On the subject of how to improve eyesight, I recently received this e-mail from Kevin, a reader of the site:
Hi Alex, I know you are busy so i try to keep this short. My father had a -1/-0.75 his v/a was 20/40 3 months ago. his vision now is 20/20-20/15. All he did was read the smallest letters on the snellen for several hours a day UNTIL his eyes hurt (using active focus).
I tried this and it seemed to be very active, much more effective than print pushing with plus lenses. Do you think this is a good “exercise”?
There are a few reasons to post this question here:
First, the exercise Kevin mentions is unrelated to the #endmyopia Method – and yet, there are some key similarities to some of the aspects we discuss (in particular, pulling focus).
The Most Effective Way How To Improve Eyesight? Distance Focus.
This is why we use reduced distance prescriptions (which we refer to as normalized prescription). Instead of having perfectly corrected vision to infinity, this gives your eyesight a blur horizon. And that in turn, is about the same thing as trying to clear letters on a Snellen chart, with 20/40 vision. For normalized prescriptions I generally recommend at least 20/30 eyesight, as it makes more sense for most distances – but the premise here, is the same.
There are a million ways how to improve eyesight. The key ingredient, which Kevin shows us in form of that Snellen exercise, is active focus.
So then, you might ask, why does the #endmyopia Method have Four Pillars, rather than just one?
You could do the same thing as Kevin’s father, of course.
Though this would be less effective, if your eyesight is significantly worse than 20/40. That is the first practical hurdle.
Second, you may not be so excited if I told you to spend hours every day, staring at a Snellen chart. We often talk about the importance of habits. A habit you just have to build once, and then it is there for you. The less you actively have to work on something every day, the more likely it is that you will continue. Going for a walk with a normalized prescription and reading some street signs and license plates, is an easier habit to maintain, than hours of Snellen reading. Considering time investment needed, and rehab requirements together is how to improve eyesight.
Third, we have the realities of our lifestyles.
You could improve 20/40 eyesight with the Snellen exercise. But then, you leave the cause of the symptom unaddressed. If you continue to spend eight hours a day in close-up mode (and for many of us, that is not optional), the myopia will come back. The close-up strain still exists.
Now if Kevin’s father starts using plus lenses (reading glasses) for his close-up work, and keep maximum distance, push a bit of focus, he will be able to keep that hard earned 20/15 eyesight improvement. But that aspect of maintenance, of dealing with the root cause of myopia, is necessary.
All this to say, you don’t need my method. My method is nothing more than an effective way to combine the facts of our myopia inducing lifestyle, with the biological premises on how to improve eyesight.
You can certainly also apply the universal premise of targeted stimulus (rehabilitation) in some other fashion (like Kevin’s Snellen example), and get results! For more reading about eyesight topics, you visit IOVS to find subjects and studies discussing how to improve eyesight.
However you choose to do it, I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor, in form of healthy eyesight!
