Be serious, Alex. Don’t start some ridiculous online quest for the actual creature responsible for myopia. People will have a hard enough time taking myopia rehab seriously, without your jokes. But then, how much of a joke is “oh it is genetic”? Jake says go ahead, who cares. Our audience is a tiny niche, they read, they think critically, they won’t mind.
So, do blame Jake for above image. Could the white furred beast be the real reason for your myopia?
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If you have been reading here for some time, or have tried the Web courses, you know how I like to approach all rehab related topics: with science.
It is hard enough to believe that myopia isn’t some mysterious and genetic illness, after all the years you have probably been told so. Never mind that “genetic and incurable” curiously translates into “intensely profitable, for ever” for the same folks giving you that diagnosis. Rather than looking at strange coincidences, we look at science.
Scientific principles to get answers are far better than taking something on faith. Whenever I present you with new information, I want you to be able to answer important questions. Why does it happen? How does it happen? And most importantly, how can I verify through my own simple tests that the claims are true?
That’s why we measure our eyesight, keep a log, and make sense of prescriptions, rather than just telling you what to do, and point at the dark mountain and the mythical myopia-squatch that lives on top of it.
Do Tears Cause Clear Flashes And Double Vision?
Case in point, Kim‘s side question in the forum:
One more thing…I asked him
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Of course Kim’s question is entirely valid. My job is to give Kim (and you) an easy way to test of the myopia-squatch tear film manipulation indeed is responsible for major shifts in your eyesight.
So how do we check the eye doctor’s claim? My suggestion to Kim’s question:
The tear film is a common misconception among those who aren’t trained in rehabilitative practices. Yes, tear film plays a role in acuity, and yes it can also affect small changes in clarity. It is in no way responsible for double vision though, nor clear flashes.
How can we easily disprove his theory?
Put tear drops in a regular myope’s eyes. Ask him/her if he/she suddenly has double vision or clear flashes. And of course, he/she will not. Quite simple, and interesting how doctors come up with those absurd explanations that would only take a minute to verify as false.”
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Testing Optometrist Claims For Scientific Truth
Why not test eye drops on your own eye? Because you also have active focus as a practice already, so your results in tear film change will not be clear – is it active focus, or is it the film? To avoid that issue you get a test subject that isn’t rehabilitating their eyesight, and see if eye drops change their vision. If the tear drops can replicate the same amount of Snellen line change and centimeter change in a random myope as your rehab efforts, then … I will immediately change the site to just selling you eye drops instead of rehabilitative advice.
Of course odds are, you won’t bother with the experiment itself. Think of this, however:
If the eye doctor feels comfortable dismissing your vision improvement with a claim that has no basis in reality, what all else is he telling you, without a shred of evidence that these statements are true? Doesn’t the doctor have a higher responsibility to deal specifically in known truths, rather than statements that can be disproven with a dollar eye drop and two minutes of time?
Eye Care: Lazy Or Profit Focused?
I’m not going to refer to the whole industry as glorified lens sales people. It would be unfair to the many practitioners who take great care to protect your eyes. There is also no malice, and any practitioner would be offended – since at the very least they are unaware of their role. But what do they do all day, every day? They write prescriptions, without questioning the simple facts of myopia, which they could investigate by reading an ophthalmology journal or searching scholar.google.com. It’s hard to be too kind to the whole lot of them, all that considered.
If you haven’t clicked the link above, here’s the short version of one of my favorite quips: The British Journal of Ophthalmology, one of the oldest and most prestigious science journals for the optometry and ophthalmology profession (aka the magazine your eye doctor doesn’t read) specifically said this:
And that’s the guys on the optometrists side, taking money from lens manufacturers. When your best and only friend tells you that you’re going too far with the ignorance, maybe it should be time to start thinking. Which we could blame the medical profession, if they actually read journals and followed studies.
I am a bit cranky today. My apologies for the somewhat biased tone in this article. Myopia-squatch made me do it!
Take care of your eyesight.
