If there is one thing I am glad I did, it was to have started a support forum.
More of the insights come from there, than most things I write here on the blog. If the Web Program is the brush and canvass, the support forum shows the paintings you create.
David writes:
Hey all,
I started the program back in October and had been not using glasses for a bit before that, but wasn’t doing active focus or blur horizon work, till October. Anyway, had my first Optometrist visit in 2 years, just to break the ice and get things checked up from a general health standpoint. Some interesting takeaways:
1. I wanted to believe better, but was surprised how much glasses were pushed and mostly by the assistants and desk folks (they just assume that you are there to get your prescriptive fix). It truly was very sales oriented. I knew this was the case, but thought surely there might be a little more to the checkup than that. (They did take a picture of my retina which was cool to see and probably the most beneficial part of the visit)
2. I cleared 20/20 with both my right and left eye (measure by themselves) with my cheap -2.50 glasses from Zenni optical. Not that this was a surprise as I’ve been able to do this for the last month or so, but something about doing it in the Optometrist office that made it feel better. I did get an appointment for 8:30 am and went for a 10 min walk before the visit so it was good conditions for measurement. I started with -4.00 2 years ago and have only been doing targeted stimulus since October 2013.
3. Even with the reading, my optometrist wanted to pass this off as a case of blur interpretation and some overprescription that he said I was able to deal with the overprescription because of a higher accommodative range, so essentially I was able to deal with a -4.00 because I could accommodate better than the average person…however, this doesn’t explain the fact that -3.75 felt blurry if I put on my old glasses back when I first started…even my -4.00 glasses were not 20/20 compared to my -4.00 contact lenses I used all the time. He claimed that my true prescription was -3.00 or -3.25 which he said he got from when he shined a light into my eye while flipping through the lens settings and that when it flashes back bright that is the true myopia value (axial myopia?) of my eye at the time. Alex, does this seem right to you that maybe I’m -3.00 in my “true” value, but I’m able to use active focus to pull 20/20 with -2.5? When He put it on -3.25 I was able to read 20/15 no problem and half of 20/10. Since when was 20/20 not good enough :)? To his credit he was fine with me staying with my -2.50s (that I sheepishly had to admit I bought online without their prescription), but said he would only write a prescription for -3.25 (in case I wanted it) because that was his determination of my “true” value was. Interesting to say the least. I wonder what he will say next year when I’m hopefully -2.00 or possibly lower? More blur interpretation? Maybe I’ll just interpret the blur better all the way down to 20/20 ;). I just wonder what the threshold for improvement is for them that they no longer could consider it blur interpretation. I know better, my vision is qualitatively (as well as quantitatively) better than it used to be. I also understand that, if they truly believe myopia is not reversible, then logically they have to have another explanation if they want to keep that paradigm.
My centimeter measurements are running in the 36-38 range after I push focus for 5 min or so, right in the -2.75 range which makes sense with my experience with the -2.50. On good sunny days, I’m nearly ready to push to -2.25, but on cloudy days or night the -2.50 offers enough stimulus still. Anyway, a small little update. I’m still keeping at it even though I haven’t been in the program since December.
Take care everyone and all they best with your efforts!
David”
***
That’s a long update, and it is so telling on all fronts – the status quo, the individual experience with vision improvement, all the things that should go into individual vision health education.
Also interesting here is David taking the time to get the optometrist’s side of all this, knowing about David’s eyesight improvement work. I often recommend skipping that conversation for the sake of avoiding Pandora’s box of dogma, irrational beliefs, and the occasional doctor-god syndrome. Still, having gone there, David certainly received interesting feedback.
These are exactly the sort of experiences I want you to have.
This isn’t about me being right, or them being right. This is about you getting more than one perspective for once, and being able to come to your own, properly educated conclusions.
It is about understanding prescriptions, your eyesight, what goes into a vision checkup, and how to interpret their recommendations on your own. This is all so important, and well worth the bit of time it may take you to learn – for a lifetime of much better eyesight health decisions.
For the full thread, including my comments, head on over to David’s forum post.
Enjoy!
