Keratoconus and Astigmatism

[ClarkNight]

Hello Ir.papa,

1) Should I practice the Bates method for each eye separately.

A; Both eyes together and then each eye separately. Shifting, central-fixation, eyechart. Extra with the eye that has most blur.
When just using your vision throughout the day; use both eyes.


2) How long should I practice every day, each eye?

A; The 'practice' of shifting, switching.., astigmatism chart'; 15 min day. Additional 1-5 min if you like later. Do the long swing, sway as you like, Get that sunlight. Read fine print.
Rest of time; shifting and the basic correct relaxed vision habits are done all the time, as easy relaxed habits; if you see a blurry object; shift on it part to part, blink. Avoid squinting, trying hard, using effort to see. Have you seen replies here; http://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesm...ad-80.html and here; http://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesm...ad-41.html

Just to repeat; No astigmatism prescriptions in the eyeglasses. Prescriptions maintain it and increase it.


3) What is the proper distance for the “exercises”? It is a distance I must see clearly? For ex. with my right eye I have a big problem and I can see clearly in a 10 cm distance or less. My eyesight is about 15%. More than that everything is blurry. But I am not wearing contact lenses or glasses because I can see with my left eye which has astigmatism and the eyesight of the left eye is about 80-85%.So what is the proper distance?

(No glasses; GREAT!)

A; You can practice at any distance. Start at the easiest, most clear to get the clearest memory picture in your mind, and then work into the blurrier distances.
Both eyes together. Then do your one eye at a time practice. End with both eyes together again.
Distances will vary for each eye.
Here's more directions on the bottom of this page. A very good teacher; http://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesm...ead-9.html
It's also in PDF the top of the page.
And Emily Lierman's eyechart directions; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id25.html Move down the page to her suggestions.


4) I know how to do swinging ,palming or the sway. I am little confused with shifting and centralization.
When I shift from one object to another (example trees,houses) is it necessary to shift to different parts of it before moving to the next tree?

A; The eye naturally shifts when its looking at any object, even a very small part. So practice of a few shifts before moving to next object is good. It will eventually happen on it's own and you wont have to 'practice' to make it happen, it will be automatic. When you are seeing clear; it's happening and you need to do 'nothing'.

I am asking that because I cannot see the whole tree or house at once. I diffuse.

A; So you know the cause of blur; diffusion. Great! Blink and move; just float from one part of the tree, or house to another. The astigmatism can block the central field by distorting it. Shift even if objects are blurry, wavy... Shift part to part on the blur. Blink. Yawn to activate some tears over the cornea.
Central-Fixation; the part your looking directly at is clearest. Even if your moving on a part for only a split second; during that time, that part is in the central and seen most clear.
Some people like to see, imagine the part they are looking at is clearest. Others prefer to notice, imagine the part not looking at is less clear.
(I prefer the first because it helps you avoid placing the mind, vision on the central and peripheral at the same time; could cause diffusion.)
The brain picks up the peripheral too, automatically. As when reading; the fovea, central moves along the sentence, jumping about the words, but it does not stop on every single part of every letter; but all letters, words are registered, understood by the brain.


5) How quickly to shift? If I do it very quickly I feel eyestrain.

A; Does not have to be fast. Do slow, easy, at comfortable pace. Faster if it happens easy but don't push it. The eyes go with the mind and action... in the environment; where you want to look. Try letting the eyes just go automatically where your interest is. Eyes also move with your internal thoughts about other things. Like if your looking at a tree and begin imagining a hawk is in the tree; you imagine what it looks like; that actives eye movement. You look for a hawk; that activates movement. You decide to scan the hills, horizon... for the bird; there's more movement. You see a bird flying; you track 'move' with it, shifting on it to determine its species, size. You just did all this without even thinking of shifting, without trying. Movement of objects will also attract your attention. Color, shape, dimension...
The eye shifts so very fast but that includes all those tiny saccades, microscopic shifts, optical drift, healthy natural tremors. All this will occur on its own.


For how long should I centralize on sth so as to avoid starring? 1-2-3 secs of centralization are enough?

