Most people think myopia is inherited. If this were true, recommending eye exercises for myopia would be pointless. Since you can't change your genes, no amount of eye exercise will improve your condition.

However, the latest evidence would have it that myopia is in fact, not inherited! 

Myopia is generally not inherited, but acquired due to bad visual habits. You can reverse the changes of myopia by changing these habits and performing specific eye exercises for myopia.

Many people are misinformed about myopia, and eye doctors have an interest in preserving this inaccurate information. Why? Because if myopia were inherited, the only way you could treat it is via surgery, or by wearing glasses for the rest of your life. Both options are expensive, given that people with myopia commonly need stronger and stronger prescriptions over time.

Myopia Is Not Inherited

Statistics show that a very small percentage (approximately 2%) of the population is born with the eye deformation that causes myopia, or nearsightedness.

Depending on where you are in the world, the prevalence of myopia in adults ranges from 25% to a huge 80%. These figures are also growing over time. In a study in 1971-1972 in the United States, 25% of the population were found to be myopic. In another study using the same method in 1999-2004, the prevalence of myopia climbed to 41%!

Now we know for a fact that our genes don't change so quickly. The theory of evolution would suggest that it takes millions of years for even the slightest genetic change to occur. It is now widely accepted that environmental factors play a huge role in deciding whether or not we develop myopia.

Sure, you might have a genetic predisposition toward developing myopia, which is why myopia IS often seen to run in families, but there is also a strong environmental component that decides whether or not you will develop myopia, a component that puts YOU in control.

Understanding Myopia

Myopia occurs due to an abnormal lengthening of the eye-ball. Because the eyeball is longer than it should be, the image is not formed on the retina, but in front of it, and that causes people to experience blurred vision. People with myopia usually see close objects, but cannot see distant ones.

Research has shown that several factors could lead to the development of myopia. When people force their eyes to look at close objects continuously (the screen of the computer or the TV, a notebook, book, etc.), their eyes slowly lose their flexibility and become “specialized” in close vision.

Many schoolchildren are diagnoses with myopia, and education has a huge role to play in this. Children spend 6-7 hours in school, writing in their notebooks or reading from their books, and then return home and spend another 4 hours playing computer games or watching TV. The fact that their vision becomes impaired is not unexpected. 

Why Eye Exercises For Myopia Work

If you can acquire myopia through bad visual habits, then it means your eyes have a certain level of plasticity.

And if your eyes can change, and your vision can worsen, it means it can also change for the better.

In other words, myopia can be reversed. 

Understanding what causes myopia can help us to understand what could reduce myopia or treat it completely. If bad habits are to blame for the development of myopia, then correcting these habits and replacing them with healthy habits can reverse all the damage that has been done.

Because myopia is caused by a lack of variety in the activity of the eyes, increasing variety can be the way to healing myopia. And this can be done by practicing eye exercises for myopia.

The eye exercises for myopia are based on the principle of shifting from near to distant vision. When we stop looking at near objects, and force them to look at distant objects as well, we actually train our eyes, and teach them to see objects in the distance better.

This conclusion has been tested in many experiments, carried out by eye specialists and researchers from all over the world.

Many of the published works on this topic provide significant evidence that myopia can be reversed, and myopia eye exercises are particularly efficient in doing so. Many of the participants in these experiments showed impressive improvements in their visual acuity after a period of eye training that included different types of eye exercises for myopia.

Though it is possible to achieve perfect 20/20 vision, the least that will happen is your eyesight will improve, and you will go from needing stronger glasses over time to needing weaker ones.

Improving Vision Naturally With The Bates Method

The Bates method for myopia includes several eye exercises that you can try on your own at home, or wherever you have a moment to yourself – a tea break at work, or during your daily commute. Here are some eye exercises for myopia that help improve eyesight by enhancing blood circulation in the eyes, eye muscle flexibility and the focusing capacity of your eyes:

Example 1 – Shifting From Near To Distant Vision

Choose an object that is positioned near you. You can use one of your fingers. Hold the object at about 6 inches from your nose, and look at it for 5 seconds. Then, choose a distant object that is positioned at least 6 m away from you. Change your focus to the distant object and hold for another 5 seconds, then return to the near object. Repeat this continually for a few minutes.

Example 2 – Visualizing Distant Objects

If you work for long hours staring at a computer screen, book, or something else nearby, take a short 10 minute break and relax your eyes by looking at a distant object. As long as you're not trying too hard to see clearly, you may realize that less strain is required to look at distant objects than it is to look at an object that is right in front of your eyes.

This lack of strain helps to relax your eye muscles. Eye strain can sometimes manifest as pain around your eyes, or it can result in a headache, but usually it goes completely unnoticed and manifests instead as poor vision. Dealing with eye strain by relaxing your eye muscles with this exercise is a very important step toward treating myopia.

Regarding the exercise, you can choose to look at a tree you see out the window, or a building. Try to look at every detail of the object, while being careful not to strain.

If you would like to learn more about these and other eye exercises for myopia, I highly suggest you read this post on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to discover how I improved my eyesight naturally

Wearing Glasses Is Not The Only Way…

The Trouble With Glasses And Surgery…

The Alternative – How To Improve Your Eyesight Naturally

Why Eye Exercises Work

Eye Exercises You Can Start Using Today

How To Improve Your Eyesight Naturally Through An “Eye Food” Diet

Where Can You Learn More On How To Improve Your Eyesight Naturally?

If you've had enough of wearing glasses and being dependent on them and are interested in learning how to improve eye sight naturally, you'll be happy to know that there is a safe and effective method for improving your vision naturally, without relying on glasses, contacts or surgery.

