yes. The US Air Force and many commercial airlines have a
programs of training pilots with normal vision to super normal
sight. Olympic athletes including the US volleyball and field
hockey teams frequently work to improve their sight to beyond
normal. Other athletes that do so include tennis champion
Virginia Wade, the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yeankees, Val
Skinner profesional golfer. Connecticut state police have regular
vision improvement training. The list is endless.


[1.2] Can defective vision be improved?

Yes. In the majority of cases improvements are possible.
Conditions like myopia, astigmatism and hypermetropia can often be
corrected fully or better than normal or at least
significantly, depending on the individual condition, motivation and
the inherant flexibility of the visual systems.

Having said this please do not take anything in this FAQ on
faith. Always verify everything for yourself with your own
senses and your own experimentations and investigations.


[1.3] Does vision therapy take up much time?

No. Primarily it is a matter of developing good visual habits and
intergrating them throughout your normal day to replace bad
visual habits.

Vision therapy is not a matter of doing half an hour of exercises a
day, and then ten hours of sight adversive activities.
Successful vision therapy is about bringing to consciousness bad
habits, modifying them to become good habits and repeating them till
they become unconcsious. In other words vision therapy is about
converting the continuous use of your natural vision to be an ongoing
benefical activity and extending or building new neurological
pathways in the mind.


[1.4] How much does vision therapy cost?

Nothing. You can choose to seek help from the various
professionals involved in the vision industry who will charge you for
their time.


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[2.0] CORRECTED VISION

90% of the population of the USA, will at one point or other begin
to wear glasses.


[2.1] What do glasses do to they eye?

It is common experience that wearing contacts and glasses worsens
unaided sight.

Glass and plastic lenses in spectacles and contact lenses
interfere with the transmission of light. Color is always more
intense when seem with the naked eye than with any lens. It can be
argued that since color is a major part of the perception of form it
follows that in small to medium sight defects form is not as well
perceived with glasses. Secondly its possible that glasses
actually agravate the eye, by constantly maintaining a degree of
refractive error which otherwise would not be there, particularly
while in eccentric focusing.

The strong concave glasses required by myopes of high degree make all
objects seem much smaller than they really are, while convex glasses
enlarge them. Patients with a degree of astigamitism can suffer some
very disagreable sensations when they put on glasses. Usually these
difficulties are overcome, but often they are not, and it sometimes
happens that those who do overcome them during the day never succeed in
getting used to them at night.

All glasses contract the field of vision to a greater or lesser
degree. Often glasses cause annoying nervous symptoms, such as
dizziness and headache, and the frames also interfere with
peripheral vision.

Many Russian civilians during WW2 were known to wear negative
diopter lenses for several days prior to visual examinations in
compuslory enlistments in order to easily fail the tests.


[2.2] But don't glasses give me perfect vision already?

No. Refractive abnormalities are continually changing from day to
day, from hour to hour, and from minute to minute. A fact that is
easily verified by personal observation. Thus the accurate fitting
of glasses or contacts is, of course impossible.

The difficulty of keeping glass clear is one of the minor
discomforts of glasses, but is nevertheless a most annoying one.

Likewise reflections of strong light from eyeglasses are often very
annoying, and in the street may be very dangerous. Expensive coatings
are needed to reduce these effects. In so doing, they reduce the
brightness of colors. These coatings also require special cloths to
clean, and they scratch easily requiring a hardness coating.
Many people have great difficulties with glasses because of the
activity of their lives, which not only leads to the breaking of
the lenses but often throws them out of focus, particularly in the
case of eyeglasses worn for astigmatism.

Contact lenses are difficult to clean and maintain. They are
often dropped and lead to various eye diseases if not
scrupulously cleaned. Astigmatism is often corrected poorly, due to
the lens rotating on the eye. Even the most permeable contacts deprive
the eye of oxygen and frequently capilaries begin extending
into the cornea as a result. Extended wear lenses are notorious for
causing infections and complications.

The progression of myopia often means that a perfect prescription is
quickly inadequate and the the patient spends most of his or her time
with a noticeable amount of refractive error. (In fact, most
optometrists undercorrect myopia to begin with -- contrary to popular
belief, 20/20 vision does not mean 100% of the human visual
potential, but the average acuity of people living during the time the
standard was established.)

In an emergency spectacles and contacts often become a serious
hindrance. Droped or broken glasses often aggravate any already
difficult situations.

[2.3] Are compensating lenses addictive?

Yes. The lenses generally prescribed by classical optometrist are
called compensating lenses, in that only compensate for
refractive errors, and have no therapeutic value. In a
progressive myopic the lenses quickly become a total addiction.


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[3.0] THE BEGINING

[3.1] How do I start?

Start by getting a visual check up and an assessment of the
health of your eyes. You will also have a reference point of your
original visual acuity to which you can compare progress. It
helps to have an optometrist who is open to the idea of natural
vision improvement. An optometrist that practices behavioral
optometry or syntonics will only be too pleased to help you.

Ask lots of questions about your condition. Only when you know the
true state of your "ocular fitness" will you will be able to make the
make best use of this FAQ. If you have any doubts as to the safety
of any of the practices suggested, by all means discuss it with
your eye doctor! This is especially true if you have a serious eye
condition.

Since everybody is different, the information this FAQ cannot claim
to be the ultimate authority on what you should do. Rather, its
suggestions are meant to help you find your unique key to positive
and rapid change.


[3.2] How quickly will I make progress?

Immediately. If you are myopic, hypermetropic or astigmatic you can
demonstrate this by doing a few minutes of palming and noticing
the results. The results of palming are at first short lived, but
longer term progress will result from the accummulation of
these and other shorter positive beneficial effects. Progress
is usually measured in months or weeks, depending on the
individual case and the degree of flexibility and motivation.

Remember there are no quick answers, no shortcuts. No two people are
alike or have exactly the same problems.




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[4.0] TEXTBOOK DEFINITIONS

[4.1] What is an optometrist?

A doctor of optometry (O.D.) educated to provide routine eye
health care and refraction measurement for the prescription of
lenses. A growing number of optometrists, who call themselves
Visual Training specialists or Behavioral Optometrists (see
below), also incorporate non-surgical therapies for visual
problems such as exercises, training lenses, and nutritional
counseling.

[4.2] What is an behavioral optometrist?

An optometrist trained in vision therapy, which involes a wide
variety of procedures for neuromuscular, neurophysiological or
neurosensory visual dysfunction.

[4.3] What is an ophthalmologist?

A doctor of medicine (M.D.) trained in disease of the eye and
surgery. In addition, many ophthalmologists prescribe glasses and
contact lenses as well.

[4.4] What is an optician?

A technician who produces and/or dispenses the optical lenses,
glasses or other equipment presribed by optometrists and
ophthalmologist.


[4.5] What is the difference between sight and vision?

Sight is the process of the eyes to focus an image on the retina,
vision is the ability of the brain to give this image meaning.


[4.6] What are vision problems?

Behavioral optometry regrds most vision problems as imbalance
between the various systems of the bodies, most occur as adaptive
responses to enviromental stresses and are present in the brain at
an unconscious level. Errors of refraction are seen as symptoms
which disapear when the causes are attended to.

Classical optometry regards vision problems as errors of
refraction, to be treated with corrective lenses.


[4.7] What are errors of refraction?

A situation where a clear image is not formed on the retina.
Myopia, astigmatism, hypermetropia all types of errors of
refraction. Most of errors of refraction are very small changes in
the eye, often in the order of fraction of millimeters. You only have
to look at the difference in thickness in the center of a contact lens
and the periphery to begin to appreciate how small the physical
problems really are.


[4.8] What is accommodation?

Accommodation is the process whereby the eye adapts to bring near
objects into focus and relaxes to bring distant objects into focus
on the retina. Different ways of altering the eye for
accommodation have been observed in different animals. For
example in birds, the cornea changes shape, and in fish the
entire eye elongates and flattens. In humans, accommodation is
generally held to occur by the lens becoming more or less convex,
under the control of the ciliary muscle. However, the precise
mechanism for human accommodation is still under debate.

[4.9] What is the far point?

The furthest point at which the eye can see clearly.


[4.10] What is the near point?

The nearest point at which the eye can see clearly.


[4.11] What is excessive accommodation?

The state where the tensing of the cilliary muscle is sustained, and
both the far and near point are brought closer to the eye. Diagnosis
by a trained optometrist or opthalmologist is easily performed
under the effect of cyclopegics (drugs that paralyze the ciliary) and
once diagnosed recovery is quick. Standard treatment includes
temporarily minimising near work, and rest to allow the over excited
cilliary to recover from its condition of over use.

Should corrective lenses be unwintingly prescribed the condition is
usually aggravated.

The causes range from improper or ill fitting spectacles,
excessive amount of near work, general ill health, physical or
mental. No one is really sure.


[4.12] What is spasm of accommodation?

Textbooks say a rare condition of spasm in the ciliary muscle
which has become out of control. Objects are seen as larger than they
normally are.


[4.13] What is insufficient accommodation?

The condition where the power of the ciliary is below that
required for normal vision. Near work is blurred or becomes
difficult.

A program of active and passive vision can improve this
condition.

If the cause is hardening of the lens than the ciliary may have
diffculty overcoming this condition.


[4.14] What is ill-sustained accommodation?

This is a milder form of insufficient accommodation, usually
during period of ill health or tired eyes. Often found in people who
wish to read in the evening or in bed when tired.

Treatment is the same as for insufficient accommodation.


[4.15] What is inertia of accommodation?

A condition where there is difficulty in changing the range of
accommodation. Focusing seems to stick at certain points and
difficulty or delay is experienced, when changing depth of focus.

A program of accommodative exercises will releive this condition.


[4.16] What is paralysis of accommodation?

A variety of causes where the cilliary is paralysed, either from
medication or trauma. Sometimes a result of diabetes or alcohol
toxicity.

Treatment of this condition resolves itself into a treatment of the
cause. A medical opinion should be sought.


[4.17] What is vergence (convergence & divergence)?

Vergence is the process of muscular coordination which points each
eye at the same point in space to produce binocular vision. To see at
the near point, the eyes must cross or "converge", while to see
at the far point, the eyes must pull out or "diverge".

Vergence works strongly in coordination with accommodation and
pupil dilation. Vergence is principally governed by the medial recti
and the pupilary contractions by the sphincter pupillae. The
strong synkenetic association between these three is seen by the supply
of all these muscles by one nerve called the third cranial.

It is common to find in most vision problems that the three
systems are not acting in coherence.


[4.18] What is insufficency of convergence?

Convergence insufficency is the difficulty in focusing when the near
point is less than 11cm from the intra-occular base line. The
insuficciency may be in both or one eye and the causes are not
well understood. Insufficency is a common cause of reading
difficulties, one eye will be looking at a point in space and the other
will be looking past it.

Convergence is easily brought under conscious control, and a
program of convergence exercises can correct this problem.


[4.19] What is excess of convergence?

Similar to insufficency, but one eye is converging too far, gives the
appearance of cross-eyed. Commonly found in hypermetropes, or myopes
freshly behind glasses.

Treatment involves learning to obtain a double image and the use of
prisms or the use of an amblyoscope.


[4.20] What is a diopter?

A diopter a measurement of the power to bend light. One diopter
means the ability to converge or bring to focus parallel rays in a
distance of one meter. Negative diaopters diverge light.


[4.21] What is the cornea?

The cornea is the outer "lens" of the eye, in front of the pupil. It
has a power +43d. Its shape is supposedly fixed.


[4.22] What is the crytaline lens?

The inner lens, behind the pupil. Is has a power of +20d at rest. Note
the total power of the eyes is about +59d

The crystaline lens is thought to be solely responsible for
accommodation or the change in focus from near and far objects. The
added power of the lens to accomodate varies supposedly
declining with age. An "average" 10 year old as around 13d of
accommodative power. ie can bring to focus a point 8cm from one
eye. An "average" 30 year old as around 9d of accommodative
power, and so can bring to to focus a point 11cm from one eye.

Note that 1mm in change to the axial length (front to back
distance) of the eye is roughly equal to 3 diopters in power. This
gives you an idea of how small any problems actually are.


[4.23] What is the pupil?

The pupil is the colored part of the eye which can contract to
change the field of vision and reduce the amount of light
entering the eye.


[4.24] What is the retina?

The retina is the inside of the rear wall of the eye, which is
photoreceptive. Light is focused here from the cornea and
crytaline lens.



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[5.0] THE PROBLEMS

[5.1] What is myopia?

Also called shortsighted, or nearsighted. Myopia is the
inability to see distant object clearly. The physiology is that the
image produced by the eye focuses just short of the retina, leaving a
blured image to fall on the macula.

Textbooks say the physiology can vary, the axial length from the
lens to the retina is too long, or the lens is over
accommodating, or the curvature in the cornea has changed, or the
lenticular curvature has changed. The lens itself may by
displaced of its own accord or the inter occular pressure is too
great. Diabetes is known cause of myopia and general ill health;
stress, emotional problems can bring on temporary conditions.
Some very rare cases result from a genetic pigmentation problem with
the retina.

Conventional optometry regards myopia as a hereditary problem
contrary to evidence to suggest a strong enviromental factor.
COnventional Optometry treats myopia by the use of stronger and
stronger presrciptions.

Behavioral optometry regards myopia as a symptom of vision
imbalance which is often responsive to vision therapy.

Mypoia is measured in negative spherical diopters. ie -1 D. one
diopter is the power of a lens which will focus parallel rays at a
distance of one meter.




[5.2] What is astigmatism?