A; AHHHH! That's your problem!! The eye moves to a new point every fraction of a second. Just let that fovea centralis 'which produces much better than 20/20' move! The fovea, exact central field is the size of the pointed end of a pin. It constantly moves. The central field moves with the eyes, with every shift the point of central fixation is moving to a new point, then another, then another...
Don't get stuck on the idea of point to point. It's healthy to practice that detailed tiny point to point shifting, that's truly how the eyes work, but that is automatic, will come to you easy when you just shift part to part, small part to small part. Take your mind out of your eyes, clarity of sight and move outside yourself into the world around you. Investigate it, have some fun looking at stuff, engage with life. Plan something you want to do or just stay in the present and enjoy everything. Pick a clover, make friends with a pet. Palm and go on a internal journey, your happy place.


6) If I look on something I cannot see clearly, what should I do? shift to something else?

A; That works. Sometimes no matter how much you shift on a blurry object the mind can feel bored with it, 'trying to see, effort' sets in, the mind wants to go somewhere else. Move away to something else. You can move back to it when the strain leaves. Often this occurs in a few seconds. 'Break the stare', even better; avoid it.

Look at, shift on a object. Close the eyes. Open, shift on it and close again before the stare even gets a chance to start. Open, get a flash of clear or improved vision; IMMEDIATELY close so to prevent the stare, the effort to hold onto the clarity. Open, repeat. Flashes last longer, keep the eyes open longer without the stare or strain.
Same can be done by just looking away from the object instead of closing the eyes.


7) When I am walking it is better to look straight ahead?

A; Look wherever you want. Don't look down all day but you can watch the sidewalk move opposite you. Look at the treetops, sky. Look to the side and see objects at different distances move against eachohter and move against you at different speeds as you move. Look ahead and enjoy the scenery. Peek at the bright sky do some sunning.
Janet and Carina Goodrich say; how often do we look, shift up? vertically? Most of our eye movement 'where we look' is moving around left and right, next is down, and only some up. Look up, throw in some shifting from the top of a tree and sky above, then down the tree, the trunk, see the grass, then back up. Avoid the habit of limiting view of your environment. When I worked as a maid my boss Barbara said; you guys never look up! We looked up and saw all the dirt we had to clean.


If there is another exercise that helps Keratoconus I would be happy if you could share it with me. I am near operation and I want to avoid it.
I appreciate your help a lot and I congratulate you for helping people.

A; Read Dr.. Bates magazines in the PDF e-book; do FULL word search for astigmatism. AND: conical Cornea. Also learn the Variable Swing (from the magazines). I do search in a text BEM PDF, then go to the year, month on the website. Here's some but there's lot more;
http://www.cleareyesight.info/naturalvis.../id72.html
http://www.cleareyesight.info/naturalvis...id103.html
http://www.cleareyesight.info/naturalvis...id107.html

See the webpage and 2 videos; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id40.html

Long Swing and sway http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id15.html has helped many people with astigmatism. Try a tiny left-right sway in front of the eyechart and loosely, easy, relaxed shift on letters and see them move; 'swing opposite' the movement of the shift.
Shift on a small print letter and see it move 'swing' opposite. Try this on a period. Then on any objects; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id16.html

Posture of the head, neck, shoulders; have you read the pdf about the many violinists that get astigmatism due to a twisted, tilted head, neck, shoulder, spine... when playing, reading the music? Its on that page I linked; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id40.html Advanced neck muscle tension, especially on one side. Massage can help. Figure eight; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id10.html
A chiropractor gave me astigmatism by breaking my neck so I don't advise them. Its cured now, but took about a year. Was much easier to deal with, correct it after I found out what it was, let go of the daily fear and used the Bates Method with confidence.

Will the cornea ulcer, be injured, cause any damage if the operation is avoided? Prefer no operation, if no danger.