The Bates method was created by an eye specialist who thought that vision can be improved without using any conventional method of correcting eyesight, like glasses, contact lenses or laser eye surgery. In Dr. Bates’ opinion, eyesight can be improved through simple eye exercises that train the eye and the whole visual system to see clearly.

A combination of eye exercises and diet can help to improve your eyesight so you can toss those spectacles in the trash.

Besides these eye exercises, many doctors, nutritionists and specialists have pointed out the importance a balanced diet has on our eye health. In order to function properly, our visual system needs several vitamins and nutrients that stimulate the blood circulation and the regeneration of the eye cells.

You can gain better vision by combining an active eye exercise program with a healthy diet that includes the so called eye foods – foods that contain different substances necessary for healthy eyes and clear vision.

Everybody can learn how to improve eye sight naturally, if they put a little effort and perseverance into following a good eye health diet and the suggestions of Dr. Bates.

How To Improve Eye Sight Through Eye Exercises

The first recommendation made by Dr. Bates is to do regular eye exercises that stimulate our eyeballs and our visual system. These different exercises force the eyes to do several actions they are not used to doing. 

Lately, people give little importance to regular breaks and outdoor activities, so the range of actions their eyes have to make has become very limited. Because they tend to do repetitive tasks, the eyes “forget” how to function properly in a different situation, and eyesight disorders appear. 

Take for example, the case of a man who works 8 hours every day in front of the computer. In time, his eyes accumulate so much stress, they become incapable of performing other actions properly, like seeing a distant object clearly. The man realizes he has become nearsighted and needs glasses in order to see distant objects. 

Dr. Bates mentioned that this is a very common situation and that this type of eyesight problem can be reversed through training.

Such a person would greatly benefit from an eye exercise program that will re-acclimatize his eyes to being able to perceive distant objects clearly once again. After a short period of time, his disorder might be reduced or even completely reversed. The results depend, of course, on the degree of eye deterioration and the perseverance of the patient in following the exercise plan.

Many people who have participated in vision improvement training based on Dr Bates’ suggestions have shown impressive changes in their visual acuity. You can read more about these cases in the many medical journals published in Dr Bates’ time and after his death. 

Eye exercises can be divided into two categories: active and passive exercises. Active exercises are exercises that you sit down and do specifically for your eyes. They involve using your eyes to look at different objects, focus or visualize different scenes, or forcing our eyes to make different movements or to simply perform conscious blinking.

Passive eye exercises occur as a side-effect to outdoor activity. Simply taking a walk in the park requires you to shift your vision from near to distant vision and back. Some activities are better than others. Cycling for example, is better than walking, since you are going faster and you need to make quicker and more frequent changes in the focusing of your eyes.

How To Improve Eye Sight With The Help Of Eye Foods

Another method to improve eyesight naturally is including eye health foods in your daily diet. Eye foods are foods that contain high amounts of vitamins, minerals and phyto-chemicals our eyes need in order to function properly. These foods can help prevent cataracts, macular degeneration and other eye disorders caused by a lack of vitamins and nutrients, or by aging. 

The most important eye foods are the ones that contain beta carotene, lutein, vitamin C and E, zinc, and omega 3 fatty acids. Here are some examples of foods that contain high amounts of these helpful nutrients: salmon, ostrich, sardines, broccoli, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, and turkey. Add them to your diet, and you will see positive results in a few months.

Where You Can Learn More

To learn more, I suggest you read the following article on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to learn how to improve your eyesight naturally

If you are searching for ways to achieve better eyesight, you are not alone.

More people need glasses today than ever before in history. If you have noticed your eyesight getting worse, then you may have approached your local optician for an eye exam. An optician is good at diagnosing bad eyesight. If you have noticed it, then chances are he/she will too. It's more than likely then, that you will be prescribed a set of glasses on your very first visit. And from then on, that's it – life will never be the same.

Over time, what happens with most people is that their glasses stop working as well as they used to. Could there be something wrong with the lens? Maybe the lens has been deformed by prolonged exposure to sunlight? Perhaps there are invisible microscopic cracks in the lens that prevent the light getting through properly.

Wishful thinking? You bet.

On your next trip to the optician, you are told that your vision has deteriorated, and that you need a stronger set of lenses. As time goes by, your glasses get thicker and thicker and you become more and more dependent on wearing glasses – without which you are practically blind! Then comes the time when you consider laser eye surgery and face the risk of going permanently blind.

So What Is It That Makes People’s Eyesight Get Worse Over Time?

Our lifestyle and bad eye habits are two of the factors that cause our vision to deteriorate. We spend a lot of time in front of the TV, or the computer, we force our eyes to work continuously and forget to take short breaks and relax. When put under such stress, our eyes become tired, tensioned, and fail to function properly. In time, this stress accumulates, and we realize we cannot see without glasses.

There aren’t many solutions we can try in order to achieve better eyesight. We can choose to wear glasses or contact lenses, undergo surgery, or try a natural approach to improve eyesight. Let’s see what the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative are.

1. Glasses For Better Eyesight

The most simple and rapid solution to eyesight problems is wearing glasses. You just have to go to the optometrist, receive a prescription, and, in a few days, your glasses are ready, so you can wear them and enjoy better vision.

Many people opt for this solution, because it offers immediate help and doesn’t require much effort or pain. Some statistics suggest that about 75% of the adult population of America wears glasses or contact lenses.

Because so many people wear them, glasses have become more like a fashion item than an eyesight corrective instrument. Therefore, some people who do not have eyesight problems wear nonprescription glasses just because it is fashionable. When treatment becomes fashion, you can understand the scale of the phenomenon, and the prevalence of eyesight problems in the population. 

However, people who wear glasses because they have to certainly do not consider them as a cool accessory. And that is because glasses come with a long list of disadvantages.

First, glasses are not cheap.

