Every now and then I will have a patient ask me about the benefit
of doing eye exercises to improve their eyesight. The answer is
never simple, but it is usually……….NO. But it depends
on the type of problem you have. If you're wearing relatively
thick "coke-bottles" and have been since you graduated
the 3rd grade, there is very little value in working
your eye muscles silly. Your eyes are simply "constructed"
a little too long (from the cornea to the retina) or the cornea
is too steep, or both. No amount of exercising is going to shorten
your eyeball or flatten your cornea. There are several legitimate
reasons to exercise your eyes, however, but I will leave that
to the vision therapy and sports vision specialists. Muscle imbalance
and eye-hand coordination problems are two conditions that may
be helped with certain types of eye exercises, but again, I will
leave that to the specialists. My goal this month is to expose
a few scams and shams in regard to improving your vision.
Maybe the most famous "artist" of all time is Dr. William
H. Bates. In 1920, the eye, ear, nose and throat specialist wrote
a book entitled "The Cure of Imperfect Eyesight by Treatment
Without Glasses". In it you would find wildly exaggerated
case reports and testimonials along with a surplus of nonscientific
nonsense. Always beware of claims supported by the almighty TESTIMONIAL!
One such testimonial by the prominent British philosopher, Aldous
Huxley, who was nearly blind from a childhood eye disease, was
influential in promulgating the theories of Bates. In 1942 Huxley
even wrote a book, "The Art of Seeing", which extolled
Bates' views and credited him for curing his own vision problems.
Huxley's influence was diminished, however, after he addressed
a banquet in Hollywood. The episode was reported by Bennett Cerf
in the Saturday Review (April 12, 1952):
"When he arose to make his address he wore no glasses, and
evidently experienced no difficulty in reading the paper he had
planted on the lectern. Had the exercises really given him normal
vision? I, along with twelve hundred other guests, watched with
astonishment while he rattled glibly on.... Then suddenly he faltered
- and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his
address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory,
he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was
only an inch or so away he still couldn't read it, and had to
fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible
to him. It was an agonizing moment...."
As for more current scams, what better place than the Internet
to make a fast buck on fraudulent promises. If you have access
to the World Wide Web, direct your browser to: http://www.visionfreedom.com
for the latest "cures" of a myriad of eye problems.
This is such blatant disregard of real science and research that
it insults the intelligence of decent people. This lunatic wants
you to spend $100 so he can send you an exercise "kit"
to "rapidly reverse or prevent nearsighted vision, farsighted
vision, astigmatism, cataract, macular degeneration, diabetes
associated vision loss, old age vision, lazy-eye, keratoconus,
tunnel vision, double vision, glaucoma, and nearly any other vision
disorder you may have."
Of course the tragedy in all this is when a Bates enthusiast or
Vision Freedom advocate suffers from glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy,
or other TREATABLE condition, and delays good, proven medical
treatment while he waits for his exercise kit and the 6-8 weeks
it takes for "results".