6.4.2 Vision Therapy: Bates Method
Description
This article is from the Vision and Eye Care FAQ, by grants@research.canon.com.au (Grant Sayer) with numerous contributions by others.
6.4.2 Vision Therapy: Bates Method
Vision therapy, especially people claiming improvement of vision through
'holistic' medicine can often lead into a *very* heated debate. The
techniques generally describe some form of eye excerise associated with
relaxation technique to improve the 'perception' of letters/images. There
is limited to virtually no statistical studies/results indicating the
success or failure of these methods.
Often the central theme is to "to getting the eyes to shift more rapidly,
to get you centre of focus to hit directly on the fovea, and to
reduce tension in the eyes so that the above can be accomplished".
As described by one internet reader (aeulenbe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu) the
method for improved sight involves :
1) KEEP YOUR EYES MOVING. Your eyes have to be fast to catch all the
2) GET LOTS OF SUNLIGHT. Don't be afraid of the sun. If it's too bright
3) WEAR A PATCH. If you do this even for as little as fifteen minutes,
4) STRETCH YOUR NECK. If your neck is cramped, then so are your eyes.
Some references are
Bates, William Horatio. The Bates method forbetter eyesight without
glasses. New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981, c1943.
Corbett, Margaret Darst. Help yourself to better sight. New York,
Prentice-Hall, 1949.
Corbett, Margaret Darst. A quick guide to better vision; how to have good
eyesight without glasses, 1957.
Huxley, Aldous. The art of seeing. Seattle : Montana Books, 1975.
Goodrich, Janet. Natural vision improvement. Berkeley, Calif. Celestial
Arts, 1986.
Kaplan, Robert-Michael. Seeing beyond 20/20. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words
Pub., 1987.
Seiderman, Arthur. 20/20 is not enough : the new world of vision. New
York : Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1989.
Kavner, Richard S. Total Vision. New York : A & W Publishers, 1978.
Windolph, Michael. Easy eye exercises for better vision : self-helps to
sight improvement. Hicksville, N.Y. : Exposition Press, 1974.
Chaney, Earlyne. The eyes have it : a self-help manual for better
vision. New York : Instant Improvement, 1991.
Revien, Leon. Sportsvision : Dr. Revien's eye exercises Program for
athletes. New York : Workman Pub., 1981.
Scholl, Lisette. Visionetics : the holistic way to better eyesight.
Garden City, N.Y. : Double day, 1978.
Hughes, Barbara. 12 weeks to better vision : a remarkable technique to
restore your eyesight. New York : Pinnacle Books, c1981.
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