Astigmatism is the condition where a point focus can not be
formed on the retina. The refraction of light is unequal in
different meridians. This means lines in one one direction may be
blurred while others are not. Astigmatics often report double vision
(diplopia) or even multiple images (polypopia) in both eyes or even
a single eye.

The physiology is as uncertain as that of myopia. The cornea or
lens may not be rotationaly symmetrical, or the eye itself by be
assymetric. The extraocular muscles are sometimes
responsible for deforming the shape of the eye. Conventional
optometry treats astigmatism throught the prescription of
lenses. Behavioral optometry regards astigmatism as correctable with
vision therapy.

Elliot Forrest O.D. found a relationship between head movement,
posture and visual scanning. If you use a computer or read a lot then
you will tend to scan from along the horizontal meridian and neglect
the vertical meridian, with a resultant astigmatism in that
meridian.

Astigamtism may also result from a twisting of the spine, pelvis or
neck. Astigmatics often have a tight or restricted posture and
movement.

You can quickly tell if you are astigmatic with the astigmatic mirror
section [9.21]

[5.2.1] What is the notation for astigmatism?

Astigmatism is measured in cylindrical diopters. Three numbers are
needed. The first number is the power of a spherical lens. The
second is the power of cylindrical lens and the last number is the
principal meridian in degrees for that lens. Facing a patient: 0
degree or 180 degree is horizontal, 90 degree is vertical, 45 is
up right to down left, and 135 degree is up left to down right.

Optometrist usualy use "minus" notation eg +2.25 -0.75 x 175 and
ophthalmologist use "plus" notation eg +2.25 +0.75 x 5 These are the
same measurement.

so is -1.00 +1.00 x 135 and -1.00 -1.00 x 45

The average astigmatic usually has the horizontal meridian
flatter than the vertical meridian.




[5.3] What is hypermetropia?

Also farsighted or longsighted or hyperopia. Hypermetropia is the
condition where the eye tends to focus behind the retina.
Hypermetropia is usually not a problem as small amounts can be
overcome by accommodation. Indeed the majority of people are born
hypermetropic.

The physiology is as poorly understood as with all vision
problems. The eye may be considered too long, the retina may have
detached, accommodation may be insufficient. etc etc etc.


[5.4] What is presbyopia?

Also old age sight. Presbyopia is a failure in accommodation with the
onset of age. It mostly affects near vision, but distance vision is
also sometimes affected.

The physiology of presbyopia is considered to be from change in the
shape and or structure of the lens are commonly blamed. Less commonly
the strength of the ciliary is at fault.

As with all sight problems this is poorly understood.


[5.5] What is emmetropia?

Emmetropia is the ideal eye where a relaxed flattened lens
focuses exactly on the retina. Commonly emmetropia is another word
for normal sight. The emmetropic eye is fully rested and display
no signs of stress when looking at the far point or the near point.

No eye is perfectly emmetropic all of the time.

The opposite of emmetropia is called ammetropia.


[5.6] What is strabismus?

Also "cross-eyes" or, less commonly "squint". A rare condition where
the eye turns in, out, up or down. That is the eyes are no longer
working as a team. Behavioral optometry beleives that the cause
being at a cortical level is treatable. Untreated the condition
lead to many emotive dificulites.

[5.7] What is amblyopia?

Also "lazy eye". A condition where one eye apparently looses
clear sharp vision which cannot be compensated for with
corrective lenses. A condition best diagnosed by a professional.


[5.8] How accurate are visual measurements?

Not very. Vision changes continuously and the autorefraction and
subject refraction tests performed by optometrists and
opthalmologists give only a "snapshot" of your current accuity.
Autorefraction gives a sort of "at rest" measurement and
subjective refraction measures your ability (some people say
"under pressure to perform") to discern what the eyes present to yourmind. A score of 20/20 does not include your acuity at the near
point.

Many other measurements are not covered by a standard optometry
test.

Eye-movement skills, the ability to quickly focus from one
object to another.

Eye-teaming skills, converging and diverging, the ability to turn
the eyes inward and outward in a coherent way.

Eye focusing skills, the ability to make rapid and accurate
shifts in visual inspection with instantaneius clarity and at any
distance. Also the ability to maintain focus on a an object. Focusing
is about expanding the point of vision not about forcing or trying
harder. Effects/reflecfs concentration abilities.

Dynamic visual acuity, the ability the see sharply while an
object or person is in motion.

Peripheral vision, the ability to use side horiztonal and
vetical vision. Used to position yourself in space and time.
Improvements result in better balance and movement.

Binocular fusion, the ability to coordinate the eyes precisely so the
brain can "fuse" the input. Dyslexia is a catch all term to label
crossed and left/right reversal dificulties. It is about a lack of
co-ordination between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and
body. Fusion creates depth perception.

Eye-hand co-ordination. Combining the visual and motor systems, if
the eye movements are jerky then the hand movements will be too.
Effects sprots performance and even handwriting.

Visual form perception. Becoming aware of the shapes features of
sensory information. The ability to organize images on the
printed page into letters and/or words.

Visualization and Visual memory. How you make and store and
recall visual images and imformation. Effects you ability to
learn.


[5.9] How do I measure my own acuity?

To measure acuity with an eye chart: Stand back from an eye
chart. Determine the smallest row you can read. Take the
distance you are standing from the chart (normally 20 feet or 6
meters) and divide that by the number printed next to the line. This
ratio is your acuity. The ability to read black letters on a white
background from twenty feet (6m) is known as "Snellen acuity"
named after the inventor of the eye chart, and is usually
represented with "20" in the numerator. Expressed as a percent, it is
your "percent of normal vision". This percent must not be taken as
an absolute measurement, since one will have different acuities at
different distances.

To measure amount of myopia in diopters: Measure the furthest
distance you can see the letters absolutely clear and black (not just
readable). This is your focal length. If you measure your focal
length in meters, you can compute your refractive error in diopters by
taking the negative reciprocal. For example, if things start to
blur out at half a meter, you have a refractive error of -2.00 D. The
greater the magnitude of this number, the more your myopia. The
number you come up with by this means should represent more myopia
than what the eye doctor would give you as a prescription, since eye
doctors are trained to "under- prescribe".


[5.10] What is average daily vision?

A subjective measurement of how your vision faired during the
day. It is easy to get a good idea of the state of your vision by
using a set of daily landmarks or signs to judge its current state.
You will also find vision varies quite a bit during the day, so you
need to take this in consideration when making your evaluation.
Many people find that vision is directly related to their current state
of alertness and health. As you become tired during a typical day or
are ill your vision reflects this.


[5.11] What is peak daily vision?

Peak daily vision is defined as the "best" subjective point of
clarity throughout the day. Most people are surprised to find just
how good the peak point of vision during the day actually is.


[5.12] Should I keep track of peak and average daily vision in a
diary?

Yes. While this is not mandatory, it helps you see long term
trends, and gives more reliable feedback as you experiment with
changes to your lifestyle and undertake various remedies for your
vision. Changes over weeks and months are difficult to notice until
they reach a large threshold. It is much easier to note down the
state of your vision each day, whether you had any clear flashes and
what duration they were, rather than to rely on your memory. Include
as much detail as you feel necessary. You would also be surpised at how
quickly you adjust to better eyesight and forget what poor vision
was like. Some people improve without realising they have improved.





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[6.0] LETS GO!

The following sections will lead you on a journey that cover all
aspects of vision. MASSAGE, PASSIVE VISION, ACTIVE VISION,
MENTAL VISION, BEHAVIORAL OPTOMETRY, EMOTIONS AND VISION,
EASTERN APROACH, DIET & LIGHT. Its one thing to know how to
correct something, its another think to, like the great god Nike
said, "Just do it!".


[7.0] MASSAGE

[7.1] What are the signs of tension and strain?

Sight problems are almost always accompanied by patterns of
muscle tension and weakness.

For example myopes tend to have pronounced tension in the
forehead, jaw neck, shoulders upper arms, lower back and often in the
calves.

Better results are gained quicker when the body is treated in a
holistic fashion, and the tension in the body and mind is seen to as
well as the problems with the eyes.


[7.2] How do I relax strain in the body?

Massage is an excellent way. Begin with the face, and notice
which areas are the most tense. Next the do neck massage and
shoulder rotations. And with the aid of someone have back
massaged and your legs and calves if you have tension in these
areas.


[7.3] How do I massage my face?

Warm your fingers by rubing them together and begin with your
jaw. Always begin very gently and spend a couple of minutes on each
area noticing what you feel and what effect it is having on you.
Work outward from the point of your chin under and behind the ears.
The point directly under the ears is often very tight. Opening and
closing the jaw is a good idea as well as yawning. Work from the
bridge of the nose outward over the cheekbones and up toward the
temples. Use circular strokes on the temples. Continue on the
eyebrows, working outward from the center using long strokes. Use
your fingertips to strech out the brow, and alternate with picking up
the brow with your thumb and forefinger and stretching it out.
Often a point between the brow is very tense use small circular motions
on this area. Another delicate point is in the indentation outside
the bridge of the nose on the inner edge of the eyebrows. Work above
and below the brows and finaly use long strokes on the forhead.
Notice how your face feels and youe eyes feel. You will find you have
your own pattern of tension which you can subsequently pay sepecial
attention to.


[7.4] How do I massage my neck?

Turn your head to one side, feel along from behind the ear down to
your chest you will find the side neck flexor or
sternocleidomastoid. This muscle can become tighter than any
other muscle in the body. Some people have mistaken this muscle for a
bone. Gently at first till it warms up, palpate, tap and stroke
it. Do each side, then massage the back of the neck working out
from the spine. The top of the spine at the very base of the
skull is often quite tight. finally finish by doing head rotations.
Start with small rotations, in each direction do a dozen circles
gradualy expanding to your full range of motion. Always do rotations
slowly and deliberately


[7.5] How often should I massage my neck and face?

Spend a few minutes at least once or twice a day. Lunch time or
evening is always a good opportunity.


[7.6] How do I stretch the muscles of the eye?

Close both eyes tightly, hold your lids shut firmly, squeezing and
open them suddenly, arching your brows and stretching your face.
Repeat several times.

Look up as far as possible, look down as far as possible, inhale on
up, and exhale on down. The blink rapidly a dozen or so times. Look as
far right as possible, look as far left as possible and blink
rapidly again. Look diagonaly up to left, down to right, up to right,
down to left, and blink rapidily. Attempt to look in back of yourself.

Full range of motion eye rotations. Rotate your eyes around the
periphery of your vision. Always do these slowly and
deliberatly. Concentrate on one eye at a time, then try both. Go
around a dozen or so times then go around the other direction the same
number of times. Try rotations with your eyes shut.


[7.7] How often should I stretch the muscles of the eye?

Whenever you feel them to be tight or constricted or having a
limited range of motion. At least several times a day. Some
people find that after they have been wearing glasses or contacts and
remove them the muscle of the eye are especial "sticky", and dont move
freely.


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[8.0] PASSIVE VISION

[8.1] What is passive vision?

Passive vision is the act of seeing without strain as displayed by
the emmotropic eye. To develop passive vision a series of
non-exercises have been developed to reduce strain and
sensitivity.

Dr. William Bates found that mypoia is in fact always associated with
a strain to see distant objects, and that hypermetropia is always
associated with a strain to see at the near point. Primarily
the strain to see is a strain of the mind.

By straining to see at near or far objects the eye can pass
through various stages from emmetropia, in which the eye is
spherical, to hypermetropia, in which it is flattened, and if
these changes take place unsymmetrically, astigamatism. Bates found
that myopia could be induced in dogs by forcing them to strain to
to see a distant object.

Bates's remedy is not to avoid either near work or distant vision but
to get rid of the mental strain which underlies the imperfect
functioning of the eye at both points. The ways in which people
strain are infinite, and the methods used to relieve strain must be
almost equally varied.


[8.2] Does sleep help reduce strain?

Yes and no. If a person is under mental strain during the day, then
this will carry over into sleep. Even during sleep, eyes can still
be very active during a period know as REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, a
phase of sleep during which dreaming takes place.

Some people find their vision is best in the morning, certainly the
result of sleep -- while others find it markedly worse! The effect
sleep has on your eyesight may be affected by the tension your eyes
are under before you go to sleep, the amount of light in the room while
you're sleeping, what you ate before going to sleep, etc. In
general, though, if you are able to achieve complete relaxation
before you lie down, the effect on your eyes the next morning will be
positive.

Unconscious patterns of muscular tension are however generally not
cured by sleep, nor are muscular weaknesses.


[8.3] What do I do if my sight is worse in the mornings?

A few people strain their eyes during sleep causing poor vision in
the morning. A program of passive vision non-exercises before bed will
help to relieve this condition. Also look into the emotional
side of your lifestyle and how this may relate to your night time
stress.


[8.4] How often should I wear glasses or contacts?

Wear them only when your safety (or the law) requires it. The less
you wear glasses the quicker you can improve.


[8.5] Should I go cold turkey and stop wearing glasses
altogether?

If you can then yes. You still nead to wear glasses were you
_need_ to see perfectly clearly. (Note it is illegal in most
countries to drive without glasses if it is indicated on your
license)

In some situations you can get by with a fitness pair of glasses
correcting to 20/40. In situations were you don't neet glasses dont
wear them.

Remember glasses only compensate for vision problems and dont
improve them. Many people complain that their eyes feels "tight" or
tense and tired when they wear glasses, indicating a possible negative
action on the eyes from the lenses.



[8.6] What are functional or fitness glasses?

Glasses which undercorrect an error of refraction. The lowest an
optometrist is legaly allowed to prescribe for your sight, this
varies from country to country. In most countries it is illegal to
prescribe glasses that correct vision worse than 20/40.


[8.7] How long before I become accustomed to not wearing glasses?