From Better Eyesight Magazine;

ASTIGMATISM

(& Cornea scars)

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

IN astigmatism the curvature of the eyeball in one principal meridian is greater than in the one at right angles to it. The eyeball is lop-sided. In such an eye, rays of light, are not focused. It differs from the near-sighted eye in which parallel rays of light are focused in front of the retina. In the far-sighted eye, Hypermetropia, parallel rays of light are focused behind the retina.
Occurrence: Astigmatism is very common and may be near-sighted astigmatism, far-sighted astigmatism or it may be combined with either near-sightedness or far-sightedness. Again the astigmatic eye may be far-sightedness in one principal meridian and near-sighted in the other. This is called mixed astigmatism. Regular astigmatism can be corrected by the use of proper glasses. Irregular astigmatism due to a malformation of the front part of the eyeball, the cornea, the lens or to the eyeball itself cannot be corrected by glasses.
In the normal eye astigmatism can always be produced by some kind of a strain. One kind of strain will produce one form of astigmatism while another form will produce a different form. We have an instrument which measures the curvature of the front part of the eye called the Ophthalmometer. With this instrument we can detect and usually measure astigmatism produced by some change in the shape of the cornea. We can observe with it the production of corneal astigmatism of varying degrees when the subject strains either unconsciously or consciously. The amount of astigmatism that can be produced by different individuals is variable. I have seen people who could consciously produce astigmatism of 3D. By practice one can acquire the ability to consciously produce astigmatism of the cornea at different axes. This fact may explain why glasses which correct astigmatism at one time do not correct it at another time.
Many cases of normal eyes have been observed which later acquired astigmatism. In many instances patients later returned wearing glasses for the correction of astigmatism and complained that the glasses no longer suited them and when the eyes were tested no astigmatism could be found. It can be demonstrated that astigmatism may be acquired and that it may spontaneously disappear. What has been said of astigmatism caused by the malformation of the cornea is also true of the astigmatism caused by malformation of the lens or the eyeball. Many cases have been observed in which irregular astigmatism following scars on the cornea have become less or have disappeared.
Many authorities believe that most cases of astigmatism are congential or that people are born with astigmatism. Others believe that it is usually acquired. I do not know which is correct but I do know that whether acquired or not it can always be benefited or cured by treatment. As this always happens in my experience I believe that astigmatism is always acquired.
After the cornea or front part of the eye becomes affected with an ulcer and the ulcer heals it leaves a scar. The irregular contraction of this scar results in a malformation of various parts of the cornea. Even when the center of the cornea is clear the contraction of scar tissue at some distance away from it changes the shape of the central part of the cornea in a very irregular way. These cases of corneal opacity are usually benefited or cured by various methods employed to obtain relaxation. In general I believe that the long swing always helps and that practice of the short swing of the normal eye is usually followed by a permanent cure. Some cases of corneal astigmatism of considerable degree, 5D or more have been cured by practice of the swing.
In the November issue of BETTER EYESIGHT, page two, is described the VARIABLE SWING. One very remarkable case of corneal astigmatism and conical cornea with irregular astigmatism of more than 5D was benefited by the swing described in one visit and sufficiently for the patient to obtain temporary normal vision without glasses when at the beginning glasses did not succeed in obtaining normal sight. The variable swing has been a great help to many patients.
Sinus congestion and neck muscle tension can cause astigmatism: vertical, parallel, criss-cross pattern lines on a sidewalk… moves, looks abnormal, causes dizziness. Use a warm steam humidifier with pure filtered water. Use a nasal pot to rinse the sinuses with warm water and pure organic salt. Local honey acts as a natural immunity against pollen. Honey is made from the bee pollen collected from the flowers, grass…in the environment that the person is allergic too.

