Improvement stories and e-mails are piling up!  Still though today instead of all the good news stories, I want to cover a bit of my current take on plus lenses.  

This, a pro topic.  If you’re just starting out, you first want to learn about how myopia happens, how to measure your eyesight, and the basics on how to protect and improve your eyesight.  And of course, don’t go monkey around with diopter changes until you know what you’re doing, ideally have a supportive optometrist to guide you, and as always – nothing here is medical advice, no ‘prescription’ advice, no licensed-anything advice.  We’re just heretics, talking about highly effective and yet completely unsanctioned concepts related natural myopia control.

That out of the way, let’s look at the potential of plus lens use for a low myopia case.

In the forum, Robert asks:

robert-plususe

First, see Robert’s signature.  

A good amount of diopter reduction has already happened there.  So we know that a) Robert is on the right track with stimulus and b) that he’s just getting into the range where he no longer needs minus lenses for close-up.

He’s now starting to get less opportunity for stimulus with close-up, and soon will increase the potential for ciliary strain as his distance vision continues to improve.

At this stage I used to say, use plus lenses.  Get the diopter bubble back to where you have a blur hoirzon, keep pushing that stimulus, plus/minus, doesn’t matter as long as we continue to get the opportunity for active focus.

But now Jake is older, and wiser.  Plus maybe you don’t need, the Jake says.

Kidding (about the wiser part).  But with the past few years of a much larger student base and a wider range of case types, we’re finding that the benefits of plus are not universal, and also that plus is not without potentially less than ideal side effects for some.  

So we’re back to the base premise, one of the ground rules, that states: “the less focal plane change we need, the better”.  

Here’s what I suggest to Robert in the forum:

jake-robert-plususe

Do you see the rationale?  (full thread here)

As long as you are continuing to improve (tangibly measured by centimeter, outdoor text landmarks, eye chart, reducing diopters), there is really no need to add more focal plane changes to the mix.  While it was technically logical to go to plus when our diopter bubble gets to large for close-up, I hadn’t asked the question to what extent it actually contributes to continuing improvement.

And as we keep gaining more experience through the feedback of the hundreds of participating students, we are lucky enough to be able to continue to refine and fine tune the process.  Current fine tuning, don’t add plus unless you stop seeing improvement while not wearing lenses for close-up.

I do keep saying, distance active focus work is the key stimulus in improving eyesight.  Any and all close-up efforts are secondary, and our main close-up concern should just be about ciliary strain.  Your barometer for lens use should always be your log, looking back at your improvement rate in the past, looking at your current improvement rate, making adjustments only if there is a notable reduction in ongoing improvement.

The forum is highly useful for these cases, as we discuss a lot of these types of advanced and individually specific topics there.  If you are a member, I highly recommend browsing the forum, especially looking at student threads who are in a similar position as you yourself may be in today.

Tomorrow we’ll have a look at Irina, and how she managed to drop a full diopter in three months, using only the blog (and e-mail series) to guide her.  It’s a impressive story!

Cheers,

-Jake