If you have worn corrective lenses for a while then the
transition might not be easy. The first week is usually the
hardest, but you will probably be surprised how quickly you
adjust.

The first problem is a psychological one, most people immediately
exclaim, "I cant see!", when in fact what they mean is "I cant see
clearly". Mental vision now becomes the first priority, that is,
learning to differentiate and become aware of what exactly it is you do
see.

Once you develop this sense of your vision you will be able to
instantly tell the state of your sight. Some people can tell you their
Snellen acuity just by looking at any patch of black. Simply
because they have learned that with blur, blacks become grey, and the
degree of grey indicates the current state of their sight. Become
curious about just what is it your are seeing. How is it different from
what you want to see? Are lines sharper in one orientation? Are
you seeing double or more images? Which part of your visual field is
clearer? How do your eyes compare to each other, is one stronger
than the other, does this change? How does your vision change during
the day?



[8.8] What is palming?

Relief of mental strain is the cornerstone of the Bates method.
Bates found that closing the eyes gives them and the mind a break which
can temporarily restore sight. He futher expanded this principle
with the non-exercise of palming, which actually comes from the Hatha
Yoga tradition.

Do not wear glasses or contacts while palming.

To palm, cover your closed eyes with the cupped palms of the hand with
the fingers overlaping in the center of the forehead. Do not touch or
put any pressure on the eyes. Then meditate over something
pleasant and relax. Some people like to warm up the palms first by
rubing them briskly together.

Palming relaxes the optic nerves, enhances blood circulation, and
relieves muscular rigidity in the eyes.

At first most people find they see a myriad of patterns lights and
colors etc. When a high degree of relaxation is attained these tend
to give way to just black. Bates advised to just imagine black
to encourage this process, however if this proves difficult then to
just rest while palming.

The first thing you will notice when you have finished palming is the
sense of peace, relaxation and warmth in the eyes and the muscles
around the eyes. The second is an increase in clarity, which
slowly reverts back to your abnormal sight. Permanent sight
improvement is based on the cumulative beneficial effects of these
temporary improvements.


[8.9] How often should I palm?

30 minutes a day is a good goal. If you have busy schedule then
break it up into lots of 5 minutes. You can mix palming with a quick
facial massage.


[8.10] Can I do too much palming?

No. Even if you do one or more hours a day, Bates found this still
produced beneficial results.


[8.11] What is sunning?

Bates advocated sunning as an important component of vision
therapy. Sunning simply involves being in the sun, closing the eyes
and just moving the head from the side to side while allowing
the sun to shine on the closed lids. Do NOT wear contacts or
lenses while sunning. As you become accustomed to light you can
stretch out your eyelid and allow more light through the
tranculecent skin.

Looking directly at the sun is of course NEVER recomended. If you have
a high sensitivity, work mostly indoors under fluorescents or wear
sunglasses often, then you might find that normal daylight hurts
your eyes. Sunning is an excellent way of reducing any light
sensitivity.

Once you are used to light sunning will give a soft, warm,
pleasant and very relaxed feeling to the eyes.

If direct sunlight isn't availlable, artifical full-spectrum
lights can be used.


[8.12] What is skying?

Skying is milder form of sunning when the sensitivity to light is
great or no sun is availlable. Instead of looking at the sun use a
poriton of the sky with no sun. Once this has been mastered then
graduate to sunning.


[8.13] How much sunning should I do?

As much as you can. Start of with a few minutes per day and build up
to half an hour, or break sunning up into smaller chunks if time is
pressing. Eating lunch outdoors is a good time for sunning
provided you dont live under the hole in the ozone layer or in the
tropics.

[8.14] Is sunning safe?

There are contra indications to sunning. If you are albino or have
certain skin diseases or any problems in or around your eyes, then
consult your doctor. But if your healthy then the answer is
yes. As it is, many people don't get enough sun, which can be a
factor in causing depression, vitamin D deficiency, and calcium
absorption problems.

If you are concerned about exposing yourself to too much UV
light, there are things you can do. First, always sun with your eyes
closed. Also, keep in mind: all frequencies of light are less
intense in late afternoon or early morning -- you can do your
sunning then. And, if you feel you need to, you can always wear a sun
block on your face (don't forget your eyelids!).

Always start with as brief a period that you are comfortabale with
and slowly extend this to the desired time. Remember in controled
short periods of exposure the sun can only do good, and its only
when you haven't built up exposure or haven't spent extended time in
the sun that problems can occur as a result of sun-hypersensitivity.

Do however take extra care if you live under the holes in the
ozone layer or in the tropics.



[8.15] Should I stop wearing sunglasses?

Yes. The lens of the eye filters out UV light on its own accord.
Sunglasses are really only useful in high glare situations. If you
need sunglasses use top-quality full-spectrum neutral gray as
manufactured by Keystone Optical Laboratory or Enviromental
Lighting Concepts. If you find daylight or strong light
painful this may be an aspect of your vision dysfunction.


[8.16] How much blinking should I be doing?

Remember to blink and blink often. People with refractive errors tend
to blink much less than the average 20 blinks a minute. Reduced
blinking leads to staring or squinting, so remember to blink
often. Deliberate blinking momentarily rests the eyes, stretches
the extra occular muscles, massages the eye balls and forces the
pupil to contract and expand.

Working with computer video displays tends to dry out the eyes and
blinking is even more important in these situations to help return
much needed moisture to the eye. Some people like to put up a small
note to remind themselves to blink frequently.


[8.17] Should I be yawning?

Yes. Deliberate or exagerated yawning relaxes all the facial
muscles, encouraging fuller breathing and oxygenates the blood. Yawn
frequently, especially when tired. Many people report greatly
enhanced clarity while deep yawning.


[8.18] How should I be breathing?

The eyes use one third as much oxygen as the heart. If your
breathing is shallow or weak than you should look into aerobic
exercises.

John Selby devised an exercise that combines breathing, mental
imagery, relaxation and awareness of your eyes in a single
practice called Eye Breathing. Sit comfortably in a chair close your
eyes, back straight, body relaxed. Breathe calmly through the nose
and imagine that your eye is inhaling and exhaling air as part of
this same rhythmic cycle of the breath, as if your eyes have become
lungs. Also imagine that health, vitality, healing, relaxtion
flow into your eyes with every breath.

[8.19] What are some breathing exercesise?

John Selby devised an exercise that combines breathing,
mental imagery, relaxation and awareness of your eyes in a single
practice called Eye Breathing. Sit comfortably in a chair close your
eyes, back straight, body relaxed. Breathe calmly through the nose
and imagine that your eye are inhaling and exhaling air as part
of this same rhythmic cycle of the breath, as if your eyes have
become lungs. Also imagine that health, vitality, healing,
relaxtion flow into your eyes with every breath.

Yoga breathing exrecise.

Cool breathing. Open oyur mouth to make an 'O' shape with your
lips, and stick your tongue out over your teeth and past your lips.
Inhale over the tongue, then after a full inhale. close your mouth
and block your right nostril and breath out as slowly you can through
your left. repeat alternating nostrils.

Subtle Energy breathing. Close your eyes. start with your left eye.
Become aware of tis sensation, and try to bring it alive with
feeling. Imagine your left eye is capable of breathing in
prana/energy as you breath in through your nose. As you breath out,
imagine the energy being transfered into your right out. Aternate
for five minutes.

Breathing with the grain. stimulates the parasympathietic system and
calms the sympathetic system. Hold your breath for 10 seconds.
Block the left nostril with your left index finger and partially
block the right with your right index finger. Exhale long and slwoly
through the right nostril. Inhale long and deeply through both
nostrils, and reapeat the above but swap nostrils. Practice 8-10
cycles.



[8.20] What am I seeing?

This is your starting point. Become aware of what you see,
without judging its relative merits. Simply note the degree of
bluriness, whether you see a single image, or double or more
images. How uniform is your field of vision? What happens if you stare
at point too long? Are lines clearer in any one direction? Is one
eye clearer then the other? Do you see the same colour through your
eyes? How does your vision change during the day? How is your
vision related to mood and general health?

Become really curious about your sight.


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[9.0] ACTIVE VISION

[9.1] What is orphoptics?

Orthoptics is a system of exercises that work the muscles
involved in the visual system, especially with stereo viewers.
Orthoptics has been mostly superseded by Behavioral Optometry.


[9.2] What is active vision?

Vision that involves the use of muscles and muscular
coordination. Active vision exercises build up muscular strength and
coordination and help stretch tight and constricted muscles. Almost
all visual use comes under the category of active vision, but for the
purpose of this FAQ, active vision is defined as deliberate use of
the eyes for the purpose of enhancing vision.

ALWAYS perform visual exercises WITHOUT glasses or contacts
unless otherwise stated.


[9.3] What is central fixation?

Unlike a camera, the retina, the light sensitive area at the back of
the eye has a central point of maximum sensitivity, called the fovea
centralis, literally the "central pit". The retina itself is highlycomplex and has many layers, one of which is composed of rod and cone
like cells which vary in distribution. The rod cells function
mainly in vision under conditions of low light intensity (scotopic
vision) and the cone cells function under conditions of high light
intensity. In the center of the retina is a small circular
elevation known as the macula lutea, literally the "yellow
spot". In the center of this spot is the fovea, a deep depression of
darker color. In the center of this depression there are few
rods and the cones are pressed very close together. As we withdraw
from this spot the acuteness of the visual perceptions rapidly
decreases.

The eye with normal vision, therefore sees one part of everything it
looks at best, and all other parts not as well, in proportion to their
distance from the point of maximum vision, and it is an invariable
symptom of all abnormal conditions of the eyes that this central
fixation is lost.

Contrary to what is generally believed the part seen best when the
sight is normal is extremely small. Textbooks say that at twenty
feet an area having a diameter of half an inch can be seen with
maximum vision. When building up an image the mind places the eye in
constant motion over an object, giving us the illusion of very wide
clarity.

When the eye possesses central fixation, it not only possesses
impecable sight but is perfectly at rest and can be used
indefinitely without fatigue. It is open and quiet, no nervous
movements are observable, and when it regards a point at a
distance the visual axes are parallel. In other words ther are no
muscular insufficiencies. The muscles of the face and of the whole
body are also at rest, and when the condition is habitual there are
no wrinkles or dark circles around the eyes.

In most cases of eccentric fixation, on the contrary, the eye
tires quickly and its appearance, is expressive of effort and
strain. The eyeball moves at irregular intervals, in all
directions. Nervous movements of the eyelids may also be noted,
either by ordinary inspection or by lightly toucing the lid of one
eye while the regards an object at the near point or the
distance.The visual axes are are never parallel, and redness of the
conjunctiva and of the margins of the lids, wrinkles around the eyes,
dark cirlce beneath them, and the tearing are other symptoms of
eccentric fixation.

The Bates method of central fixation has two parts. Firstly to find
where in the visual field you are seeing clearest and with some simple
games to retrain this point back onto the macula.

Secondly by learning to concentrate on as small a point as
possible to develop overall clarity. Trying to make a large area clear
is to struggle against the natural focusing mechanisms. By focusing
on as small a detail as possible this will allow the overall greater
clarity to start returning.


[9.4] How do I restore central fixation?

Bates often used an eye chart for this purpose. This exercise
however does not require an eyechart and can be easily sloted in to
your daily routine with virtually any object. Practice one eye at a
time, then do both.

When looking at the top of the largest letter on an eye chart, the
bottom of that letter should be less clear than the top. In visual
problems this is rarely the case.

Look around the letter and find the point at which you look which will
make the top of the largest letter clearer. Some people find that by
still looking at the a point and moving their head around they can
find a location which makes this noticeable. A few people find that
the point of central fixation looking at an eye chart twenty feet away
is displaced by several feet!

Learning to be aware of what you see is a fundamental skill in
restoring perfect vision. Some people find that everything they see
is equally indistinct, which cannot be the case. The subtle
distinctions in the visual field requires close srutinity with the
mind. In this case it is simply a matter of learning to enhance
mental vision first.

Once you locate this point of greatest clarity then shift your gaze
back and forward to the top of the largest letter and your current
point of maximum clarity. Do this a half a dozen times and palm for
a minute or so, then repeat as many times as you are comfortable with.

Gradually the distance bewteen where you are looking and where your
point of greatest clarity will become shorter and eventually return at
the macula.

An important aspect of central fixation is that allowing the
larger visual field to be indisctinct creates greater relaxation which
will be rewarded with greater clarity in the overall visual field.

In some difficult cases Bates used a point of light instead of text
to greater attract the attention of the mind. If your seeing
everything with the same degree of blur and not having much
success finding your point of greatest clarity then you could try
this approach.

In high degrees of mypoia, it is sometimes best to attempt to
locate the point of maximum clarity at the near point by looking at a
page of text. When looking straight ahead at a letter, you may
notice another letter in the line above or below or in an adjacent
word jumping out at you.


[9.5] what is shifting?

Conscious, slow-motion versions of saccadic movements. If you
improve your ability to shift consciously, you will improve your
saccadic movements.

[9.6] what are saccadic movements?

Tiny movements of the eye used to survey the current mental point of
interest. The eye can move up to 70 times a second when building
up a complex imagine in the visual cortex. If you get up close to
someone with normal vision you can see the eye is in constant motion,
this give the eye the appearance of sparkling energy and is a sign
that clear vision is happening.

In imperfect sight the saccades are slow, jerky and the
excurisons are wider and made with more apparent effort.

It is imposible for the eye to fix a point longer than a fraction of a
second without a noticeable decrease in acuity. An easy test is to fix
the gaze at an object, it will quickly blur or even disappear and
sometimes even produce pain.

Most of the time we are not aware of these tiny high speed
movements of the eye.