Thumb, Finger Movement Swing

Recently a patient thirty years of age, suffering from squint, near-sightedness, astigmatism in one eye of minus 5D with myopia and astigmatism in the other, obtained temporary normal vision with the aid of the short swing which was regulated by the feeling of the thumb and finger rubbing against each other, a short distance, a quarter of an inch, from side to side. The patient obtained better vision when the body was imagined to move opposite to the direction of the moving thumb and less benefit when she imagined the body moving in the same direction as the thumb. In less than an hour she obtained normal vision for a short time. The squint became much less and at times both eyes were straight. I expect this case will obtain a permanent cure in a very short time. However, patients with a considerable amount of corneal astigmatism usually require weeks and months before they obtain a cure.
Astigmatism accompanied with a malformation of the lens is not common. Thirty years ago I treated a young girl for progressive near-sightedness. Her vision with glasses, which were very strong, concave 17D combined with concave 6D.C., was only 20/100. With the Ophthalmometer she had no corneal astigmatism. I removed the lens from one eye when the vision became normal, 20/20, without glasses. The case was exhibited at the Ophthalmological Section of the New York Academy of Medicine and many of the men present afterwards practiced this method of benefiting the imperfect sight of very bad cases of near-sightedness. I believe I was the first one in New York to do this operation as none of the members present recalled that anybody else had performed the same operation or published it. Many surgeons are still doing this operation for the benefit of these cases. I never did it again because my patient was not permanently benefited; the myopia or near-sightedness returned. The other eye also had 6 diopters of astigmatism with the cornea normal. For a time relaxation methods improved this eye with the astigmatism of the lens but before she had obtained a cure she stopped treatment. I have seen other cases of astigmatism accompanied by a malformation of the lens and usually a temporary improvement in the vision can be obtained. Some of these cases have been cured. Many cataract patients have an irregular astigmatism produced by the malformation of the lens. After the cataract is cured the astigmatism disappears.
The treatment of astigmatism in my hands has been very encouraging. It is so easily produced that it seems to be just as easily relieved. It is so very common that one should realize the facts and study these cases to obtain prevention and cure. School children acquire astigmatism very frequently and it can always he prevented by methods described in the August issue of each year of BETTER EYESIGHT. I am quite sure that the fact that treatment always improves or cures acquired astigmatism in school children, that it more readily prevents it.
I cannot refrain from again repeating what I have said so often before that the people of this country must wake up and look after the eyesight of the coming generation, and, on account of the enormous number of children affected with astigmatism some radical steps should be taken for the benefit of the eyes of school children suffering from astigmatism.

BETTER EYESIGHT
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF IMPERFECT SIGHT WITHOUT GLASSES

November, 1922

THE VARIABLE SWING
(Oppositional Movement)

(Conical Cornea Cured)

RECENTLY I have been impressed very much by the value of the variable swing. By the variable swing is meant the ability to imagine a near object with a longer swing than one more distant.

Example: To move the eyes, head, body left and right and imagine and see oppositional movement 'The Swing' ; close objects appear to move ‘swing by’ in the opposite direction to the movement of the eyes, head, body while distant objects, beyond the close object appear to move with the eyes, head, body in the same direction. The close and distant objects also appear to move against eachother in opposite directions. The close object shows the most opposite movement. The distant object shows the least opposite movement. As long as the eyes do not lock onto any objects, at any distance while swinging side to side; the opposite swing is seen. This can be seen when doing the Sway or Long Swing in front of two eyecharts or any stationary objects at close and far distances. A variety of examples for experiencing the variable swing are provided in Better Eyesight Magazines. Far objects do show opposite movement when the eyes shift but; if the head movement turns into the long swing... type of movement then the far objects can appear to move with the eyes.

For example, a patient came to me with conical cornea, which is usually considered incurable. I placed a chair five feet away from her eyes, clearly on a line with the Snellen test card located 15 feet distant. When she looked at the Snellen test card and imagined the letters moving an inch or less (shifting on the letters) she could imagine the chair that she was not looking at moving quite a distance. As is well known the shorter the swing the better the sight. Some persons with unusually good vision have a swing so short that they do not readily recognize it. This patient was able to imagine the chair moving an inch or less and the card on the wall moving a shorter distance. She became able to imagine the chair moving a quarter of an inch and the movement of the Snellen test card at 15 feet was so short that she could not notice it. In the beginning her vision with glasses was poor and without glasses was double, and even the larger letters on the Snellen test card were very much blurred. Now, when she imagined the chair moving a quarter of an inch and the Snellen test card moving so short a distance that she could not recognize it, the conical cornea disappeared from both eyes and her vision became normal. To me it was one of the most remarkable things I have seen in years. I know of no other treatment that has ever brought about so great a benefit in so bad a case.
The variable swing is something that most people can learn how to practice at their first visit. Some people can do it better than others. The improvement depends directly upon their skill in practicing the variable swing.

