The British Journal of Ophthalmology. It is one of the most conservative publications of its kind, catering to the ongoing education and news for optometrist and ophthalmologists.
You won’t find speculation or fringe topics within its pages – and yet, even this conservative stalwart urges optometrists to stop treating the myopia symptom, and start looking at and addressing the actual cause. And despite this, you might ask fifty British optometrists about the cause of myopia, and you’ll be lucky to get a single correct answer. Most will tell you that the cause is unknown and the condition incurable.
This, while even their own industry science journal has been publishing studies clearly showing the cause of myopia, for decades. That is interesting though a bit abstract as far as your own needs. So let’s look at a more tangible case, to illustrate how this relates to your own eyesight health:
Today we have the case of Simeon, who has a rather interesting prescription of -1.00 spherical and -1.00 cylinder. This is precisely where the NITM symptom starts to become lens-induced, when the optometrist prescribes something that is not reflecting the real issue with Simeon’s eyesight.
Here is what Simeon posts in the forum, after conducting initial observations of his vision:
What I have discovered is that when I look at the snellen chart 3m away outdoors and blink I am able to read part of the 20/20 line but if I blink again I lose focus/clarity for a bit until I blink again and stare at the chart. If I close my eyes for 5 seconds then open them outdoors the snellen chart sometimes becomes clear and I can read the 20/15 line and below but this only lasts for 3-4 seconds then back to 20/30 -20/25. How can I maintain this effect?
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The full forum thread, with more observation and some comments on my part, is here.
Let’s look at what is going on here, with Simeon who can occasionally see better than 20/20, and yet has a significant astigmatism prescription, along with a small spherical correction from his optometrist.
Almost all early myopia is near induced, and transient (NITM). It’s a focusing muscle (ciliary) strain. This has been beyond well established for decades, and is beyond question in most of the science community. It’s that eye strain that can be easily diagnosed by exactly the observation that Simeon made:
When You Get Clear Flashes Of Temporary Improved Vision, You Are Likely Dealing With Focusing Muscle Strain.
Obviously, if Simeon can sometimes see 20/15 and better, and other times not, there isn’t a permanent deficiency in his sight. Rather, the mechanism creating correct focus functions correctly briefly, and then goes back to it’s spasm – the response to excessive close-up strain.
That’s just NITM, and a matter of resolving a muscle spasm. There is no need to permanently medicate Simeon into ever increasing myopia, with glasses.
It’s that prescription though, particularly troubling for it’s huge astigmatism correction, that would take Simeon down the road to lens-induced myopia, as it does to millions of us every day. If the optometrist would make the rehabilitative recommendations we discuss here, Simeon would already be back to perfect healthy eyesight. If all optometrists were to do this, they would soon be unemployed, and a hundred billion dollar industry would cease to exist.
It’s not a conspiracy. It’s merely economic reality. Consider: Would Facebook ever suggest that its users go offline and outside, and spend more time face to face with their friends?
This is the problem. There is a fundamental conflict of interest between the commercial aspirations of the industry, and the scientific understanding of myopia. Simeon will be myopia free this time next year (or sooner, quite likely). Simeon will be one less permanent customer of the vision industry.
The reality is simple. When you can easily determine a focusing muscle strain symptom, it’s that strain, the root cause, that has to be addressed. Do that, and there will be no myopia.
Try to enjoy some healthy eyesight habits today. Even if your myopia is higher than Simeons, you can work your way backwards to recover your natural, healthy eyesight. It takes time, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor. You will thank yourself some months or years from now, for having taken decisive action to stop your own dependence on the for-profit industry of eyesight deficiency exploitation.