Normal sight is impossible without saccadic motion. A person with
imperfect sight tries to do the impossible and stares at one point for
an extended length of time in order to see it better. One of the
best methods of improving sight is to retrain this unconscious
shifting. During a shift the point just departed should be less
clear than the point arrived at and a swing or motion of the object
should occur in the opposite direction of the motion of the eye. At
first these may be difficult to notice, but with a combination of
palming and shifting, they will reassert themselves. The speed
at wich one should shift is dependent on the state of the vision.
The aim is to stay relaxed while shifting and swinging, so at first
this can be done slowly, and as improvement is made it can be done
quicker.


[9.7] What is swinging?

When a normal eye shifts over an object such as a letter in a
direction the letter will be seen to move in the opposite
direction. This is what Bates called swinging.

When the sight or saccade is imperfect this swinging is
irregular. Depending on the problem, moving the eye is one
direction will make the object either not move or move in the same
direction as the eye.


[9.8] How do I exercise shifting?

Examine the following exercises and adapt them to suit your daily
routine. Shifting can be practised at any time with any object.

Eye Chart. Look at a letter on the eye chart. Shift on the same line
so the first is seen less clearly. Shift back to the first so the
second is seen less clearly. Alternate for half a dozen shifts.

Notice if the letter seem to move in the opposite direction to the
eye. Also notice if both letters improve after half a dozen shifts. If
any strain or effort is involved in causing the letters to
swing in the oposite direction to the eye then rest and palm for a few
minutes, then try again. Shifting is often very much sucessful
when combined with palming. Variations: if the point shifted to does
not leave the point departed less clear then try a larger shift. You
may need to shift across lines or even away from the chart. Again pay
attention to the swing in the letters. In myopes this exercise can
be first attempted at the near point, where vision better. If the
shift doesnt cause a coresponding opposite swing in a few
attempts, then rest and palm. With practive the shift is made
progressively shorter and quicker, yielding a corresponding
improvement in overall clarity


Edging. Developed by Lisette Scholl. Sit comfortably without
lenses, and identify an object just outside your range of seeing
clearly. slowly and precisely trace the edges of the object,
following its contours. Use your nose a pointer and move your head
naturaly as you trace out objects. Then back trace the object, if
you traced clockwise then retrate counter-clockwise.

Books, newspapers, magazines. Developed by Meir Schneider. Take a book
and turn it upside down and edge the letters. Dont try to recognise
the letters just follow contours. Blink frequently and breath
constantly.

Nose drawing. Imagine there is a long pencil attached to your nose
and edge moving your entire head.

General Electric game. Do nose drawing but imagine that you nose
pencil become an electricity-bestowing wand. first hold your thumb
at arm's length and edge sketch it with your nose pencil. Next
imagine that a hidden light globe is in your thumb which glows when
your nose pencil touches it. Repeat this with other objects in your
visual field.

Long Standing Swing. Developed by William Bates. Swinging is
gentle rocking motion that releases neck, shoulder lower back and spine
tension. and exercise the whole body. Swinging makes the eyes more
mobile, increase blood circulation and calms the central nervous
system. Stand with your feet parallel and 6-12 inches apart, arms
hanging loosely by your side. With your eyes facing straight ahead,
sway from left to right, without pivoting the torso by shifting you
body weight from one foot to the other in a rhytmic fashio. Then swing
your body swing your body to the right by gently rotating your
torso in that direction. Your weight shifts to your right foot and
your left heels is raised slightly. The swing to the left in
the same way. Pivot your torso while turning you head in the direction
of the swing. Keep your head level, and allow your eyes to remian
entirely at rest, open and unfocused. Just allow the scene moving past
you in the ooposite direction to fly past without trying to
make out details, dont pause to analyze, stare or squint. You'll know
an increase in fovea vision is taking place when the scene is slides
past you in the opposite direction. Swinging is not a high speed
aerobic exercise, aim for a shit to take a couple of seconds at
least.

Short swing.

Same idea as long swing, except you move your neck instead of your
torso, shaking "no", nodding "yes", tracing figure-8's.

Notched circle. Developed by John Selby.

[to be completed]


[9.9] What is peripheral vision?

The use of side and up and down vision. Binocular peripheral
vision is what you use to let you know where you are, and is used to
sense size, time and spatial concepts. Is an esential ability for
driving.


[9.10] How can I test my binocular vision?

See the Brock String Test.


[9.11] How do I exercise peripheral vision?

Moving the fingers of your arms stretched out to your sides,
while looking straight ahead. Moving dripless candles or lights in a
similar way. Note that your peripheral vision is very sensitive
to motion, and has very limited colour perception. Stimulating
peripheral vision is good for computer work and other near work.



[9.12] How do I exercise accomodation?

Juggling, ball tossing, table tennis. Juggling is an excellent way
of working your focusing and developing cooperation between the visual
systems. Always stay loose and relaxed and remember to breath when
doing any exercise like juggling.

Thumb zooming. Extend an arm straight out with the thumb pointed up.
Focus on this thumb, note the detail of your thumb against the detail
of the background. Shift your focus to the distant background and
note that your thumb has split into 2 images. zoom back and forth
between your thumb and the background.

Whipping. This exercise is strongly recomended by Lisette Scholl for
helping spasmed cilliary muscles. Cup your right hand over your left
eye and extend your left arm out, palm facing your eyes, as far
to the left as to be still seen by the right eye. Focus on your palm
with the right eye while you briskly move the palm to within a few
inches of oyur right eye. And whip it just as briskly back to its
starting position. Forcing the right eye to nimbly change focus. Whip
a few times then reverse sides.

Tromboning. Developed by Janet Goodrich. On a table tennis paddle or
anything similar stick some brightly coloured shapes or images.
Close your left eye with your left hand and hold out your paddle with
your right arm. Remeber to breath calmly as you move your paddle in
two inch increments towards your eye as if it were a tromboon shank.
Trombone slowly at first allowing the eye to accomodate at each stop
then more briskly with random and wider stoping points, perhaps
in time to a pleasant tune you can recall.

Eye chart work. There are numerous variations on the use of
simple eye chart. The simplest is to put up the wall a Snellen eye
chart. stand back so that the chart is mostly in your eye chart
so you can make some of it out but not all. Read the smallest
letters you can. Trace the outlines of edge of each letter.
Close your eyes and imagine the shape of each letter as big, black and
solid. Open your eyes again, palm the right eye and the read the
chart with your left eye. Reverse.

Reverse newspaper reading. Developed by Vic Cinc, useful to learn to
let go and relax accomodation. Find a page in a newspaper or magazine
where there is a long continuous column of text with a good readable
typefont. Sit straight and comfortably at a table. Position the paper
in front of you so that you can make out the words at the bottom of
the column and around the top half is in your blur zone. Make a mental
note as to how far up you can read the text. Palm your left eye and
begin reading and working your way up the column into the blur.
Once you start having difficulty making out words look for single
letters. Only go up a line if you can make out a letter clearly. When
you can't make out any more letters, just scan around the last letter
you are on and sometimes a letter from the line above will come of the
blur. If you lose your place just go back down till you can make out
a letter and then keep going back up again. When you have gone as
far as you can. Swap eyes and start from the bottom again and then
try it with both eyes. If your near sighted then just read down the
column.


[9.13] Can accommodation be brought under conscious control?

Yes. There is a biofeedback device called the Accommotrac that
helps you to develop this ability. It responds with different tones
depending on your focus. However, it's an expensive device, and only
a few clinics have it. Developing conscious control of accommodation
without such a device is possible though, depending on ones abilites of
self-perception.


[9.14] What is fusion?

Fusion is the mental process of taking the two slghtly different
images from each eye and "fusing" them to build up a rich three
dimensional field of binocular vision. Often in errors of
refraction or when one eye is weak, binocular vision is poor and there
is a general degeneration of fusion and the spacial 3D effect.


[9.15] How do I exercise fusion and convergence?

Stereograms are an excellent way. Another is learning to bring
convergence under conscious control by going cross eyed.

Brock String drill. An extremely useful exercise deveoped by
Frederick Brock. Using a piece of string about ten feet long
thread different coloured beads or buttons every 8 or so inches.
Position the first bead about a foot from one end. Attach the other
at eye level to a door or some other convenient handle, you can do
this standing or sitting comfortably. Wrap the other end around your
fingers and hold the string tight up to the middle of your nose.
The Brock string be held still or rotated for focusing and
teaming work. Look at the bead closest to you. If you are using
both eyes together at the same time and aiming accurately at the
first bead it will look as if there are two strings joining in a
V at the bead. The strings seem to go into the beads and come out the
other side, thus they form an X. Each string should be of equal
quality, not become fuzzy or indistinct at any place as you continue to
watch it.

If the strings meet before the bead you have a tendency to fixate or
aim inaccurately or overconverge. This will cause you to hold your
reading material too close. If the strings meet behind the bead you
are diverging. If you see two beads side by side, you have difficulty
converging, which means you probably hold your reading too far
away. Where ther is a lack of teaming, you would tend to use first one
eye then the other.

Spend about 30 seconds on each bead, and observe the results. If you
dont see two steady unchanging strings you need to work with the brock
string on a daily basis to build up your binocular skills.

By focusing on the beads you can also develop eye-teaming skills.
Slowly move down the string pausing at each bead. Once you have
reached the end, retrace your steps. The jump from the nearest to the
furthest several times. Then Jump around at random, vocering as many
combinations as you can, spend extra time on the difficult
jumps. IF strain develops, stop, relax, blink, palm, and try again.

Yardstick fusion. Use a yardstick or meter instead of the beads,
stopping at the black mark on the ruler. Or tape colored pieces of
paper to the stick.

Thumb Fusion. Holding your arms out straight with your thumbs up, and
knuckles touching at eye level. Look between both thumbs at apoint
half way between you thumbs and you nose, and an illusory third
thumb will appear between your two thumbs. Notice your breathing
during this exercise, and concentrate on breathing evenly and
smoothly. Keep the third thumb there for a mintue or so. Then switch
focus to a point behind your two thumbs and a new illusory thumb wil
appear. Alternate between near and far illusory thumbs.

The Swinging Ball. Developed by Robert-Michael Kaplan. supend a
tennis ball on a string so that it hangs about 16 inches from your
eyes as you lie down somewhere. First observe the ball as a clear
image against a fuzzy background. Practice spliting the ball into
two images by looking through it. Then set the ball swinging from
left to right and keep tracking it, without straining or moving
your head. Breath normally and constantly, as the ball crosses
the midline of your vision you might experience the hemispehric
switching of perception between your left and right brain. Follow the
ball for about 20-50 breaths.


[9.16] Can convergence be brought under conscious control?

Yes. If you don't know how to cross you eyes at will, try
imagining a fly coming up and landing on your nose.


[9.17] Can I invent my own exercises?

Absolutely! This is one of the fundamental keys to natural
vision. Using the principals outlined for the type of exercise you
need, by all means, devise an exercise that fits into your life
style and your daily routines.


[9.18] How often should I do active eye work?

You need to strike a balance between passive vision (rest,
palming etc) and active exercises. Always start off slowly with
active work and allow plenty of rest. Once strength returns you can
gradually increase the work load to suit your condition. Muscles
that are not worked atrophy, muscles that are overworked can become
damaged. You must become atuned to the state of your eyes and develop
a sense of what they require.

Remember any strengthening benefit that will be derived from
exercise always occurs not during the exercise itself but in the rest
period after the exercise.


[9.19] What is a clear flash?

Very often during simple exercises you may find that super clear
vision has re-asserted itself. At first these "clear flashes" are short
lived but they will gradually last longer and longer and your
average daily vision will improve along with them.

A clear flash will very often bring on a large amount of strain to
"hang on to" it. This of course is self defeating. A useful mantra to
repeat to yourself when you have a clear flash is "I did it once, I
can do it again" and you will.

There are three categories of clear flashes:

a) The tear film has changed your refraction. While this doesnt
count as a clear flash its usefull to do when you need to see
clearly in a hurry and you dont have glasses handy. Its easy to spot
as you can feel excess moisture on your eye. Tear film clarity is
not even and usually it only occurs for a split second and is moved
around by blinking.

b) Voluntary control. Often after having many involuntary clear
flashes some people learn that by relaxing in a particular way and
playing with some of the muscles in their eyes they can "bring
on" a clear flash. Again this is very useful when you need to see
in a hurry and no glasses are handy.


c) Involuntary clarity. Sometimes you just look up and "oh my god I
can see!". This is usually accompanied by a deep sense of peace,
comfort, relief and relaxtion in the eyes. The duration can be
from seconds to extended periods of time. This is your natural vision
and as you progess, it will be occur more and more frequently and the
durations will increase. During a clear flash you will notice that
black is very black. Memorize it. Detail is phenomenal as central
fixation is taking place. There is a strong sense of 3D, as your
eyes are working as a team.


[9.20] Should I be concerned about adverse lighting conditions?

Yes and no. Fear and avoidance of light is a general
cause/aggravator of vision problems. Natural sunlight is of
benefit to the eyes. Excessive indoor work, particulary under
fluorescent lights deprives the eye of a full range of
frequencies and we find in people with sight problems am
unnatural sensitivity to light. Bates claimed that adverse
lighting conditions are of benefit to the eyes. The trouble comes not
from the adverse conditions themselves, but the strain that such
conditions induce in a person who does not posess central fixation.

Exposing the eyes to a variety of conditions is a necessecity for
optimal function. Even occasionally reading in dim light can be of
benefit, training and extending the mental act of borederline
perception. Keep in mind that you need to strike a balance
between exercise and rest.


=====================


[9.21] What is the astigmatic mirror?

Is an indispensible tool for eliminating astigmatism.

