Your favorite darling eye guru is currently somewhere in ever-honking, ever-ringing, ever-beeping, and ever-hammering Yangon, Myanmar.  Tethered precariously to a 3G SIM connection, drinking some very exotically flavored Burmese breakfast tea, trying to coax enough invisible bits out of the surrounding air to transmit you this wee blog post. (more on this Burma excursion on the hardly-relevant, semi-secret Jakey Instagram).

Let’s hope the post makes it.

Today’s sermon comes to you courtesy of the scriptures contained in the forum of nascent eye gurus, learning to understand their eyes, and taking charge of their own 20/20 gains.  Steve posts in the forum, part of a longer thread discussing optometrist experiences:

Thanks guys (and gal)!

I really have no reason to go back as I don’t have any eye conditions rather than high myopia at this point. Most OD’s really have no interest other than what they’ve been trained to do by the established doctrine. My OD is coasting towards retirement and couldn’t give two sh*ts on any sort of rehabilitation, so why should I help him along with insurance co-pays? All set.

Just previous to my appointment, I had a 4-day weekend with loads of distance time and very little close-up. I’m talking 4-5 hours of non-stop driving to/from the destination in clear skies. I wore contacts with a full 1.50D less prescription in both eyes (OS -4.50D and OD -3.25D if it matters). According to any OD, I should not have been able to see much better than 20/70 to 20/100 based on their measurements. Well I could see better, MUCH better. After the first hour or so, most of the double vision cleared and I was around 20/30. The rest of the time, there were many clear flashes of perfect vision as I used any kind of text along the way for active-focus. At the end, my eyes felt amazingly relaxed!

Goes to show just how important uninterrupted distance vision in good lighting really is.

Disclaimer: I always keep a pair of -1 glasses in my car to wear over my reduced contacts if and when needed. I rarely ever drive at dusk/night this time of year and that’s usually the only time I do need them.

Over the last 2 1/2 years or so, have I found it really important to make mental notes or write down some general vision details when switching to a new pair of normalized or differentials. Once in a while, I try on a previous pair to compare past and present. It gives you a good perspective on where you were and how much you’re improving over time. We’re all unique in how our biology adapts, so placing a bar on achievement isn’t practical. Myopia rehab is not a race and there are no winners. If you have the motivation to stay on course despite how long and some bumps along the way, you’ll reach the end eventually.

Though, the nagging shortcuts are tempting, I admit. I am constantly reminded of these shortcuts. My g/f is a certified laser technician and actually runs the LASIK laser for those that decide to take the shortcut. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to listen to the whole “Well if you just got LASIK” blah, blah, blah.

Beware the Sirens!

  • This reply was modified 1 day, 9 hours ago by Steve.

Starting Rx

[Feb 2014] OS -7.50d, -1c | OD -6.00d, -1.25c
Optometrist [May 2015] OS -6.75d, -1c | OD -5.25d, -1c
Current Norm: [20/40] OS -5.25d | OD -4.00d (spherical)
Current Diff: [~50cm] OS -4.25d | OD -3.25d (spherical)
Current CM: OS 17cm | OD 21cm

Lots to think about, in that one.

I’m posting it for you, for multiple reasons.  One, I want to leave the door wide open for the potential criticism of “so if the optometrist doesn’t see improvements, your method must not be real, Jake!”.  Let’s leave it all out there, good, bad, otherwise.

Even though there are more than a few optometrist-confirmed improvements here.

And there’s Despina’s current improvement report (our resident contributing optometrist), which, wow.  But I haven’t posted that one yet, so let’s just pretend you aren’t even thinking what that could be about!  ;)

What should you take away from Steve’s post?  To never go to the optometrist?  That they’re evil?

YES!  No.  Not really.  Take away from this post that Steve has a voice.  Steve can look at two sides of an argument, look at two sets of data, and have a discussion about his way, vs. another way.  Forget right or wrong.  Think, Steve vs. the average guy, who doesn’t know the first thing about what a diopter even is.  

That’s the key here.  Personal empowerment.  Choices.  Without taking sides even, you can appreciate that Steve has a set of tools now to carefully consider what he wants to do.  The average person has no choice but to accept whatever lenses are sold (correction … “prescribed”) to them.  Compare that to Steve and other forum readers, and of course @endmyopia blog readers, who are in a position to discuss the merits of various positions.  Making choices about your myopia, is what this resource is all about.

Choice.  It all starts there.

Housekeeping:  All week long, blog posts and forum responses may or may not happen on an exact daily basis.  It’s all very tenuous with various excursions and inconsistent Internet.  

Cheers,

-Jake