Second, many people who wear glasses need to change them frequently because their vision has gotten worse and they need stronger glasses, which means more money spent.

Third, glasses are not comfortable, you cannot do sports wearing glasses, and you have to take good care of them because they can easily break. It's just another item you have to look for and carry with you when you go out – extra hassle you don't need in a busy life.

Probably the greatest disadvantage of glasses is the fact that they do not help people achieve better eyesight.

Despite wearing glasses, your eyesight, when you take them off, is either just as bad or usually worse than it was before you started wearing them.

Glasses are just a corrective solution, not a treatment. It amazes me how common it is for optometrists not to mention this. With glasses, people do not achieve better eyesight, just like disabled persons don’t walk better because they have a crane or a wheelchair.

Despite these disadvantages, glasses are still the most popular choice for people who have eyesight problems, and that is because the alternative is more risky and frightening: surgery.

2. Surgery For Better Eyesight

People who suffer from severe eyesight problems, or just want to get rid of their glasses forever, can choose to undergo corrective laser surgery. The advantages of the procedure are the immediate result, and the fact that, unlike glasses, surgery eliminates the causes of the eyesight problem. If the surgery is successful, the individual can enjoy better eyesight after a short period of recovery.

However, there are many disadvantages to the procedure. The laser procedure has all the risks implied by any surgery. It is irreversible, and there are variations in the results. Some people are satisfied with the results, while others are not.

A single surgery might prove to be inefficient for some patients, so they are advised to have surgery again. And, sometimes, vision problems can return, so patients might have to go to the ophthalmologists for repeat surgery.

3. Better Eyesight Through A Natural Method

Thankfully there is another alternative, one you can use to rebuild your vision, and yet is generally ignored by doctors.  Natural eyesight improvement has no risks, no expenses and is by far the best option available for most.

The Bates method for better vision relies on a series of eye exercises and good eye habits that, in time, teach the visual system to correct itself. Because most eyesight problems are acquired through bad visual habits, this method suggests that the solution is correcting these habits and replacing them with good practices of maintaining healthy eye sight.

The Bates method suggests following a regular eye exercise plan that will help your eyes to relax and at the same time, actively involve it in diversified actions.

An important factor that results in poor eyesight is the fact that we force our eyes to perform a single type of action continuously: reading, or looking at the computer screen. These forced tasks put a lot of strain on our eyes, and vision problems appear as a direct result of this strain. By doing different eye exercises, our eyes and the muscles that sustain them can regain flexibility, and better tone.

Dr Bates describes different types of eye exercises, including relaxation exercises, central fixation exercises, focusing and zooming, shifting and swinging.

It's interesting to note that many of these exercises are performed naturally when taking part in fast outdoor activities like cycling, surfing, tennis and rowing. By doing these exercises regularly, and increasing our time spent outdoors, we will achieve better eyesight and eye health. 

The only disadvantage of this solution is the fact that it requires time and perseverance, because results do not appear overnight. However, considering there are no risks involved, and no costs, the least you should do is give it a go.

To find out how I used these methods on myself to achieve better eyesight, click the link to read my article on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to visit How To Improve Eyesight Naturallly

Having good vision health means having good visual clarity without glasses, eyestrain or headaches.

Many people who suffer from visual problems hope to achieve good vision health in some way or other, but are tossed back into the harsh and bleak nature of reality the moment they visit their optician.

Having clear eyesight without glasses is something we all want, but we're constantly told that the only options we have are having risky and expensive laser eye surgery, or being stuck with glasses/contacts forever.

When you go for your regular eye exam and are told you need a stronger prescription once again because your vision has worsened, you immediately start to face the reality of ending up with completely impaired vision, or the necessity to undergo surgery.

One of the reasons why people have this pessimistic view regarding their own vision health is the fact that they have been told that eyesight problems are inherited. Since you can't change your genes, there isn't much you can do to improve your eyesight.

Unfortunately, conventional medicine can only suggest corrective lenses or surgery, and neither of these options is very appealing.

Wearing glasses is uncomfortable, and surgery is terrifying. And on top of that, neither brings vision health. They just correct, but do not eliminate causes and are not a definitive solution. But how else can you fight against an inherited disease?

Well you'll be happy to know that…

Eyesight Problems Are Usually Not Inherited

The truth is that certain eye problems, for example myopia, are not inherited, but acquired over time as a result of bad eye habits. If myopia were inherited, it would mean that the children of people who suffer from myopia should be born with the same eye problem.

However, research shows differently. Only two percent of children are born with myopia, a considerably smaller number than the adults who are diagnosed with this visual disorder. How can that happen?

The explanation is that people who are not born with myopia acquire it because of a lack of good eye health practices. Today’s society and technology actually have a say in this. Many activities we do every day have a negative impact on our eyes, and contribute to the development of different eye disorders, including myopia. 

The worst enemies of vision health are computers, TVs and too much reading. Children are forced to read, write, and look at the blackboard every day, in school.

Watching TV certainly contributes to the deterioration of your eyesight, but there are measures you can take to prevent this, without having to throw away the box.

The continuous stress put on their eyes (by looking at close objects – books, notebooks, etc), combined with the surplus stress their eyes have to deal with after school, when children like to spend their time in front of the computer or the TV, leads to the development of myopia and other related problems. And, on top of that, nobody encourages them to practice good eye habits that could reduce the negative effects of children’s lifestyles. 

The Eyes Are Like A Muscle – They Need Exercise In Order To Function Properly

All these unhealthy habits we develop since childhood affect the eyes' health and our capacity to see clearly. Soon, we find out we have blurred vision and need glasses in order to read or work at the computer, even though we had perfect eyesight when we were children. 