Send the following program to a postscript printer.

------%<--------cut here ------------------------------------

/ZZ { 0 30 moveto 0 250 rlineto 4 setlinewidth stroke } def gsave 300
400 translate 40 -1 0 { ZZ 10 rotate } for showpage grestore

------%<--------cut here ------------------------------------

If you dont have access to a postscript printer, then follow these
instructions, else skip over the next paragraph.

You will need an A4 sheet of paper, a ruler, a protractor, a
compass, a pencil and a 0.2mm black marker. Find the center of the
paper, and using a pencil draw a circle almost as large as the
paper (diameter 20cm) wiht the center of the circle at the center of
the paper. draw another smaller circle from the same central point
about radius 1cm. Then draw a line cutting the large cirle in two,
but not crossing over the inner small circle. ie Leave the inner
small circle blank. Then divide the two pies you have in two again.
Again not drawing inside the inner circle. Now you have 4 pie
shapes. Then divide each of these in two again, so you have eight
wedges, and then again so you have 16 and then one final time. So
you have a spoke every 10 degrees. The result looks like a bicycle
wheel. Now using your marker draw over the spokes of the wheel with
nice sharp dark black lines, make sure all the lines are the same
darkness.

Now you have your black on white wheel. Use a bright yellow and
bright orange fluoro highlighter. The colours aren't important and
you can even just leave it black and white. Outline each spoke
of the wheel with the orange highlighter and fill in the gaps between
spokes with yellow. Leave the inner circle white. Later you can
experiment and choose colours that pleases you. The bright colours are
usefull cause they attract the mind, and stimulate all the visual
meridians.

So now you have a picture of what looks like the iris of the eye.
Place it on a window at eye height, and get back far enough so you
can still make out most of the lines with your
glasses/contacts off.

Okay Look at the lines near the center. What do you notice? If you
are astigmatic you will notice that some of the lines are darker in
some directions than others. Get used to the wheel for a little
while and experiment with it. Try tilting your hear or looking at it
sideways. Try looking around the inner or outer circle. Try just
staring blankly past the wheel. Notice what happens in each case. Try
blinking or yawning. Try palming for a minute or two. Try covering
each eye with a hand quickly to see what the difference is between your
eyes.

If you a "typical" astigmatic, you may the lines near the
horizontal are clearer and darker than the lines vertically. You may
also find the lines near the horizontal are spaced further apart
and the vertical spaced closer together. You might also find the
inner circle in not quite round.

Try looking at it with your glasses on. If your glasses fully
correct astigmatism, then *all* the lines should be the same
darkness and distance apart. If your glasses do not correct the
astigmatism properly than you will still see some lines darker than
others.


[9.22] How do I use the astigmatic mirror to reduce astigmatism?

The astigmatic mirror gives you a direct and accurate record of your
condition. You can use it as a direct feedback device, a mirror in
which any changes you can make and learn to make will be instantly
displayed.

Say you find the lines that are horizontal to be darker. Your aim is
to make the vertical lines darker. So begin by removing any
glasses/contacts, relaxing and taking a few deep breaths.
Blinking naturaly and breathing normaly, find the line which is the
faintest, and move your eye slowly and deliberatly up and down
that line, imagining it to be getting darker and darker. Tell your
self to relax, relax. And imagine that line to be getting
darker and darker. The key is to _relax_ your eye has much as you
can. You may want to start by massaging around the eye, and maybe doing
a couple of minutes of palming.

With a bit of practice you will be able to make the lines in any
orientation darker than the rest, but your goal is to make them _all_
equally dark.

If you are myopic its worthwhile to place your wheel on a window, as
you get a lot of contrast between the black and fluoro colours of your
wheel, and also you can check out the window to see what effect
playing with the wheel is having on your vision.

Its also _very_ worthwhile putting one up at work and at home and
whenever you get a break you can play with it and see what
happens.

The astigmatic mirror allows you to leverage your own visual
distortion to work for your benefit.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

[10.0] MENTAL VISION

[10.1] What is the role of memory and imagination in vision?

Bates found that the ability to recall was inversly proportional to
the strain experienced by the mind. The more one strains the slower
things can be recalled. Memory comes to the aid of sight in various
ways. It is easier to see when something when it is clearly
remembered, and remembering something like a point of pure black
seems to relieve some strain when looking at an eye chart for black
letters.

At an obvious level knowing what one is looking for, allows the mind
to know when it has hit a correct focus. Looking at something
which in unknown, lets the focusing mechanism thrash around while
the mind looks for pattern matches. Bates advised patients to imagine
a tiny black dot on one part of the letter they were trying to
see. The memory of this perfect black dot encourages the mind in the
right directions. The patient can also compare the darkeness of
this imagined black dot against the color of the print.

Seeing is largely a function of the mind. Seeing is our
interpretation of the impressions on the retina. Bates said that when
the eye is out of focus the mind is also out of focus.
Imagining that you can see well, will direct the mind in that
direction. Imagination is based on memory and its use in
regaining goos sight is similar. Patience is an important skill to
learn in colaboration with the Bates method. Straining for
improvement is counterproductive, it is better to use the
imagination and allow change to happen at its own pace.



[10.2] How can I exercise my perception?

Perceptual integration. John Selby has developed an excellent
exercise to expand your perception. Selby categorises four types of
perception: perception of movement, perception of form,
perception of colour and perception of volume or space. Often we limit
our awareness from its full potential and concentrate on only one
or two of the four types. Memorize the words to your self 'movement'
and scan your enviroment with the awareness of motion or lack
thereof. With the second breath repeat 'form' add the awareness of
form or the shapes, lines textures of objects. With the third
breath repeat 'colour' add the perception of colour. Finaly with the
fourth breath repeat to everything else and its location in space
and the space itself. This becomes a very enjoyable experience.

You can aply this formula to any object and you can easily
practice this every hour or so until it becomes an unconsious
habit.

Movies. One of Aldous Huxley's favourite preception enhancing
pastime was seeing his favorite big screen movies again without
glasses and just using the motion and colour to stimulate his
visual sense.

Flashing. Glance breifly at a scene or object, close your eyes and
replay in your mind what you saw. flashing is like the perceptual
reverse of blinking.

The black dot. Draw a black dot using the blackest ink you can
find. Examine the colour of this dot and become totaly familiar with
it, so that you can bring it into your mind from memory at any
time. Examine a letter on an eyechart and superimpose the black dot
on a part of the letter. Compare the difference in colour.
Close your eyes and again imagine the black dot, open your eyes and
again superimpose it on the eye chart letter. Repeat with other
letters.


The O shuttle. Developed by Margaret Corbett. Close your eyes and
imagine a large, black. round letter O. AS if the O were a
clockface and place a a large black dot at the 12 and 6 o'clock
positions. With your nose pencil and your eyes still closed,
follow the outline of the O back and forward between the 12 and 8
oclock points. Next put a point at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, and
reapeat the shutlling.


Domino Memory. Developed by Rosanes-Berrett. Using a standard
dominoes with white dots against black, stand the dominoes an inch
apart at face level, left to right, whit the white dots facing
you. Position yourself at the edge of your blur zone. Examine the
domino furthest to one side, then close you eyes and imagine that
your visualising it from the back of your brain. Intensify its image
till its sharp and crisp. Open your eyes and look at the same
domino. Repeat six times, then work along the rest of the dominoes.
Variations include palying cards or older style calendars.

Coloring The eyes. Developed by Martin Sussman. Sit comfortably, close
your eyes and breath naturaly. Visualise that your left eye is filled
with a bright yellow light as if the sun were glowing into it. Slowly
move this yellow sunlight back up the opitc nerve into the visual
cortex of your left brain, then into your right brain, then the
right optic nerve and finally back into your right eye.



[10.3] Can hypnosis be used to cure visual problems?

Hypnosis can be used to reprogram and resolve many aspects of
sight at un unconscious level. If you are interested in this
avenue seek a trained hypnotist who will be able to advise you
further. All habits were once conscious choice and behavior, and
through repeated use drop out of consciousness and become part
of the unconsious mind. You can reprogram these now at an unconscious
level and achieve apparently startling results, just as you once
learnt to walk, one step at a time so too can you change habits into
a source of continuous positive adjustement for yourself.

The success level is mixed. If this avenue interests you consult a
profesional medical hypnotist.



[10.4] How is NLP used to cure visual problems?

[to be completed]


[10.5] How is the de Sylva method used to cure visual problems?

Mental triggers are programmed/imbedded into the mind at the alpha
brainwave level. For example "Each Time I blink my eyes, my eyes focus
correctly like the lens of a camera". The actually phrase is not
important, but it should be repeated 5-6 times while in the alpha wave
state. The normal level of brain wave function is called
Beta (14+ cycles/second). A mild
trance/introverted/meditative state results in alpha waves (7-14
cycles/second). Slower and deeper levels Theta and Delta are
associated with deep meditative trances and sleep. Palming and eye
exercises are also recomended.

Entering the alpha state can be done with meditation, mantra or a
pre-programmed mind machine.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

[11.0] BEHAVIORAL OPTOMETRY

[11.1] What is behavioral optometry?

Optometric vision therapy is an organised therapeutic regimen
designed to treat neuromuscular, neurophysicological and
neurosensory conditions that interfer with vision function.

[11.12] What is patching?

An eye patch, or taped up lens in spectacles, used to cover a
dominant or stronger or eye, to force the weaker eye to wake up. Some
advise use only while there is a noticeable difference between
the eyes, while others, in particular Robert-Michael Kaplan, advise
alternate patching when both eyes see about the same.


[11.13] What are pinhole glasses?

Stenopaeic glasses. Dveloped in Germany in 1896. Glasses with black
plastic with around 170 little pinholes in them. The narrow rays of
light cause smaller blur circles and hence allow some clear
vision. Pinholes are ideal for people that have difficulty reading. Not
to be used whilst driving or at night.

[11.14] What are anaglyph glasses?

Glasses with one red and one green lens. Used to separate the
signals going into the brain. Promotes 3-d images in the mind.
Should only be used under the supervision of a behavioral
optometrist.

[11.15] What are polaroid glasses?

Glasses that allow only axis of polarisation, in behavioral
optometry each lens has a different polarasation, typically
45degree and 135degree. Should only be used under the supervision of a
behavioral optometrist.


[11.16] What are prism glasses?

Glasses that have special prisms incorporated to rearanage your
spatial perceptions. Should only be used under the supervision of a
behavioral optometrist.


[11.17] What is the Accommotrac Vision Trainer?

A biofeedback device developed by Dr Joseph N. Trachtman, a
behavioural optometrist in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The
patient uses it to learn to control his or her accommodation.
Excellent results are possible for myopes. The theory behind the AVT
is that when a person learns to relax to keep the cilliary relax
during focusing substantial improvement in vision can occur.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

[12.0] EMOTIONS AND VISION

Each of us see the world though a set of metaphores. These
metaphores represent our beliefs systems, and how we perceive and make
sense of the world as presented to our senses. Everybody has the
right to their own individual set of metaphores. No one can say that
one is more correct or more right than in an absolute or fundamental
sense. Belief systems are all relative to each other, some may be more
appropriate in some conditions than others.

Vision therapy is about gaining outsight by gaining insight into
yourself your emotions and the metaphores you use to run your body
and your life. The nature of your metaphores are reflected in the
nature of your physical problems, and vice versa.


short questionaire.

What was happening with you and around you at the time you very first
started wearing glasses or contacts?

Why do you want to improve you sight and vision?

What has been your relationship with your eye doctor(s)?

What are your fears? How do these fears affect what you don't want
to see?

How does your present vision hinder you?

What benefits do you get from your present vision?

What was your expereince of learning how to read?

What is your relationship with your glasses or contacts?

What is your parents vision like?



[12.1] What is the emotional nature of myopia?

Myopia is a contraction and withdrawl from the world. Myopia is
about not trusting what one sees, and about seing the world
through a fear filter. Myopia often indicates a lack of security in
ones self and in general trying too hard to acheive and to see.

Myopia is also about being more critical, analytical, judgemental and
having excessive attention to detail. The lenses of myopes are
negative and make myopes feel negative. The lens also
concentrates light on the macula depriving the rest of the retina from
participating in the visual process. The peripheral vision is used
to position ourselves in space and time and a myope will tend to numb
themselves in that process.

Children that are abused tend to develop high myopia.

As myopia receeds more light falls over the retina and a greater part
of the brain is reactivated.

In the USA well over 100,000,000 people are myopic.


[12.2] What is the emotional nature of hypermetropia?

Hypermetropia is about distancing ones self from the present and the
here and now. Hypermetropia can be about seeing through an anger
filter. Hyperopes may avoid crowded places and prefer solitude.
Attention is focused in the future and elsewhere.

[12.3] What is the emotional nature of astigmatism?

Astigmatism is about being out of balance, and dealing with
conflicting nessages from for example your parents. The inner
nature reflects that twisting and confusion in the outer world.
There is tightness and restriction.

[12.4] What is the emotional nature of presbiopya?

Presbyopia is about a loss of flexibility, physical and
emotional. Fear of intimicay and focusing in on the self.

[12.5] What is the emotional nature of Macular degeneration?

A person with macular degeneration tends to lose the wider
perspective in life. The peripheral vision often shuts down in
sympathy with teh central vision. There is a loss of ability to focus
on issues and follow through.

[12.6] What is the emotional nature of Amblyopia?

A lazy eye has often unconsious fear or anger assocaited with it. Ther
is aloss of stimulous and nourishment with the lazy eye.

