Eyesight without glasses

[Matt22]

Thanks cimdy how did you acheive this by using plus lenses and undercorrections and  doing alot of print pushing exercises? Your improvements are realy good. I hope to stik with it am fed up of getting stronger and stronger prescriptions. How long did your improvement take I realise can take awhile but am willing to keep up with it for as long as it takes.

[Cindy]

Matt, I mainly used a combination of plus lenses when reading, and just not wearing glasses the rest of the time.  I had really fast results, but I worked at it every day.  I saw good results in about 5 days, and after two weeks I did not need my glasses any more, even for driving.  My eyes were still not perfect, but good enough. And then going without glasses for about 2 months got me back to 20/40 in an eye test.  I still use plus lenses sometimes when I'm at the computer.   I realize this seems very fast, but I guess I'm lucky.   Another woman I know is still working on it and seeing some improvement after 3 months, but she still need low correction glasses.

Cindy

[Matt22]

hey,  Is the exercise off fcusing on a close object then a distant object good for your vision as well, could someone explain the proper way of doing this. Also has any one tryied pinhole glasses?  Thanks for any information

[Cindy]

Definitely. I'm always doing that in the normal course of my day. I think that focusing near and far often throughout the day helps to keep your eyes flexible.  I don't look at it as a special exercise, just something I do almost without thinking.  I don't know anything about pinhole glasses.

[Matt22]

Can I just ask, Am I better wearing undercorrections alot or no glasses at all I'm -4.5 diopter. I think I have read I;m better to wear undercorrections as this will stimuilate the eye to focus more is this true?

[Todd Becker]

Can I just ask, Am I better wearing undercorrections alot or no glasses at all I'm -4.5 diopter. I think I have read I;m better to wear undercorrections as this will stimuilate the eye to focus more is this true?

Matt,

-4.5 diopeters is a pretty strong correction.  I'll bet everything looks very blurry when you take off your glasses -- am I right?  So I would suggest two things here:

1.  When reading a book or working at the computer, sit as far back as possible from the print until it starts to go out of focus, then move a few inches closer until it clears up.  Read at this distance.  If the distance is more than about 2 feet, buy some +1 or +1.5 diopter reading glasses at the pharmacy and do your reading with those plus lenses.

2. When not reading, for activities like walking around or driving where you need to see things further away, get yourself some new glasses or contacts that are undercorrected by about 1 to 1.5 diopters.  So maybe some -3.5 or -3.0 glasses.  Wear those for all distance activities, for a few hours a day.

3.  Periodically test yourself by removing the glasses and see if things are more in focus.

4.  After a month or two, if you are making progress, move to further weaken your prescription.

Try that and let us know if it helps. 

Todd

[Patrea]

Well it's working for me. It's 2 moinths now and I stopped using my glasses at the PC and (gulp) changed the screen resolution from 800 to 1024. I'm also using +1 lenses for an hour or so a day at the PC.
It's now pretty comfortable going without glasses all the time - except I do wear them driving and in the street.
The key I find is to stage progress in small chunks, make it a daily habit and be relaxed about it. Don't put yourself in extreme discomfort or danger, of course.
Great advice Todd - given that improvement is supposed to be physically impossible!

So please, have I got this right: I have myopia
R -3.00, L -1.50
So I should have slightly underpowered lens for long distance, say -2.00 and -1.00, and for computer work long sighted specs at say +1 - ?

[Cindy]

That's great to hear, Patrea!  I had the same results, giving up my glasses after only a couple of weeks.  Looks like your right eye had a stronger correction than your right.  Do you notice a difference between the two eyes when you are not wearing glasses?