Just like our bodies, our eyes need exercise. If we do not do any physical exercise, our muscles break down, and when we have to use them, we realize they do not respond to our commands as they used to. With our eyes, it is exactly the same. 

Our bodies don’t need only physical stimulation, – they also need a healthy diet. Similarly, in order to maintain good eye health, we have to eat the foods that contain the vitamins and nutrients our eyes crave for. 

Variation is the key to body and eye health. Forcing our eyes to look at close objects will most certainly lead to visual disorders, so the fact that we have acquired myopia is not unexpected. However, if we forced our eyes to do something else – look at distant objects, shift our focus rapidly from one point to another, the damage could be reversed. An atrophied muscle can regain strength when forced to move. 

Good Eye Habits For Maintaining Vision Health:

In order to eliminate the negative effects our habits and lifestyle have on our eyes, developing some good eye habits is necessary. Improving our vision health can be done through a vision exercise plan and an appropriate diet.

1. Breaks – taking small breaks is extremely important for vision health. After working for about 50 minutes, take a short 5-10 minute break and relax your eyes. Look out the window or cover your eyes with your hands and stare at the darkness. You can also perform special eye relaxation exercises like palming.

2. Reading distance – when you read, try to keep a 30 cm distance between your eyes and the book, or a 50 cm distance in case you work on a computer. Make sure the room is lighted adequately.

Personally, for my computer I bought myself a little remote that lets me move the screen up and down. What I do is increase the size of the font (using the zoom function on my browser or text/pdf reader) and read while being as far away from the screen as possible. I also listen to audiobooks where I can.

3. Watching TV – make sure the distance between you and the TV is at least 2 m, and try to watch TV with the lights on. 

4. Eye exercises – practicing eye exercises regularly can help you improve vision health. Try the Bates method: it includes many helpful eye exercises that could help you achieve good vision. Repeat the exercises every day, because this method needs time – your eyesight will not become perfect overnight. Do regular eye exercises at least 10 minutes every day, when you have some spare time, or when you feel your eyes are very tired and you need a break. 

5. Diet – try to include fruits and vegetables that improve vision health in your daily diet.

Good food for eyes include fruits that have high amounts of vitamins (A, B6, E, C), omega 3 fatty acids, lutein, proteins, and antioxidants. Eat cereals, whole grains, eggs, colorful vegetables and fruits, and drink plenty of water. If you cannot take all these vitamins from your diet, you could try some supplements, but remember that natural is always better. 

Vision health, just like overall health, needs a little effort to be achieved. However, by combining a healthy diet plan with regular eye exercises, you could reduce many of your eyesight problems, and, as in many cases, get rid of your glasses altogether. If you want to find out how you can do just that, I highly suggest you visit the following page where I tell you how I managed to improve my own eyesight naturally.

Click here to learn how I improved my eyesight naturally

It is no wonder most people have never heard about the Bates method and how it could help you rebuild your vision. Many doctors refuse to acknowledge the fact that Dr Bates was right and that his method of natural eyesight improvement actually works. And there is a very simple reason behind this.

If everybody were to learn how to improve eyesight naturally, nobody would need glasses or surgery, and the role of eye care specialists would significantly diminish. 

A Few Things About Dr Bates

Dr Bates graduated Columbia University and became one of the greatest eye surgeons of his times. However, he was very dissatisfied with the conventional approach of treating eyesight problems, and suggested there must be a better and healthier alternative to surgery or glasses.

Dr Bates believed that glasses are not beneficial, and that, sometimes, they can actually cause eyesight problems. 

When examining his patients, he noticed that some of them showed significant improvement in their visual acuity, and this change occurred almost spontaneously. This made him wonder if the conventional theories and principles of medicine are really all that accurate.

He started to do a lot of research on myopia and other eyesight disorders, and…

…all the results led him to the conclusion that many eyesight problems are acquired, and can be caused by different factors in the environment. 

At the same time, Dr Bates suggested a vision improvement program that included different eye exercises for reversing myopia and other similar vision problems.

After using his methods, he noted many cases of vision improvement among his patients. These facts stunned the medical community at the time, and many doctors found his conclusions threatening. As a result, most of the eye care specialists of his time dismissed his research and his corrective methods as non-scientific.

He was expelled from the institution where he was working, but Dr Bates was determined to continue his groundbreaking research on ways to improve your vision naturally.

Why You Can Rebuild Your Vision Using Dr Bates’ Method

Although most doctors continue to refuse to confirm that Dr Bates was right, there is a lot of scientific evidence that proves the efficiency and correctness of both his conclusions and his method of eyesight improvement.

Dr Bates published numerous studies that confirmed his hypothesis in some of the most prestigious medical journals of his time. Many of those who agreed to his conclusions, doctors and patients alike, affirmed the importance, value and efficiency of his method.

Many pages of research have been published since Dr Bates’ death, and they all suggest his assumptions are scientific and worthy of consideration. People who suffered from various eyesight disorders and tried his natural method suggested it really works and it is actually one of the most valuable ways to improve eyesight naturally. 

But don't just take my word for it. The only way to really convince yourself is to give it a try. You have nothing to lose. Unlike conventional treatments with eyeglasses and surgery, the Bates method is free, has no risks, and you can practice it from the comfort of your own home.

So Why Don't Doctors Recommend The Bates Method?

Dr Bates’ conclusions are still feared, even today. The majority of eye care specialists never recommend the Bates method as a reliable solution to eyesight problems. The doctors that use this method with their patients are few, although their results are very impressive. 

The 'problem' with Dr Bates’ method is the fact that it is absolutely free. You do not have to pay anything in order to benefit from this method. You can apply its principles at home, create your own customized eye exercise program and follow it regularly, and, in time, you can enjoy clear, perfect vision.

You can rebuild your vision naturally, with no costs and no risks involved. 