[12.7] What is the emotional nature of Strabismus?

strabimus often causes a self-esteem problem, due to the cosmetic
effect. In crossed eyes (esotropia) there is a rigidity and
inflexibility. A pulling inwards and away from the world. In
wall-eyes (exotropia) there is indecision and dificulty folowing
through, and a fear of intimacy.


[12.8] What is the emotional nature of Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is about Internalisation of feelings resulting in
pressure from within.

[12.9] What is the emotional nature of Cataracts?

Cataracts is about uncertainty and inability to clarify inner
thoughts.


[12.10] What is the emotional nature of Retinis Pigmentosa?

This problem is often accompanied with resignation from and fear of
life.


[12.11] What is the emotional nature of Retinal Detachment?

Associated with unresolved grief, sadness or pain.




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[13.0] EASTERN APROACH

The eastern approach is from a different viewpoint to that of the
west. In China students perform eye exercises twice a day, for about
ten minutes, as do factory workers. As a result China has a much
lower rate of myopia than the U.S.

[13.1] What are accupressure points for the eyes?


Acupressure is excellent for relieving eye strain and fatigue. You
may find that these points are very tender if you are suffering
eye fatigue or strain.

Technique: Form pressure, apply gradually and hold without
movement for three minutes. One minute of steady pressure calms and
relaxes. To stimulate an area, apply pressure for only four to five
seconds. The pressure should be somewhere between firm and outright
pain. The more developed the muscles the more pressure can be
applied.


The points:

Drilling Bamboo. (B2) In the indentations outside the bridge of the
nose on the inner edge of the eyebrows.

Four Whites. (St2) 1/2 an inch below the center of the lower eye ridge
in an indentation of the cheek.

Facial Beauty (St3) At the bottom of the cheek bone directly in line
with the puil of the eye.

Heavenly Pillar. (B10) 1/2 inch below the base of the skull on the
ropy muscles 1/2 inch outward from the spine.

Wind Mansion. (GV16) At the top of the spinal colum in the large
hollow under the base of the skull.

Third Eye Point. (GV24.5) Directly between the eyebrows, in the
indentation wher the bridge of the nose meets the forehead.

Bigger Rushing. (Lv3) On the top of the foot, in the webbing
between the big toe and the second toe.


Exercises:

1) Press B2. Place your thumbs on the upper ridge of your eye
sockets close to the bridge of the nose. Press upward into the
indentations of the eye sockets as you breath deeeply for one
minute.

2) Hold St & St3. Place your index fingers in the center of your
cheks below the lower ridge of the eyes, in line with the pupil. Then
place your index fingers directly below your index fingers,
underneath the cheekbones. With your eyes closed, apply light
pressure and breathe deeply for a minute.

3) press B10. Curve your fingers to firmly press B10 on the ropy
muscles that run parrallel to the spine. Hold for one minute as you
breath deeply.

4) Hold GV16 and GV24.5. Place the middle finger of your left hand
on GV16 in the large hollow in the middle of the base of your skull.
Use the middle finger og your right hand to lightly touch GV24.5 and
focue your attention on that spot with your eyes closed. Breathe
deeply as you hold this powerful healing point for one minute.

5) Stimulate Lv3. Slip your shoes off. Starting between your
large and second toes on both feet, slide your middle and index
fingers up the foot in the valley between the bones. Pres firmly into
the indentation just before the bones join to form a V shape. Rub
against the skin to stimulate these eyestrian relief points.


[13.2] Can accupuncture be used to relieve eye strain?

yes. In the eastern model, vision problems are symptoms of
reduced liver and possibly kidney energy. The liver governs the free
flow of energy through the body, the cirucaltion of qi, the
discharge of digective bil, and anything that moves you
emotionally. The liver governs the muscles and tendons and all
anatomical movement. Acupuncture works better on fresh vision
problems, patients who have been wearing glasses for many years
respond poorly to treatment.

Do not perform acupuncture on yourself, consultant a profesional
acupuncturist. :)


[13.3] How do I meditate?

Meditation is about expanding the space between thoughts and
experiencing the inner nature of mind that is found there.

Meditation is an excellent way to relax your mind deeply.

Sit comfortably and relaxed. You can sit in the lotus position if your
agile enough, but for our puposes sitting on a chair will be fine.

Focus in on your breathing. Just pay attention to your breath, as it
moves in and then out of your nostrils. Note to yourself each in
breath by saying to yourself "in", and each out breath by saying
"out". As thoughts arise and you find yourself getting diverted,
gently bring your self back to just noticing you breathing,
and noting each in and out breath. Dont try to force or control your
breathing, just be an impartial observer. If a though arises just
note it, dont cling to it, or associate with it, or chase it up and
follow it. Allow yourself to just drop thoughts the same way, back
into the stillness, they arose from. If a sensation arises just note
it and let it go. If you find yourself drfiting off into
conversation with yourself, just drop that too and return to noting
your breaths.

Stay aware and mindfull, meditation is not about drifting off to
sleep, but about stilling the waves within your mental ocean.


[13.4] What eastern herbs are availlable?

Usually come as complex mixtures. Consult a chinese herbalist for more
details.

Xi Gan Ming Mu. Gardenia and Vitex combination. contains 19 herbs that
benefit that dispel the "wind and heat" that produce eye disorders.

Zi Shen Ming Mu Tang. Chrystanthenum combination. tonifies qi and
heals eye problems resulting from liver and kidney yin
deficiency.

Ming Mu Shang Qing Pian. Bright Eyes Upper Clearing tablets.
sedate liver fire that upsets the eyes.

Nei Zhang Ming Yan Wan. Inner Obstruction to Eyesight Pills.
encourage visual clarity. Nourishes liver and kidney yin.

Shi Hu Ye Guang Wan. Dendrobium Leaf Night Sight Pills. Nourish qi
and blood and tonify the liver and kidney. Aid blurry or dizzy sight,
hypersensitivoty and intraoccular pressure.

Ming Mu Di Huang Wan, Bright Eyes Rehmannia Pills. replenish
liver and kidney, nourish blood, sedate liver fire and wind.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

[14.0] MOVEMENT & POSTURE

Walking, Jogging, aerobics, Yoga, Feldenkrais Awareness Through
Movement classes.


[14.1] Should I be more aware of my poture?

Yes. Vision affects posture and posture affects your vision. Pay
attention to your head position and its relation to you vision and
the objects of your vision.

Experiment with your posture and note what effect different
positions have on your sight.


[14.2] How can I tell if my head is tilted?

Hold up a finger six inches from your face and stare past ir, so the
finger splits into 2 images. Is one lower than the other? try
tilting your head around observe what happens.


[14.3] Do I lean my head forward/back too much?

Often myopes tend to lean forward towards things to see them
clearer. Hyperopes tend to lean back or move things further away. This
sometimes necessitates looking up or down and causes your eyes to
diverge or converge, leading to accommodation/vergence disruptions. Be
aware of leaning your head forward or back. Often rapid change in
vision occurs simply from correcting poor posture and head position.

In rare cases the head is turned to one side.


[14.4] How do I sit up straight?

To sit up straight, imagine there is a piece of string tied to the
very top of your head, pulling you up, you will find as you allow your
self to be pulled up you will be stting in your natural
position. Your spine has a natural S shape. When sitting your lower
back should be in, and you should be on your "sitting" bones, chest
out, shoulders back and head upright. Your feet should be flat on
the ground, if your chair is too high, use telephone books under
your feet. Your thighs should be straight and parrallel to the ground.
When you are sitting in a natural position, your knees are free to
move from side to side. If you sit to far forward or back your thighs
are pushed against your chair and your knees have no freedom
of movement. A common misconception is that the spine should be
straight and to this end poorly designed chair backs are
straight, use a lumbar cushion to correct this error in design.

In a "correct" position it is possible to sit for an hour or more
without any discomfort. If you find yourself slouching, leaning, or
not sitting properly, get up, walk around give yourself a break
and then start again when you are refreshed. If you find yourself
unable to maintain a good siting posture then its time to have along
break.

[14.5] What are Feldenkrais lessons, Alexander technique, Rolfing
and other body work?

[to be completed]

[14.6] What is Craniosacral therapy?

Craniosacral therapy is used in visual problems where there is a
problem with the bone structure of the skull or cloging of the holes
in the skull which may result in pressure on the optic nerve.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

[15.0] DIET & LIGHT


[15.1] What nutrients are essential?

Vitamin A is the most important vitamin in vision, and lack can also
be a cause of generaly poor sight and poor night vision. Symptoms
of lack of Vitamin A include poor rapid dark-adaptation, pink or
inflamed eyelids and dryness of the cornea. RDA is 4000-5000 IU or
800-1000 RE. High sources are fish-liver oil, calf liver. Fat
soluble and therefore stored up in the body, you should be
carefull not to overdose on Vitamin A. Beta Caroteine is
an alternative (precursor) which does not accumulate in the body. The
mineral Zinc is a strong co-factor with Vitamin A.

An effective dose (under supervision of a doctor) for night
blindness is 15000 IU per day Beta Caroteine for one month with 20 mg
zinc per day.


B group Vitamins, should be taken as a complex.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is the most important of the B group
vitamins. Symptoms of lack of B1 include burning or bloodshot eyes,
unclear or double vision, conjunctivitis, eye fatigue,
sensitivity ot light and dark spots in visual field. RDA is 1.0-
1.5mg.

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Symptoms of lack of B2 are burning or
bloodhsot eyes, conjunctivitis, eye fatigue, sensitivity to
light, puli dilation, twilight blindness and dark spots in the
visula field. RDA is 1.2-1.7 mg.

Vitamin B6 may be involved in regulating eye pressure and may help
prevetn glaucoma. RDA is 1.6-2.0mg.

Vitamin B12. Symptoms of lack of B12 may include a general
dimming of vision. RDA is 2mcg.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Super vitamin. The sclera of the eyedepends on Vitamin C, and cataracts may begin when Vitamin C
becomes deficient. Glaucoma may also be treated by Vitamin C, 2gm
daily for six days. RDA is 60mg. There is no know toxic dose.
Vitamin C should be taken with bioflavinoids.


Vitamin D and Calcium. Another important combination. There is
evidence linking childhood deficiency to myopia. Vitamin D is
needed for the asimilation of calcium, and the prevention of
waterlogged sclera. if the fibrous tunic around the eye has
excess water, the interoccular pressure may build up leading to
elongation and myopia. Vitamin D and calcium has been shown to
dehydrate the water from the scelar and reduce
elongation. optometrist Ben Lane showed myopic children
tended to have a diet higher in refined carbohydrates and
animal protein than clear seeing children. Resulting in a
deficiency of minerals, vitamins, calcium and chromium, and an
overabundance of phosphorus. High phosphorus reduces calcium
levels. RDA for Vitamin D is 200-400IU. Vitamin D is easy
to overdose on, producing elevated levels of calcium in the
blood and possibly hypercalcemia. RDA for calcium is 800-1200mg.

Vitamin E. Has been shown to have a positive effect on vision
problems. More then 600 IU per day will however interfer with
Vitamin A absorption. RDA is 9-10IU.

Zinc. Dark adaption may be impaired by zinc deficiency. Taken in
conjuction with Vitamin A has been shown to aleviate macular
degeneration, and poor night vision. RDA is 12-15mg. Make sure that
suplemental zinc is mixed with copper and selenium.

Chromium. Vital for bodily regulation of energy. Deficiencies are
caused by excess sugar in diet. dose is 200 to 500mg/day.

Accommodation has been shown to depend to be sensitive to
fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Sensitivities to certain foods
are reflected in the state of the eyes. Leafy green vegetables
are excelent for the eyes, having a detoxifying effect on the liver.
Fatty foods, sugary foods, stimulants and antibiotics have a
negative effect on the eyes.


[15.2] Should I be using full-spectrum lighting?

Yes. In Russia full spectrum lighting is mandated in many
workplaces and schools. In West Germany the government restricts the
use of low spectrum light in public buildings. Look for
Neodymium bulbs (ones from finland are highly recomended) which make
ideal reading lamps.

Dr John Ott has shown that extended exposure to cool-white
lighting such as fluorescent lights leads in high body levels of
metabolic hormones related to stress. Dr Ott has also shown a link
between full=spectrum lighting and recovery from various illnesses,
and that negative health factors can result from habitual wearing
of sunglasses.


[15.3] Should I avoid tints in glasses and lenses?

Yes. Unless there is a good reason for having them. Tinted
lenses and glasses contribute towards light sensitivity.


[15.4] What is the relationship between light and mood?

The optic nerve has two major pathways, one transmitting
photoelectric impluses to the brains cortex (visual perception), and
the other is a non visual or energetic pathway that leads to the
hypothalmus, pineal and pituatary glands. Thes regulate endocrine
and autonomic function and are responsible for physical and emotiional
changes.


[15.5] What is syntonics?

Syntonics is a branch of optometry dealing in the relationship
between various frequencies of light and neurophysiological
responses. Syntonics is used in the treatement of vision
problems by shining pencil thin beams of coloured lights onto the
retina to activate healing responses from the autonomic nervous
system. Good results are obtainable for the treatment of myopia,
astigmatism and hypermotropia. Consult a syntonic optometrist for more
details.

Blue-green light has been shown to be beneficial as therapy for
myopes. You can do this at home using coloured lighting gels and a
flashlight. You can experiment with different colours to elicit an
emotional response. Often colour therapy will trigger the release
of bottled up emotions and memories.


[15.6] Is there a homeopathic remedy?

Yes. Each indivudal would be treated according to his or her
overall unique set of symptoms and there isnt a generic remedy.
Consult a homeopathic practitioner for more details.

[15.7] What is eyebright?

Euphrasia Officinalis. A native herb of Europe with a long
history of use in vision. Recomended for eye inflamations,
stinging or weeping eyes, and hypersensitivity ot light. Can also be
applied topically.


