Questions & Answers.  You have questions.  And Jake has answers, especially if they haven’t been covered in one of the other sections of the blog / free guides.  

Many of the topics here originate from your e-mails, or from Quora, or threads in our Facebook group, or even YouTube comments on occasion.  Natural myopia control is a wide ranging and complex subject, and this might be the section to find answers to some of your questions.  Browse and discover!

Unicorn Farming Nonsense: Bates Method & No Glasses

Oh, darlings. Getting VanderJakenbergen riled up again.  Yes.  People e-mailing me that their Bates teachers are telling them to stop wearing glasses. Wait. "Bates".  "Teachers". There we go, fixed the grammatical bits to reflect their title more accurately.   These things drive me just a tiny bit (more) insane.  Why?  Because I too look for health ideas online.  When I had weird thyroid issues.  TMJ teeth grinding bits.  When looking up blood test numbers.  And always, without fail, there's the [...]

By |Bates Method|
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Is Myopia Genetic? (Video)

"Sorry, dahhhling.  Your myopia, it's genetic." Here's the bottom line, before we fully get into this topic.  If a 'doctor' says those words to you, then he or she is an idiot. You're thinking, Jake.  That's a bit harsh. But it's true.  For you or me not to know how genetics work is excusable.  And actually if you consider a doctor to be an individual who collects information from you about a series of symptoms and then sells you some [...]

By |Video, Vision Health|
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Craig: 11 Year Old Myopic Son, Clear Flashes!

You know about my reticence when it comes to commenting on child myopia. So many things happening in the young, developing eye.  It really is ideal to have a knowledgeable, non-old-timey lens seller (behavioral optometrist) to properly evaluate what's going on with the child's eye.  Much better than just reading some Internet eye guru spoutings and taking your chances with a Jake type! That, darlings, the disclaimer.  (heartfelt and not just CYA) Somethings it's straight myopia though, and there is [...]

By |Child Myopia|
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A Complicated Differential Glasses Reduction Scenario (Pro Topic)

Pro topic.  Don't go monkeying around with diopters until you really know what you're doing.  Messing around with diopter ratio, making focal plane changes, all creates a series of interactions with your visual cortex.  If you don't know what you're doing you might at minimum cause unnecessary discomfort - or more negatively, impact your opportunities for future progress. Quick post today, with just part of a BackTo20/20 forum thread. This one highlights how changes (improvements) in your vision that may [...]

By |Differential Glasses, Glasses, Nearsighted: How To's|
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Ben: -9.25 D Reduced To -7.50 D (in 3 Months!)

The improvement reports, the 20/20 GAIIIINS, they just keep rolling it. It's quite interesting, the volume of e-mails.  And also the membership growth of our darling Facebook group (15 to 20 new members added every day - with about 70% of member requests getting approved).   Like a tiny little fire burning at the edge of the forest, all of this.   Here's Ben: Backing away from the abyss. There's something extra menacing about double digit myopia. You only end [...]

By |8 Diopters, 9 Diopters, High Myopia (10+ Diopters), Student Reviews|
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Q&A: Sniper Stare, Medium Distance Focal Plane, & More

Q&A for those with low myopia and advanced level endmyopia students. There's a brilliant thread in the support forum right now (many brilliant threads, but this one really gets me). If you're in BackTo20/20, or even if you're going DIY with just the blog, you might love this one, too.  Todd has been keeping his progress all in one thread, reducing astigmatism, working on equalizing, and running through an interesting scenario of travel and home-habits time.   He's right at [...]

By |Glasses, Low Myopia, Nearsighted: How To's, Nearsighted: Q&A|
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All contents on this site should be considered research material only.  We are not offering medical advice or treatment or cures for any illnesses. The reduced lens method is strictly experimental. Before considering taking steps to control your own myopia, you should definitely visit a qualified ophthalmologist for a comprehensive eyesight checkup.   Specific diagnoses illnesses aside,  most) myopia may be considered to not be an illness at all.  Most myopia is likely just a matter of environmental strain, and excessive prescription use.  You yourself may be able to control and reduce your own myopia by 1) managing eye strain, 2) conservative prescription lens use, and 3) targeted positive stimulus. We recommend finding a prevention minded optometrist to supplement your journey with professional advice and prescription management help.  While not a requisite, a supportive optometrist may make your journey that much more enjoyable! Potential Side Effects: (1) You may experience astigmatism-like symptoms, especially if you reduce too fast or without paying attention to this (transient) symptom. Search our Youtube channel or Website for 'transient astigmatism'. This can easily be prevented or managed. (2) Some people report an increase in eye floaters when practicing active focus. In general floaters are considered harmless but a sudden increase in floaters should be evaluated by a medical trained professional, as they could be a sign of retinal detachment or other serious medical condition. Generally taking it easy, not over straining, practicing gently and with patience should help. (3) Headaches. You're taking on a very much unsanctioned self-experiment changing diopters. Anytime you overdo things or change too much or aren't educating yourself first, you may expose yourself to strain symptoms. You should be experiencing no pain, headaches, or discomfort if you do things correctly!