It is easy to imagine how the roles of eye care specialists would change if everybody used this natural method to correct their vision problems. And it is easy to understand why doctors are reluctant to admit the method works, and that it works far better than the spectacles they prescribe to almost ALL of their patients.

That is why Dr Bates’ method is still kept a secret today, and very few people know about it.

As long as most people don't know that they can improve their vision naturally, they will continue to pay into the multi-billion dollar optometric industry, lining the pockets of corporate fat cats.

Although doctors in general care for the wellbeing of their patients, the corruption comes from a higher level. Doctors are taught corrupt principles that support the use of eyeglasses and surgery as the only option for visual enhancement. When they stray from these principles, they are punished both legally and financially.

However, there still exist doctors and scientists that are courageous enough to stand up for the patient's right to the truth – that the Bates method  is truly efficient and can help you rebuild your vision and eliminate the addiction of your eyes to glasses or contact lenses.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of the Bates method and how to rebuild your vision in a natural way, I highly suggest you read this article on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to learn how to improve your eyesight naturally (article)

The common belief of doctors and patients alike is that there are only two vision correction options that can be used in order to achieve better vision: wearing glasses or undergoing surgery.

However, there is another opinion, shared by only a part of the scientific community. People who share this opinion suggest there is a natural vision improvement technique that not only helps the individual maintain good eye health, but also eliminates most eyesight problems.

The Bates Method To Achieve Better Vision

This natural vision improvement method has been suggested by a leading yet controversial eye care physician, Dr Bates.

Dr Bates had the courage to contradict some of the most widely accepted theories regarding accommodation at the time. One such theory regarded the role of the jelly lens inside the eye. Dr Bates provided evidence that the jelly lens plays a smaller role than was accepted by other leaders of his profession. He stated that accommodation largely depends upon the ability of the eye muscles to change the shape of the eyeball.

Dr Bates' new theory made it possible for most people to improve bad eyesight using natural methods.

Dr Bates was convinced that many problems with accommodation are caused by a loss of muscle flexibility, and they can be overcome through regular eye exercises aimed at improving the tone and flexibility of the eye muscles.

Therefore, he designed an eye exercise program and created many examples of helpful eye exercises for treating different eyesight disorders and helping the individual achieve better vision naturally. This method enjoyed quite some popularity, and many people who chose to follow Dr Bates’ recommendations confessed the solution was indeed effective, and it really helped them gain better vision.

The optometric profession feared Dr Bates' revolutionary method. If everyone cured their eyesight naturally, who would buy their glasses? Who would use their services? Hundreds of thousands of fully trained optometrists would become jobless. Dr Bates' colleagues hence decided to boycott his method and actively demote it.

To this day here are still specialists who consider that there is no evidence that the Bates method really helps to improve eyesight. These people received answers from Dr Bates’ followers, who gathered significant evidence that the method is real, efficient and helpful.

Evidence That Suggests You Can Gain Better Vision Naturally:

1. Dr Bates’ own research and reports

Dr. Bates published many reports in some of the most famous medical journals of his time. In these reports, he described the experiments and research he had carried out, and the positive results he had observed. Many of his patients managed to improve vision naturally by following the eye exercise program suggested by Dr Bates. His conclusions were also confirmed by other scientists.

2. C. A. Zeiger’s research

In her thesis, C.A. Zeiger brings more evidence to the fact that the people who suffer from myopia have distinctive psychological characteristics…

Low and moderate myopes are more depressive and irritable than normal people.

In other words, myopia could be more of a psychological problem and might be reduced through therapy.

3. C.R. Kelley’s research

In his dissertation, C.R. Kelley describes various experiments on patients with myopia that showed impressive improvement, and arrives to the conclusion that there are many factors that can influence myopia and that psychological changes can help patients suffering from myopia gain better vision.

4. J. Fox’s experiment

J. Fox’s dissertation thesis describes an experiment that showed the fact that the patients suffering from myopia and normal individuals have different psychological characteristics and that myopia can be reduced under hypnosis. There are many other studies that suggest the fact that hypnosis can help people achieve better vision.

5. R. Gottlieb’s thesis

The study presented in R. Gottlieb’s publication suggested that myopia is a flexible condition and its magnitude can be reduced through training and eye exercises. His thesis suggests interesting future directions for research on the topic.

6. W.H. McClay’s research 

W.H. McClay tested the Bates method in several experiments, and published the results in his dissertation. He noticed significant improvement in the condition of patients with myopia, strabismus, presbyopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. The visual acuity of a patient with cataracts significantly improved, even though his condition wasn’t reversed. 

7. J. Goodrich’s reports

J. Goodrich published a book in which she describes the vision improvement of many of the students that had been attending her natural vision improvement training classes. Ophthalmologists examined her students and confirmed the fact that, after attending J. Goodrich’s classes, they achieved better vision.

A few students actually managed to get rid of their glasses, and most of them received reduced prescriptions when they went for an eye exam after the training period. 

As you can see, there is a lot of evidence that suggests your vision can be improved naturally, and Bates’ conclusions are worthy for consideration. People who persevere with an eye exercise program can achieve better eyesight naturally, and, like many have done in the past, throw away their glasses and even achieve 20/20 vision or beyond.

Skeptics will continue to dismiss the Bates method of improving vision for various reasons, but the truth cannot be denied: many eyesight problems are reversible, and the solution to reverse them is a natural one, that has no costs and no risks.

If you would like to learn more about how you can achieve better vision without glasses, I highly suggest you read this post on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to discover how I improved my eyesight naturally

Most people who suffer from eyesight problems have been told that the only two ways to improve vision are wearing glasses or laser surgery. Neither of these is appealing enough: laser surgery has its risks, and wearing glasses for the rest of your life is not the most comfortable and convenient alternative.