[15.8] What is bilberry?

Vaccinium myrtillus. Bilbery is know to improve night vision and
visual accuity. Also used in relief from eye fatigue such as from
prolonged reading, day blindness (hemeralopoia), and some
disturbances of the retina.


>From Robert Bidleman's "Wildcrafter's Barrow" -- for original
document as well as references to scientific studies on bilberry (and
a chance to order some!) go to...

http://www.c2.org/~robbee/herbal.html

---------- ------------------BILBERRY.TXT-----------------------------

Bilberry, Huckleberry, Whortleberry, etc.

(NOTE- Some of the species called blueberry are actually
myrtillus and not corymbosum)

Found in cooler areas of North America and Eurasia, usually acid soils
in wooded areas, heaths and barren places. Usually found in moist
soils. Can be found under the canopies of larger tress, especially
old growth.

Used by the Kashaya Pomo in Northern California for diabetes and eye
dis- orders. Mentioned in many older texts in Buryatia, Europe,
China as an herb valuable for it's powerful ability to correct many
diseases of the digestive system, circulatory system and eyes.

It is unclear whether significant amounts of the active
constituents of V.Myrtillus are also present in V.Corymbosum but it
appears that people of the North East USA have used the leaves for
diabetes successfully for many years. Most of the research has been
done on Vaccinium Myrtillus.

---

For centuries Bilberry/Huckleberry has been used as a
circulatory enhancer and diabetic aid. The following has been found
in Bilberry: Ericolin, arbutin, beta-amyrin, nonacosane,
anthocyanosides, notably myrtocyan. Anthocyanosides are a type of
bioflavonoid which causes the deep blue-red color of many
berries. These anthocyanosides protect the vascular system by
strengthening the capillary walls. This produces many of the
secondary benefits such as lowering of blood pressure, reduction of
clots, reducing varicosities and bruising, reversing poor blood
supply and improving blood supply specifically to the nervous
system. Bilberry is used in Europe before surgery to prevent
excessive bleeding and hemorrhaging. A recent German medical
journal reports Bilberry effective in reducing execcesive bleeding by
71%. Bilberry also thins the blood by inhibiting the platelets from
adhesion to themselves. This combination of actions;

1 Improving capillary strength

2 Reduction of capillary leakage

3 Blood thinning

results in improved blood flow and dramatically reduces clotting
related health risks.

During World War II RAF pilots were forced to fly at night in
order to accomplish any deep assault on Germany. Many pilots and their
crew members complained of the poor visibility and its effects
on their performance. It was just simply very difficult to work in the
dark. One of the families of a flight leader had an older woman
who suggested using Bilberry jam as an aid to night vision.
Researchers found fifty years later what the RAF already knew,
Bilberry's powerful effects increased retinal purple
by dramatic amounts in just twenty minutes . Further research
showed that the RAF pilots who survived and continued consuming the
jam or other Bilberry products had several remarkable aspects to their
health. The most noticeable was perfect vision both near and far as
well as a complete absence of eye disorders throughout their lives. The
group was absent of any circulatory or digestive disorders in their
medical histories. Another study showed Bilberry to improve
eyesight and increase occular blood supply in 75% of patients. It
improved nearsightedness after 5 months of regular use while an
83% improvement in visual acuity was recorded after only 15
days. One of the more encouraging statistics regarding
Bilberry's visual enhancing properties is that over 80% of the people
taking Bilberry for the first time improved on their visual
acuity exam and passed a night vision test within 3 minutes of
ingestion. Long term improvements took an average of 6 weeks with
regular doses.

The anthocyanosides of Bilberry which may vary in amounts from one
variety to another have been proven to be one of the more powerful
antioxidants. Ranked higher in activity than vitamins E and C by
Dr. Pierre Braquet, a well known phyto
researcheranthocyanosides prevent free radical damage to collagen and
collagenous tissue, making it one of the most important agents to
treat diseases such as osteoarthritis, gout, and periodontal
diseases. Vaccinium Myrtillus' anthocyanosides proved
consistently to increase the acetylcholine-induced relaxation
of isolated coronary arteries. This is a promising update to the
already impressive list of benefits of Bilberry.

Another quality of Bilberry is the effect it has on the digestive
system most notably, the stomach. Bilberry increases the
secretion of the mucuous layer that protects the stomach from
damage. A recent study showed Bilberry to inhibit ulcers in 63% of
patients at risk .

One of the most beneficial aspects to Bilberry's circulatory
effects is the fact that the most affected are the areas which are
usually the last to be improved, scalp, eyes, dental and
peripheral areas such as extremities. This is one of the dual
actions that diabetes patients value in Bilberry; it's proven
action on the circulatory system which complicates diabetes and the
modification of blood sugar levels in type I and type II
diabetes.


The fresh or dried berries are useful for a feverish liver and are
useful as an adjunct in stomach conditions. In Russia the berries
are called affectionately by the name "Chernika" and are used with
the leaves in tinctures for gastric colitis and other digestive
problems. It has a legendary reputation as aid to an diabetics.


by Robert Bidleman

-----------------------------------------------------------------

courtesy of Karen deWeeger (kyd@EBay.Sun.COM)

-------------------------------- BILBERRY ANTHOCYANOSIDES

The chemical composition of bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) has
been studied by many authors who have found glucosides of cyanidine,
malvidine, delphynidine, petunidine and peonidine. The interest
in Bilberry anthocyanisides was first aroused in view of the fact
that bilberry extracts administered to healthy subjects were apt
to improve night-time visual aquity, and accomplish a quick
adjustment to darkness and fast restoration of visual acuity after
glaring. It was later found that these anthocyanosides exert a
dual action on blood capillaries by increasing their resistance
and reducing their permeability.

PHARMACOLOGY

Tests conducted by Alfieri and Sole (1964) on rabbits showed
Bilberry anthocyanosides to speed up the regeneration of retinal
purple and adaptation to darkness when administered
intravenously. Their activities on capillary permeability was
studied by Demure (1964) on rabbits through the Blue Trypan Test
according to the Ambrose and De Eds technique. After injecting the
dyeing agent into the vein and rubbing the depilated skin with
chloroform, a local irritation sets on facilitating the spreading
of the dyeing agent outside the capillaries. The subsequent
appearance of a blue stain on the skin can be considerably
delayed in rabbits pre- treated with intravenously injected
Bilberry anthocyanosides which have greater intensity and duration
of action than other P-Vitamin factors. The activity of
Bilberry anthocyanosides on capillary resistance was tested on guinea
pigs, rats, and mice as reported by Bastide (1968), by
measuring the vacuum rate required to cause the failure of surface
vessels. The test was conducted before and after administration
of anthocyanosides and confirmed their protective action on vasal
walls. Pourrat et al. (1967) made acute toxicity tests on
mice and rats by administrating anthocyanosides intraperitoneally,
intravenously, and orally. LD 50 in the first two cases was 2.35 -
4.11 g/kg, and 0.24 - 0.848 g/kg, respectively. Anthocyanosides showed
no toxicity in the third case. These results are particularly
satisfactory in that oral administration is the preferred way in
current therapeutical applications. Chronic toxicity tests have
also confirmed the high degree of harmlessness of bilberry
anthocyanosides. At the same time, the Authors tested the general
effects, the P-Vitamin activity, and the action on retinal
purple, and confirmed previous results.

CLINICAL STUDIES

The first clinical experiment in ophtalmology was conducted by
Jayle and Aubert (1964) on 37 healthy subjects. The results,
which were also studied statistically, showed a marked
improvement in the retinal adaptation curve and some improvement in
vision aquity in dimlight. The most conspicuous changes
appeared four hours after the oral administration of the
substances and disappeared in 24 hours. Overlapping results were
obtained by Volpi and Bertoni (1964) who used existing
information to study the effect of Bilberry anthocyanosides on the
retinal sensitivity to light in healthy subjects. Florini et al.
(1965) used Bilberry anthocyanosides to treat diseased cases -
most of them affected by pigmentary retinis - as well as healthy
subjects. Their findings showed an enlargement of the vision range
in addition to a higher adaptation curve, this being a remarkable
result in diseased patients. Through the favourable action of
Bilberry anthocyanosides on vision appeared to be finally
established, some Authors intended to provide a further contribution
in this field. In particular, studies were conducted by Mercier (1965),
Scialdone (1966), Alfieri and sole (1966), Magnasco (1966),
Gloria and Perla (1966), and Urso (1967) who restricted their
investigations to the effects following a short-duration per os
treatment.

Zavarise (1968) thought it useful to study a number of
hemeralopia patients and subjected them to a similar treatment
during a longer period of time. This approach would permit to
observe the constancy of the effect during the treatment, its
duration after discontinuance, and any side-effects.

On the second day of treatment, the patients already showed an
improvement in the retinal luminous sensitivity that remained
virtually constant during three months' treatment, although it
gradually decreased when the drug was discontinued as shown by the
return of the adaptation curve to its original condition.

The same patients, when subjected to a new treating cycle, again
showed values overlapping those previously found and never
evidenced side-effects. Juneman (1968) was successfull in a
similar case of hemeralopia which at first seemed unsolvable.

Around the same time as the early experiments in ophtalmology, the
effectiveness of orally administered Bilberry anthocyanosides was
more generally tested on all those tissues which are
particularly sensitive to disturbances in the capillary blood
systems.

Terrasse and Moinade (1964) obtained satisfactory results in
patients affected by blood purpuras and various encephalic
circulation disturbances. They also treated cases subjected to
anti-coagulating measures and varicose vein patients.

In the same year, Demure reported on 124 cases affected by
arterious and venous troubles from various origins, and 10
capillary fragility subjects. All were treated with
anthocyanosides. The results obtained were very satisfactory, even
from the standpoint of tolerance to the product used.
Cuvellier et al. (1966) made a deep study into capillary
permeability and determined its pathological increase by an
appropriate technique.

The patients selected for the purpose had a common complaint in an
unbalanced water and plasmatic protein distribution on both sides of
the capillary wall. The anthocyanoside-based treatment produced a
marked improvement and reduced hyperpermeability in most cases.

Romeuf (1967) studied the effect of Bilberry anthocyanosides
exclusively on microscopic hematuriae caused by diffuse and
kidney glomerule capillary fragility.

Sixty per cent of a variety of kidney patients showed appreciable
reduction in hematuria. Failures in the remaining cases were
explained by taking into consideration more serious conditions and
advanced stages in specific deceses.

Satisfactory results were obtained by Baudon et al (1968) in
obstetrics. They experimented with an association based on
Bilberry anthocyanosides and vitamin E. The clinical pattern
improved in 35 pregnant women, most of them affected by varices and
various blood troubles. The drug was well tolerated and no side
effects were found in either the mother and the infant.

Canivet and Passa (1971) were also successful in associating
Bilberry anthocyanosides with such other active principles as
nicotinic acid, papaverine, and phenobarbital.

The product was administered as a vasodilator, hypotensor and
capillary wall protector to diabetes patients and subjects
affected by artery hypertension and arteritis.

A number of Authors followed the course of Vitamin P factors -
particularly Bilberry anthocyanosides - in the body.

In the light of earlier investigations, Bastide (1968) stated that
these are largely found in the form of metabolites in urines and
originated by the activity of liver and kidney enzymes.

The pharmacological and clinical surveys reported here clearly
evidence the effectiveness of Bilberry anthocyanosides in all
arterial and venous troubles which are accompanied by capillary
fragility or hyperpermeability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

[15.9] What other herbs are of benefit?

Succus Cineraria Maritima. Has been shown to increase the
circulation between the tissues of the eye. Has also been shown to
reduce of the opacity in cataracts.

Spirulina. A rich source of protein, beta caroteine, B-complex
vitamins, iron, magnesium, selenium, enzymes, DNA, RNA, and
potasium.

For more details on Native American herbs consult.

Los Remedios. Traditional Herbal Remedies of the Southwest. by
Micheal Moore.

Earth Medicine Earth food: Plant remedies, Drugs, and Natural Foods
of the North American Indians. by Micheal A. Weiner.



[15.10] What are drugs that may adversly affect visual accuity?

[15.11] What are drugs that may adversly affect pupilary
response?

[15.12] What are drugs that may adversly affect eye movement?

[15.13] What are drugs that may adversly affect eye pressure?

[15.14] What are drugs that may adversly affect the conjuntiva,
cornea, and lens?

[15.15] What are drugs that may adversly affect the retina and optic
nerve?


-----------------------------------------------------------------

[16.0] CONCERNS

[16.1] I do a lot of reading what should I do?

Reading can easily be turned into a beneficial activity by
following some common sense principals.

Always take regular breaks when reading, chapters are often a
convenient break point, and you may want to take breaks more
often. This is a good time to do half a minute of palming. Make sure
you vary your accomodative distances, ie look out of the book
frequently. Vary the distance to the book itself frequently. Vary the
lighting conditions, but keep the bulk comfortable, read outdoors or
especially under a full-spectrum light.

Pay close attention to what your eyes tell you during reading, and
pay close attention to your head and body posture. You need to
continuously monitor your posture.

After reading for an extended period of time its a good idea to do
a few minutes of near far shifting. You can use a finger at about a
foot and an object beyond it at a few meters. Shift your focus from
your finger to the distant object. Start slowly and deliberately and
then go a bit faster then slow down again. Repeat the cycle
unitl your eyes feel and not as tight.



[16.2] I spend a lot of time in front of a computer what should I
do?

Take frequent breaks at least every twenty minutes and look into the
distance. Sit near a window to receive full range light and so you
can do frequent far to near shifts, ie look into the distance.