[Matt22]

Thanks todd yes I wear -3.5 glasses most of the time for distantes and driving, I feel quite comfotable in these. For reading I have started to use a +1 lense while reading a book at the edge of were I can focuse. Yes my vision is pretty blurry without glasses. Hoping this changes and I can reduce my prescription. Thanks for the advice

[Todd Becker]

Well it's working for me. It's 2 months now and I stopped using my glasses at the PC and (gulp) changed the screen resolution from 800 to 1024. I'm also using +1 lenses for an hour or so a day at the PC.  It's now pretty comfortable going without glasses all the time - except I do wear them driving and in the street. The key I find is to stage progress in small chunks, make it a daily habit and be relaxed about it. Don't put yourself in extreme discomfort or danger, of course.

Great advice Todd - given that improvement is supposed to be physically impossible!

Great to hear of your progress, Patrea! Looks like you and Cindy have both succeed in going with out glasses, except for driving. (I was able to get rid of my glasses for driving, but I hesitate to write about that because I don't want to encourage anything dangerous.  I'm working on way to revise my method to make it safe for anyone).

Great comment about the physical impossibility of eyesight improvement.  I think that one of the themes of "Getting Stronger" is that many things that experts tell us are "impossible" -- eyesight improvement, stroke recovery, eating one meal a day, permanent weight loss, running faster barefoot than in shoes -- are in fact possible, once you understand how the body and mind adapt and remodel themselves.

I liked your Hormesis blog - do you have plans for any new posts soon?  I'm also interested to hear how you are doing with Tabata.  You might want to start a new discussion topic on Tabata training on this blog, I think it is very interesting!

Thanks todd yes I wear -3.5 glasses most of the time for distantes and driving, I feel quite comfotable in these. For reading I have started to use a +1 lense while reading a book at the edge of were I can focuse. Yes my vision is pretty blurry without glasses. Hoping this changes and I can reduce my prescription. Thanks for the advice

Matt22, Glad to hear you are getting started with plus lenses.  Let us know of any progress or problems you are seeing as you work on this.  Remember, it takes time and persistence, so stick with it and be patient.

Todd

[Matt22]

Thanks yes I will keep working on it. Reading wearing the +! lense is getting more comfotable hopefully in a month or so I can up the plus lense. Could I ask what level off myopia people on this forum started with? I realise -4.5 is quite highI'd be more than happy if I could get down to say -3 or something like that so I won't be as dependant on glasses.

[Matt22]

Hey I tried today puttiing a patch over one eye and just working on the one eye at a time. My eyes are a similar only 0.25 dipoter difference. But found it easier to find the edge of my focusing capabilities reading this way My reduced prescription -3.5 glasses seem to be alot shaper.  

[Todd Becker]

Hey I tried today puttiing a patch over one eye and just working on the one eye at a time. My eyes are a similar only 0.25 dipoter difference. But found it easier to find the edge of my focusing capabilities reading this way. My reduced prescription -3.5 glasses seem to be alot shaper.  

Matt,

Glad to hear things are getting sharper!

I have done exactly the same thing as you to work on one eye at a time.  I'm actually in the process of writing up a post on an improved way to do this using "stick-on" lenses instead of a patch.  It works better and is a lot less weird looking.  You select a stick-on lens to put on the inside of the glasses lens of your stronger eye (the one with the smaller minus correction).  I would get a set of +1.25 or +1.5  MagnOptx lenses from eyesave.com.  You apply just one of the lenses to the inside of the glasses lens for the stronger eye.  This will "handicap" it and make it blurrier than the weaker eye, which will become the new "stronger" eye and take over the job of focussing.  But you will still get plenty of light in the other eye, and you will keep your stereoscopic vision. It works very well.

As I said, I'm still experimenting with this method and writing it up, but you may want to try it.  The stick on lenses are fairly inexpensive, only about $25.

Todd

[skirrel]

does anyone know if its safe to use 2 week contact lenses for a month or two as long as u change the solution?

[Matt22]

Todd, Thanks for the advice on the stick on lenses, I will hopefully be able to progress on to these with time. How do they work do they need cutting down to fit the lense.
 skirrel, not sure about contact lense, I just used to wear dailys.