Actually, those who wear glasses have the feeling they are somehow disabled and confined to live their lives depending on an object to see, like crippled people depend on their cranes to walk.

Is There Really No Other Way to Improve Vision?

Doctors say there isn’t. But imagine there was a truly natural way to achieve visual clarity. Do you think doctors would recommend it instead of surgery or glasses? Unbelievably generous and altruistic doctors would probably do so, but, in the end, they also need to earn a living. If everybody treated their vision problems naturally, what would be the role of opticians and optometrists?

The truth is, eye specialists have their own agendas when recommending glasses or surgery as the only solutions to vision problems. However, you will discover that these solutions are neither the only ones, nor are they particularly good options.

Laser eye surgery is expensive and has its risks. The trouble with glasses is that they act like a crutch rather than a form of treatment. Instead of treating eye problems, they usually make them worse. That explains why so many people with poor eyesight have to change their glasses every year or even more frequently, because their vision has worsened. 

Why Glasses DO NOT Improve Your Vision

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is the single most common human eye disease in the world.

Conventional optometry relies on the assumption that myopia (nearsightedness) is inherited. So, if genetics have a big say in this matter, there is no possible cure for myopia except for corrective glasses or laser surgery. 

However, this frequently repeated assumption is far from the truth. Research shows that myopia is not inherited. But in order to understand why, let us explain what myopia refers to. 

Myopia is an eye problem caused by a deformation of the eyeball. People who suffer from myopia have either an eyeball that is longer than normal, or problems with the cornea or the inner lens.

These properties lead to the image forming in front of the retina instead of on it. The result is that people see distant objects blurred. The closer the object is to the eyeball, the clearer the person sees it.

That is why people suffering from myopia have the tendency to bring objects close to the eyes in order to see them better. This is what specialists call 'nearpoint stress'. Because of the near work the eyes are forced to do, your vision continues to deteriorate over time.

Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, glasses do not improve your eyesight

In order to improve vision, doctors suggest that myopia patients wear glasses. However, glasses do nothing more than deal with the symptoms of myopia, and not with the causes. Glasses correct the image formed on the retina, but do not correct the shape of the eyeball, cornea or lens. Therefore, glasses do not improve vision, but correct it. 

Myopia Usually Gets Worse Over Time

Glasses not only do nothing to treat the causes of myopia, but they actually worsen this condition. This was clearly demonstrated in a study by Dr Earl Smith, at the University Of Houston College Of Optometry.

Dr Smith made monkeys that didn’t have sight problems wear corrective lenses for myopia. In time, these healthy monkeys became nearsighted (i.e. they developed myopia). Because humans and monkeys are very similar, the researchers concluded that the same thing is likely to happen to humans. This strongly supports the notion that lenses not only do not improve vision, but may actually even worsen it.

If glasses actually make our eyesight worse, should we continue wearing them? The answer is yes – but only when you really need them to be safe, like when driving, crossing the road or operating heavy/dangerous machinery. The first step is to limit the use of your glasses as much as possible, while at the same time, working on improving your eyesight via tested and working methods – like doing eye exercises.

Why Eye Exercises Could Be a Solution to Improve Vision

If myopia were inherited, there wouldn’t be much we could do to reverse it. However, research has shown that less than 2% of children are born with deformed eyeballs. This is proof enough that we are not born with myopia – myopia is a condition that develops in time, because of various factors. The use of computers, education and TVs are just three of the possible causes of myopia. People who work on a computer, who read often or watch TV, force their eyes to look at close objects, and this leads to the deformation of the eyeball, and to eyesight problems. 

By doing eye exercises, we can reduce the effects of nearpoint stress and even reverse the damage caused by a lifetime of eye strain. Dr. Bates, a true pioneer in the field of ophthalmology, created a method, called the Bates Method, that involves doing different eye exercises for eyesight improvement.

Using Eye Exercises For Natural Vision Correction

Doing eye exercises to improve vision is one natural and effective solution for myopia. If we combined this program with a healthy diet, based on foods that improve eyesight, we could hope to eliminate most of the problems that come with myopia.

There are two types of eye exercises: active and passive. Active eye exercises are the stimulating exercises such as palming (which involves covering your eyes with your palms and paying attention to the level of darkness), sunning (which involves looking at the sun through your closed eyelids), or zooming. All these exercises have been suggested by Dr Bates.

Cycling is an excellent passive exercise for the eyes. You are constantly training your distant vision and your ability to quickly shift focus between distant and near vision.

Passive eye exercises, involve taking part in various outdoor activities that require frequent shifting between distant and near vision. Various sports, like soccer, tennis or cycling are extremely beneficial for our eyes, and taking part in these activities regularly will help improve your eye sight over time.

In all these sports, it is important to force our eyes to look at distant objects, because this is what will cause our distant vision to improve. If you jog in the park for example, be sure to avoid staring at the ground, but rather, look up, enjoy the view and study your surroundings.

Foods That Can Improve Vision

Just like with any other health problem, your diet plays an important role in maintaining and improving your eyesight.

The most well-known vision improving food is the carrot. It is rich in Vitamin A and beta-carotene, two substances that carry great benefits for the eyes.

Other healthy foods we could eat to improve eyesight naturally are green leafy vegetables (like spinach), cold water fish, eggs, garlic and onions, grapes and blueberries, soy, and nuts. The healing action of berries has been known since ancient times, and many of our ancestors ate berries to achieve clearer vision.

If you want to get rid of glasses and rebuild your vision, you should start by creating and following a healthy diet plan, combined with a regular eye exercise program that includes both active and passive exercises.

Perseverance is the key to this natural vision improvement solution. If you do these exercises every day, force your eyes to look at distant objects, and supplement your diet with beneficial foods, you will find yourself becoming less and less dependent on your glasses for clear vision.