Position the screen about just slightly about 20 degrees below eye
level. Locate keyboard so wrist and lower arm are parallel
to floor. Feet should be flat on the floor and thighs parrallel to
floor. see [14.4] on sitting up straight.

Use an antiglare filter for your screen.

Use CRT flickering or fluorescent lighting to stimulate
peripheral vision, turn occasionaly so that the source of
flicker can be perceived in you peripheral vision.

Watch your posture, as your eyes get tired you may develop a
tendency to lean towards your screen. Avoid slumping or sitting at
odd angles, if you do, get up stretch and walk around. Get a
chiropracticaly designed chair if possible or a chair with good
lumbar support.

Palm frequently. Put up a note reminding you to blink often. Use
the potent acupressure eye points to relieve fatigue. Do regular
breathing exercises. Get plenty of other exercise.



[16.3] One eye is weaker than the other what should I do?

Short term patching. Plenty of teaming work. Make sure
fusion is working cohesively.

[to be completed]


[16.4] My eyes are dry and iritated what should I do?

Use an eye drop made from Aloe Vera, this plant has many
soothing effects. Examine your visual lifestyle, are you
blinking often enough? Do you give your eyes constant breaks?
Smoking is a well known cause of eye iritation and so are
contact lenses. Some people find air-conditioning and contact
lenses is a major ocular hazard. Vitamin A drops are also
availlable to help restore banlance to dry eyes.


[16.5] I already have 20/20 vision how do I get super normal
vision.

Find the weakest link in your visual system and improve it.

[to be completed]

[16.6] What is an example program for myopia?

Relaxation and passive work. Meditation. Yoga. Body work such as
Feldenkrais if you posture needs reconfiguring. eg if you lean too
far forward.

Palming. Brock string exercise. Select favorite exercises for:
Extending accommodation out into the blur zone. Work on saccadic
motion. central fixation.

Stretch mucles of the eyes. Breathing and blinking. Massaging
around eyes, acupressure for stress releif.

Address the emotional aspects of withdrawal from far vision.

Blue-green light therapy. 15 minutes a day.

Wear no glasses when possible, use fitness 20/40 where full
correction is not needed. Only wear glasses where absolutely
needed.

Pay attention to nutrition. supplement Vitamin A/Zinc,
Calcium/Vitamin D, B-complex, Bilbery. Avoid processed and
refined foods. Minimise sugars, animal fats, stimulants and drug use.


[16.7] What is an example program for astigmatism?

Spend as much time with the astigmatic mirror as your comfortable.

Same as myopia. Pay special attention to posture and imbalances in
posture and emotions.

Feldenkrais lesson or other body work to reconfigure your
posture. Chiropractic work if problems are structural/chronic.


[16.8] What is an example program for hyperopia?

Near-far focus. moving focus within the blur zone. Brock string
exercise.

same nutrition as for myopes.


[16.9] What is an example program for presbyopia?

Use pinhole glasses for reading. (15 mins a day) Brock string
exercise. three-dimensional postcards books. move then sideways, and
up and down.

Otherwise same aas myopia.


[16.10] What is an example program for cataracts?

Eye massage. Stretching the eye muscles. Relaxation and passive work

[16.11] What is an example program for macular degeneration?

Eye massage. Palming. Brock String exercise. relaxation.


[16.12] What is an example program for gluacoma?

Eye massage. stretching eye muscles. Relaxation. Blue-green
light therapy. (30min twice a day) Proper nutrition. and extra
Vitamin C each day.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

[17.0] EMERGENCIES

[17.1] What should I do in the case of an eye wound?

All eye injuries are potentially serious. Even superficial grazes cam
lead to scarring of the surface of the eye (cornea) or infection
with possible deterioration of eyesight amd even blindness.

Symptons and Signs:

+ partial or total loss of vision of the affected eye, even
with no visible injury.

+ pain, eyelid spasm and watering of the eye.

+loss of blood or clear fluid from the eye wound, possibly with
flattening of the eyeball.

Aim: Proctect the eye and seek medical aid.

Treatement:

1 Help the casualty into the most comfortable position. Support the
head and advise the to keep as still as possible. DO NOT attempt to
remove _embedded_ foreign bodies.

2 Ask the casualty to close the injured eye and gently cover it with
an eye pad or a sterile unmedicated dressing. Secure the pad lightly
in position with bandage or adhesive tape.

3 Advise the casualty to keep the sound eye still because
movement will cause the injured eye to move.

4 Transfer to hospital by ambulance maintaining the treatment
position.


[17.2] What should I do in case of chemical burns to the eye?

Corrosive chemicals, both liquid and solid can easily enter the eye
and rapidly damage its surface causing severe scarring and even
blindness.

Aim: Wash the chemicals away as quickly as possible and transfer to
hospital.

Symptoms and Signs:

+ Intense pain in the affected eye.

+ Damaged cannot tolerate light.

+ Affected eye may be tightly closed.

+ The eye may be reddened, swollen or watering excessively.

Treatement: 1 Hold the affected side of the casualties face under
gently running water for at leat 10-15 minutes so that cold water
drains away from the face. Alternatively let the casualty put the
affect side of the face in a bowl of cold water and ask the casualty to
blink.

NB check that both surfaces of the eyelids have been well
irrigated. If the eye is shut in a spasm of pain, you may have to pull
the lids firmly. but gently, open.

If this is not possible, sit or lay the casualty down with the head
tilted back and turned towards the affected side. Protect the
uninjured eye, gently pour sterile water or saline over it. If these
solutions are not availlable, use a cup of tap water.

2 Lightly dress the eye with a sterile eye pad, or if this is not
availlable, a pad of clean, non-fluffy material.

3 Transfer to hospital immediately.


[17.3] What should I do in the case of foreign bodies in the eye?

All eye injuries are potentially serious because particles may
perforate the eyball resulting in internal damage and possible
infection. Particles of dust or grit or loose eyelashes are the most
common foreign bodies found in the eyes. They stick to the outer
surface of the eyeball or become lodged under the eyelid, normally
the upper lid, causing considerable discomfort and imflamation. In
most cases these can be removed. However DO NOT attempt to remove a
foreign body if it is on the coloured part of the eye, or embedded in
the eyeball. In these cases seek medical aid immediately.

Symptomps and Signs:

+ Casualty's eye is painfull and itches.

+ Casualty's vision may be impaired.

+ Watering of affected eye.

+ Casualty's eye is red.

Aim: Remove particle gently. If unsuccessful, transfer the
casualty to hospital.

NOTE: CONTACT LENSES

Many people now wear contact lenses instead of glasses and
occasinally these cause extra problems in an an emergency. If
conscious, help the casualty to remove them, and place them
safely in their container and ensure they remain with the
casualty. Never try to remove lenses from a casualty's eye
yourself. If a casualty is know to be wearing lenses, report this to
the ambulance officer, nurse or doctor attending the incident.

Treatment:

1 Advise the casualty NOT to rub the eye (the casualty will
almost certainly be doing so).

2 Ask the casualty to sit in a chair facing the light and lean
back.

3 Stand behind the casualty. Hold the chin in one hand and use the
index finger and the thumb of your other hand to separate the affected
lids. Ask the casualty to look right, left up and down so that you
can examine every part of the eye properly.

4 If you can see the foreign body try to wash it out with sterile
saline solution. If this is not availlable, irrigate the eye with
tap water. Incline the head towards the injured side so that the water
will drain out over the cheek away from teh sound eye; pour water from
a jug or place the casualties head under a tap.

5 If this is unsuccessful or no water is availlbale and the
foreign body is not sticking to the eye, lift the foreing body off
using a moistened swab or the damp corner of a clean
handkercheif.

6 If the foreign body is under the upper lid, ask the casualy to look
down. Grasp the eyelashes and pull the upper lid downwards and
outwards over the lower lid. If the lashes of the lower lid do not
brush the foreign body off, get the casualty to blink under water in
the hope that it will float off.

7 If you cannot remove the foreign body, cover the affected eye with
an eye pad or a piece of gauze wrapped around a soft pad of cotton
wool. Secure it lightly in place and seek mdeical aid.

If the foreign body is on the coloured part of the eye or is
imbedded in or sticking to the eyeball DO NO ATTEMPT TO REMOVE IT.
Cover it with an eye pad. Transfer to hospital for treatment.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

[18.0] RESOURCES

[18.1] What resources are availlable to help me?


online: I_SEE mailing list. Maintained by Alex Eulenberg
(alex@indiana.edu). to join, send "subscribe i_see" to


IRL:

American Optometry Association, Communications Center,
243 North Lindbergh Blvd,
St Louis. MO 63141.
(314) 991 4100 fax (314) 991 4101

American Chiropractic Association.
1701 Claredon Blvd.,
Arlington VA 22209
(703) 276-8800

for a referal to an osteopath specialising in Craniosacral therapy
consult:

Cranial Academy.
3500 Depaw Boulevard.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46268
(317) 879-0713


Bastyr College oF Natural Health Sciences
144 N.E. 54th Seattle WA 98105
(206) 523-9585.

Cambridge Institution for Better Vision, Martin Sussman Director,
65 Wenham Rd,
Topsfield MA 01983
(508) 887-3883

Center for Self-healing Meir Schneider, Director
1718 Taraval St
San Francisco CA 94116
(415) 665-9574

College of Syntonic Optometry.

Jacob Lieberman. O.D. President. PO Box 4058 Aspen CO 81612.

Solomon K Slobbins O.D. 1200 Robeson Street, Fall River, MA 02720
(508) 673-1251

(Pin hole glasses) Diana Deimel, 563 Third Street, Fillmore CA 93015
(805)524-2620

(Full spectrum lighting) Enviromental Lighting Concepts,
3932 Coconut Palm, Tampa, FL 33619
(800) 842-8848

Feldenkrais Guild PO Box 489 Albany OR 97321
(503) 926-9081

Janet Goodrich, Crystal Waters Permaculture Village MS-16 Maleny
Queensland 4552 Australia (74) 944 657 Natural Vision Improvement 1032
Irving St, suite 233 San Francisco CA 94122 (415) 386-1550

Meridian Traditional Herbal Products
44 Linden St
Brookline MA 02146
(800) 356-6003

Natural Vision International Ltd
PO Box 157
Manitowoc WI 54221
(800) 255-4715

(3d postcards, posters and books) N.E.Thing Enterprises.
19A Crossby Drive,
Bedford, MA 01730,
(617) 275-6960.

North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.
PO Box 3992
Champaign IL 61826
(217) 359-3529


Parents Active for Vision Education (P.A.V.E.)
9620 Chesapeake Drive, Suite 105,
San Diego, CA 92123,
(619) 467-9620


Rolf Institue of Structural Integration
Po Box 1686
Boulder CO 80306
(303) 449-5903

Seeing Beyond 20/20 Robert-Michael Kaplan O.D M.Ed.
3236 West 7th Ave
Vancouver B.C. CANADA V6K 2A2
(604) 737-2043

Cathy Stern O.D. Brookline Vision Associates
56 Harvard St
Brookline MA 02146
(617) 277-7754.


[18.2] How do I locate a behavioral optometrist?

see also College of Syntonic Optometry above.

For referals to a behavioral optometrist contact:

USA: The Optometric Extension Program Foundation
2912 South Daimler Street
Santa Ana. CA 92705
(714) 250-8070

College of Optometrists in Vision Development
PO Box 285,
Chula Vista, CA 91912-0285
(619) 425 6191


Australia:

The Australian Optometrical Association.
26 Ridge Rd.
North Sydney.
(02) 922 2566.




-----------------------------------------------------------------

References:

The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses. W.H. Bates
M.D. 1920.

Better Eyesight Without Glasses. William H. Bates M.D. 1943.
(abridged version of The Cure of Imperfect...)

Better Sight Without Glasses. Harry Benjamin. 1929.

The Art of seeing. Aldous Huxley. 1943.

Help yourself to better Sight. Margaret Darst Corbett. 1949.

Human Antomy. Johnson, Schmidt, Solomon, Davis. 1985.

Natural Vision Improvement. Janet Goodrich Ph.D. 1985.

The Visual Handbook. John Selby. 1987.

Acupressure's Potent Points. Micheal Reed Gach. 1990.

Australian Red Cross First Aid Manual. 1990.

Suddenly Successful. How Behavioral Optometry Helps you overcome
Learning, Health and Behavior Problems. Hazel Dawkins. Dr Ellis
Edelman. Dr Constantine Forkiotis. 1991.

Light Medicine of the Future. Jacob Liberman, O.D. Phd. 1991.

Manual Of Ocular Diagnosis and Therapy. (3rd edition) Deborah
Pavan-Langston M.D. F.A.C.S. 1991.

Seven Steps to Better Vision. Richard Leviton. 1992.

Duke-Elder's Practice of Refraction, 10th edition. 1993. Revised by
David Abrams.

Silva Mind Mastery for the '90s. Dr Tag Powell, Dr Jufith Powell.
1993.

The Handbook of Self-Healing. Meir Schneider and Mauren Larkin with
Dror Schneider. 1994.

Alternative Medicine. The definitive guide. Compiled by the Goldberg
group. 1994.

Creating Your Personal Vision. A mind body guide for better eyesight.
Dr Samuel A Berne. 1994.

Current Medical diagnosis and Treament. 3rd edition. edited by Tierny,
McPhee, Papadakis. 1995.

Kaplan Robert-Micheal. The power behind your eyes. 1994. Kaplan
Robert-Micheal. Seeing woithout glasses. 1995.

Liberman Jacob. Take off your glasses and see. 1995. Forest Elliot.
Stress and Vision. 1988.

Handbook of Ocular Drug therapy and Ocular side effects of Systemic
drugs. D. Pavan-Langstone and E. Dunkel. 1991.


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