13 What is the Bates Method?
Description
This article is from the Self Improvement FAQ, by Loren Larsen llarsen@cs.clemson.edu with numerous contributions by others.
13 What is the Bates Method?
The Bates Method is a set of vision improvement techniques
originally developed by William H. Bates, MD, back in the 1910's
and 1920's. Many people have expanded on the techniques since
then. There are at least a dozen books in print.
The basic theory is that we develop excess tension in the muscles
in and around the eyes, and it is this tension which causes poor
vision. The vision improvement techniques are designed to relax
the muscles in the eyes and to allow us to see better.
There are 3 basic techniques for relaxing the eyes:
1. "Sunning" is shining a bright light on your closed eyes. Use as
bright a light as you can stand without squinting. Concentrate
on relaxing the eyes while you do this. Eventually you will be
able to increase the intensity of the light and use the sun as
your light source. This technique is done for 5 to 20 minutes
(no more than 5 minutes facing the sun). It is best if you can
follow your sunning with palming.
2. "Palming" is covering your eyes with your cupped palms. Try to
cut off all light from your eyes. Relax and think of something
pleasant. Do this technique for at least 5 minutes. You can do
this as much as you like. The record is 20 hours. I recommend
one 20 minute session per day.
3. The "long standing swing" is standing in the middle of a room
and turning back and forth from 90 degrees left to 90 degrees
right. Turn your head with your body and keep the eyes looking
forward. Start with the eyes lifted and looking at the line
where the wall meets the ceiling, and lower your gaze with each
pass. Do not try to focus on everything that passes in front of
your eyes; just let your gaze fall where it will. Start with 30
swings, and work your way up to 100 swings. This should take no
more than 4 minutes.
All the techniques should be done with the eyes relaxed. If you
feel tension around your eyes and you can't relax it, stop the
technique.
There are other techniques to correct vision defects like
astigmatism and poor left-right fusion. I recommend you get a
copy of the book titled "Do You Really Need Eyeglasses" by
Marilyn B. Rosanes-Berrett if you would like more info. This is
the best book I have found on the subject. The ISBN is
0-88268-104-4.
Is there any empirical evidence to support the Bates Method?
(msieweke@hayes.com) writes:
There is empirical evidence to support the Bates method, and there
is a limited amount of experimental evidence. Bates documented
many successes, and each of the other books documents many
successes. There are reports of patients who were brought to 20/20
vision and had astigmatism corrected.
I have one book that lists three studies showing vision improvement
in patients using something similar to the Bates method. I seldom
mention them because the data is difficult to interpret, and
because I don't like the book (Natural Vision Improvement) as much
as some others. One study lists visual acuity before and after
training. Results vary... One patient started at
20/400(both eyes) and ended at 20/400(r), 20/300(l) after 15
months. Another patient started at 20/800 and ended at 20/60
after only 6 weeks!
Continue to:
My Books