To find out more about how to improve vision naturally, I suggest you take a look at the following article: How To Improve Eyesight Naturally.

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You have probably heard that an eye exercise program brings important benefits for your eyes, helping them relax and alleviating eye pain. An important aspect many eye specialists forget to mention is the fact that exercising your eyes could actually improve your vision and help you see better and clearer.

Even though there are studies that suggest this effect is real, and it has a physiologic base, most doctors continue to recommend glasses, contact lenses or laser therapy as the best solutions to vision problems.

While wearing glasses or undergoing laser surgery could solve vision problems in the short term, many people realize that their sight starts to worsen despite the medical help received. And one reason for that is because traditional vision improvement methods deal only with the symptoms of bad sight, instead of attacking their causes.

The right eye exercise will get to the root of the problem, while spectacles only deal with your symptoms. Eye exercises can hence improve your eyesight, while spectacles, in most cases, cannot.

Is Your Eyesight Getting Worse Over Time?

Many women and men of all ages suffer from vision problems and notice their sight getting worse and worse as time passes. Unfortunately, this is a very common problem that affects a large percentage of the population. Many people start considering laser surgery, while others still hesitate between wearing glasses or not.

It's actually very common for your eyesight to get worse over time, even if you wear glasses.

The worst part is that many adults are even facing the perspective of blindness, when realizing their sight gets worse day by day, and they have to exchange glasses every month to keep up with this change. If our vision continues to worsen, what should we expect in ten years? Contemplating the idea of blindness is frightening and extremely depressing. 

Eye Exercise – a Natural Solution

Although this fact ignored most of the time, a simple eye exercise could be a great natural solution for better eyesight. A long time ago, eye specialists discovered that doing simple eye exercises can significantly benefit your eyesight.

Contrary to the belief that the deterioration of eyesight is irreversible, and there is nothing we could do to improve the flexibility of the jelly lens and the eye muscles, some doctors suggested that eye exercise could actually be a solution to reverse sight problems and achieve clear vision.

In other words, doing eye exercises can increase the flexibility of the jelly lens and the eye muscles that are responsible for eye accommodation, which in turn leads to the creation of a clear image. As you can see, unlike glasses that have the purpose of correcting vision, eye exercises contribute to the healing of the eye, therefore, to eye health. Instead of correcting and eliminating symptoms, an eye exercise program treats and eliminates causes. 

Two Important Aspects Of Eye Exercise Ignored By Conventional Optometry

#1: Accommodation And The Ability To Focus

A great, but not very frequently mentioned name in optometry is that of Dr. William Bates. His ideas were rather unconventional, and despite changing the lives of many of his patients with his natural vision improvement concepts, the optometry community decided to consider him just a revolutionary, preferring to ignore his findings, just because they were different from what was commonly believed at the time.

Dr. Bates did research on eye accommodation (the ability of our eyes to focus), and his conclusions contradicted the generally accepted theory of that time, the one created by dr. Helmholtz. Helmholtz's theory stated that accommodation was possible because of the change in the shape of the lens, triggered by the action of the ciliary muscle. Dr Bates, however, had a different idea. He suggested that it isn’t the change in the shape of the lens that leads to accommodation, but the change in the shape of the eye ball, caused by the extra ocular muscles.

The application of this was straightforward. In order to improve eye accommodation, we have to improve the flexibility of the muscles that change the shape of the eyeball. And that can be done through an eye exercise program. This was Dr. Bates’ solution to eyesight problems, and the idea on which he created the Bates method of improving sight. 

#2: Shifting And Swinging

Another very important concept tied to Dr Bates is shifting and swinging, and they both refer to 'saccadic eye movements'.

Shifting

Shifting refers to the fact that our eyes continue to move from one point to another, avoiding fixation. The muscles that surround the eye have an important role in these continuous 'saccadic' movements.

This is an easy to understand characteristic of our eyes. If we tried to fixate a single point, without shifting our eyes from it, we would see that the image soon loses clarity, our eyes become tired, and we feel the need to look away. If our eyes are not continuously encouraged to move, if we force them to fixate different objects, our sight will eventually lose clarity. That is why it is so important to do various eye exercises. A regular eye exercise program could help the eye muscles regain their flexibility, which will increase our saccadic eye movements and the clarity of our vision. 

Swinging

Swinging, or apparent movement, is a direct consequence of shifting. It refers to the illusion that a stationary object is moving in the opposite direction to your eyes while shifting. With a normal set of eyes, when you shift your vision from point A to point B, point B will quickly become clearer, meaning you have achieved a successful swing.

The eyes of people with poor eyesight have been found to shift less rapidly than those of people with normal eyesight. With a slow shift, swinging is either prevented, lengthened, or in some cases, even reversed. What happens here is that when you shift your vision from point A to point B, instead of point B quickly becoming clearer than point A, the two points may become just as clear, resulting in eye strain and poor vision, or point A may even be clearer than point B. In order for your vision to be clear, the previous point of fixation (point A) must be less clear than the current point of fixation.

To conclude, if eye movement is what determines accommodation, exercising the eyes can help them function better. These are the two physiologic arguments Dr. Bates brought when developing his theory. 

The Benefits of an Eye Exercise Program

Now that we know why exercising can improve vision, let’s go over the benefits a regular eye exercise program could bring:

1. Eliminating eyestrain and tension – doing a simple eye exercise regularly could help remove tension and lead to the relaxation of the eyeballs. People who work long hours at the computer might suffer from strain and blurred vision, and exercising is a great solution for removing the tension in the eyes and regaining visual clarity

2. Treating a lazy eye – when one of the eyes is not as developed as the other one, we commonly refer to this condition as lazy eye. To prevent cross-eyes, people suffering from this problem, usually children, can perform eye exercises. Exercising could help the lazy eye recuperate and achieve the same level of development as the healthy eye.

