Does the Bates method work?
No. There is no high-quality clinical trial evidence that the Bates method corrects myopia. Its core theory, that eye muscles cause nearsightedness, isn’t how the eye actually works. It was a reasonable early-1900s guess at pseudomyopia, and useless for real (axial) myopia.
Is the Bates method the same as EndMyopia?
No. Bates is eye exercises and living in blur. EndMyopia uses your actual focal distances and lens adjustments to reduce myopia measurably, the way an optometrist would track it.
One member dropped the Bates method and reduced from –3.25 D to –1.50 D: see the case.
We Don’t Do Bates Method. Why? Because our darling eye guru is tired of hearing from people telling him how it doesn’t work. Yes, Bates was a pioneer, way ahead of his time, and if the path had continued, we likely would not have a myopia epidemic today. We hold William Bates in the highest esteem.
But we don’t believe that “Bates Method”, today, is doing the man any justice. This “method” you find online today, has little impact on multi-diopter, lens-induced myopia. It won’t do a thing to induce axial reduction in your eyeball. And it goes against many key things vision science has come to understand over the past century. Still want to read more? Here are some articles with Bates references.
Nadim -10D to -9D Progress: Getting Out Of Double Digit Myopia Danger Zone
Having double digit myopia is almost inevitably pointing your future vision health towards a cliff. Whether it'll be glaucoma, cataracts, or retinal detachment, some long term consequence is bound to catch up with you at some point. If you have high myopia, taking steps towards to reduce this condition is really not optional. I often liken high myopia to obesity. It's not just that you don't look amazing in fashionable clothes that you have to worry about by neglecting your [...]
Was The Bates Method Right All Along?
Not quite. Bates was right that eyesight can change, but his exercises and living in blur don't reduce myopia. Measured focal-distance and correction work does.
Gunnar Looks Back At His Mistakes Trying To Fix His Eyesight
The Internet is full of questionable wisdom about eyesight. Likewise, the local optometrist ideas vary quite widely on the subject of myopia. It's really a matter of luck, if you find us first, or end up here after a long search and experimenting. Your poor eyes, quite possibly, if you found us after you tried everything else already. I write here because of all the things out there, I really believe that Alex' course is by far the most [...]
Vision Improvement Scams – Easy Ways To Tell The Rip Offs
You want to know some interesting tricks to tell who is trying to scam you? Some of these pointers work for all sorts of Web scams, not just in the eyesight health arena. --- I just put together a quick FAQ item for the topic of scams. We get a lot of participants who have been scammed previously. I myself took about a dozen different Web courses over the years, just to see what sort of mayhem and lunacy lurks [...]
Modern Medicine Time Machine Presents: The Bates Method
Let's take a break from talking about modern day myopia rehabilitative practices, client reviews, and viable eye health topics. Instead, let's talk today, about a time, long, long ago. A time where medicine was as much a matter of vivid imagination, as it was an excellent time to not get sick. We easily forget, how as recently as 50 to 100 years ago, our species had preciously little idea about the human body and what not to do to [...]
Bates Method, No Glasses vs. Glasses, the Blur Horizon
There is a bit of a repeating theme of common questions regarding Bates Method and not wearing glasses, both in my e-mail box and the forum. Some of this is covered in the FAQ, but it bears repeating (and extending upon), once in a while. Here are the key points to remember: Myopia is a symptom of close-up strain. High myopia is close-up strain + wearing a full minus prescription while focused up-close. Not wearing any glasses, living in [...]