3. Treating dry eyes – because an eye exercise program improves the fluid balance in the eyes, dryness can be eliminated. 

4. Muscle flexibility and clear vision – continuous exercise will improve eye muscle flexibility. The clarity of our vision is likely to improve thanks to the resulting improvements in shifting and swinging.

A Popular Eye Exercise to Try Out

There are many eye exercises you could try to improve your vision, but just to give you an example, here is a popular eye exercise you could try out. Close your eyes tight, squeeze them, and keep the muscles contracted for a few seconds and then relax. This is a great exercise for people who suffer from eye tension, because it brings immediate relaxation. 

To learn more about exercises for the eyes and how they can be used to improve vision, click the link to read my article on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to read How To Improve Eyesight Naturally

Not many parents or children with sight deficiencies have heard about vision therapy. Vision therapy is an eyesight improvement program that includes various eye exercises and activities meant to eliminate sight problems. The program is customized, so it deals with the specific problem of a certain patient, and it is supervised by a doctor. 

Vision therapy can be used by both children and adults. It involves a series of activities designed to improve eye movements and the connection of the eyes with the visual center in the brain

Although vision therapy is a scientifically based strategy of treating sight problems, some optometrists are reluctant to recommend it, suggesting that only glasses or surgery are efficient and reliable solutions. However, not all optometrists are trained and knowledgeable about vision therapy, and that is what might cause their skepticism. Add the fact that those people make money from prescribing glasses or surgery, and you will understand why vision therapy is not as popular as it should be, considering its amazing results. 

What Is Vision Therapy?

Vision therapy includes various activities meant to educate the visual system, so that it corrects itself. People who suffer from sight problems are encouraged to do eye exercises that force the visual system to adapt better to the environment. Depending on the problem of the individual, different types of tasks are suggested.

In time, this re-education program for the visual system will lead to an improvement in your symptoms, a clearer vision, less tension, and better performance.

…and this is achieved without surgery – just through a set of training activities.

In vision therapy, many specialists use prisms, computerized activities and lenses that do nothing more than to diversify the activities the patient’s eyes are encouraged to perform. Vision therapy is a complex process that involves not only techniques and instruments, but also the perseverance and ambition of the patient, doctor, and vision therapist. Recovery can be a lengthy process, but has some of the most impressive results, especially with children.

When Is Vision Therapy Recommended?

Sometimes, glasses or surgery are not viable solutions to eyesight problems. Vision therapy is an alternative to standard treatments, and works best in cases of reading problems among schoolchildren, computer vision syndrome, lazy eye, strabismus, or eye movement disorders. This type of therapy is usually prescribed for children, but it can also work for adults. Here are the most common eye problems that can be treated through vision therapy:

1. Lazy eye – this condition is diagnosed especially in children, and it refers to the situation when an eye is less developed than the other one. In order for the lazy eye to regain visual clarity and a normal developmental level, vision therapy exercises are suggested. 

2. Eye movement disorders – correct eye movement is necessary for clear vision. Patients who suffer from eye movement disorders can train their eyes through vision therapy, so the movements become accurate, and vision is improved.

3. Strabismus – This condition refers to improper eye alignment or eye turn. Many children who suffer from this problem can eliminate it and achieve proper eye alignment through vision therapy. The best results are achieved in the case of convergence insufficiency, a form of strabismus diagnosed in children who cannot keep their eyes aligned when reading, but do not have any problems when looking at distant objects.

4. Focusing disorders – when the child has problems focusing, vision therapy can help the eyes focus properly through different activities.

Why Vision Therapy Works

Vision therapy is a scientifically proven treatment method. The research in vision therapy and the assumptions it is based on are aligned with the newest discoveries in neuroscience. One concept of great importance in vision therapy is neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to adapt continuously, improve, and learn, no matter the age of the individual.

Scientists have established that learning modifies the structure of the brain. This fact alone gives a lot of credibility to the power of vision training. Vision therapy is, in fact, a learning program, and its results can be seen at the neurological level. The neurological changes caused by vision therapy are the ones that explain the improvement of sight and the impressive reduction of the initial symptoms.

In other words, the therapy program trains the brain and eyes to see better, and corrects all the disorders that caused the symptoms in the first place. 

The goal of vision therapy is to correct not only ocular problems, but also the visual function and the areas of the brain that control vision. This therapy is aimed at the entire visual system. This includes the eyes, the surrounding muscles, the nerves, the brain and the visual functions. Through this holistic approach, vision therapists hope to make lasting changes in the visual system, so that eyesight problems never return. 

How Much Does Vision Therapy Cost?

Because it is a long and complex process that requires the joint efforts of both optometrist and vision therapist, vision therapy could seem to be a little pricy. After all, it is a customized program that takes into consideration the specific needs of every patient. Unfortunately, not many parents can afford vision therapy for their children. And, to make matters worse, insurance policies do not cover for vision therapy.

So what is the alternative?

The Bates Method

The Bates method is a natural solution to eye problems, and it resembles vision therapy in many ways. This method suggests doing various eye exercises, in order to improve eyesight, improve focusing and visual clarity. Unlike vision therapy, the Bates method can be applied at home, without the supervision of a doctor. It is free and has no risks, so there is no downside to trying it. 

So, in case you or your children have been diagnosed by a specialist with an eye condition that responds well to vision therapy, but you cannot afford it, you could try the Bates method. This method has proven to be successful, and many people report that it has helped them improve their vision.

To learn more about how you can use natural vision improvement techniques at home, click the link to read my article on how to improve eyesight naturally.

Click here to learn how to improve eyesight naturally