Swinging

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

The muscles on the outside of the normal eye are at rest when the sight is normal. Any contraction of one or more of these muscles by pressure, by operation or by electrical stimulation always produces an error of refraction. The removal of the crystalline lens may be done without changing the form of the eyeball.
The normal eye has normal sight when it is at rest. It is at rest, or relaxed, when it is moving to prevent the stare, strain, or effort to see. When the patient becomes aware that his eye troubles are always caused by one of these three, all of which are difficult, he becomes able easily to maintain the swinging of all objects. (Oppositional Movement)
Shifting or moving the eyes from side to side with a similar movement of the head improves the sight when done properly. It can be done wrong when the eyes move in a different direction to the movement of the head. In some cases, when turning the head to the right, the eyes may turn in the opposite direction, for example, at the same time. Cases have been observed where one or both eyes appear stationary while the head may be moving.
One patient complained that when he planned to move his eyes with the movement of his head that he was not conscious that his eyes were moving as desired or that the eyes were moving and not stationary.
In some cases the eyes would move irregularly and unconsciously a longer or a shorter distance than the movements of the head. When one or more of the patient’s fingers were pressed lightly on the closed eyelids, the eyes could be felt to move rapidly, slowly, or in any direction.
The eyes may move to the right while the head moves opposite, or to the left. Swaying the head and body a long distance to the right or left may be accompanied by an apparent movement of stationary objects in the opposite or in the same direction. Stationary objects with a prominent background move opposite, while objects partly covered may appear to move in the same direction.
Some people have difficulty in practicing the swing successfully. They cannot imagine any stationary object to be moving no matter how much swinging is practiced. They usually complain that they cannot imagine stationary letters or other objects to be moving when they move their head or eyes. They feel absolutely certain that the stationary object is always stationary and cannot be expected to move when the body sways from side to side in a long or short movement.
It is absolutely necessary that all persons with imperfect sight should become able to imagine stationary objects to be moving. When an effort is made to imagine stationary objects to be stationary, the eyes become fixed or stare at the letter or other object and make an effort which always fails. A very successful method of teaching nervous people how to imagine stationary objects to be moving is as follows;

The Snellen test card is fastened to a support about fifteen feet away from the patient. When the patient looks at a point about three feet to the right of the test card, the card is to the left of the point regarded, and advances farther to the left when the point regarded is moved to the right. When the patient is directed to regard a point to the left of the Snellen test card, the card moves to the right side of the point regarded.
The greater the shift from one point to another, the wider becomes the swing. By repetition, the patient becomes able to realize that whenever a point regarded is to the right of the card that the card and all other objects are to the left of the point regarded. When the eyes move to one side of the card, the card moves to the opposite side and this movement of the card can always be demonstrated by insisting that the patient imagine the Snellen test card moves to the left every time the eyes move to a point to the right. (The original sentence was; …insisting that the patient cannot imagine the Snellen test card moves…) The word cannot is thought to be a misprint and has been taken out.)
This method is always a truth without any exceptions because no matter how much the patient may insist that he is right, he has to acknowledge that when he looks to the right, the Snellen test card moves to the left, and this movement is so decided that it very soon becomes impossible for the patient to fail to imagine stationary objects to be moving whenever the eyes move from right to left, from left to right, or in any other direction. This demonstration may be made very convincing with a little time and patience. There are so many of these patients who have difficulty in imagining stationary objects to be moving when the eyes move from side to side or in other directions that the swing should be practiced.

Long Swing: The patient stands with the feet about one foot apart and turns the body to the right - at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes move with the body, synchronized: eyes, head, body move together, same time, same direction. One should not pay any attention to the apparent movement of stationary objects. Do not look at the objects that are showing oppositional movement. Relax, swing and let the objects ‘swing’, pass by in the opposite direction. The left heel is then placed on the floor; the body is turned to the left as the patient raises the heel of the right foot. I usually advise patients to practice this right and left swing one hundred times morning and night, counting one to the right, two to the left, and so on.

Variable swing: The patients holds the forefinger of one hand six inches from the right eye and about the same distance to the right, as he moves the head a short distance from side to side. The finger should appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of the head. This can also be done with the finger held between the left and right eyes, at eye level.

Universal Swing: The Patient stands and sways the body from side to side. While the body is moving, the eyes are moving, and stationary objects nearby (close objects) which have a background (distant object beyond close object) appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of the head and eyes. Objects located at more distant points which have no background always appear to move in the same direction as the movement of the body.
If the finger is held before the eyes while the head is moved from side to side, one may, by practice, become able to imagine that everything connected with the finger, either directly or indirectly, is moving in the opposite direction, while the back ground is moving in the same direction. The universal swing is very beneficial and usually prevents and cures pain, dizziness, and other nervous symptoms.

Circular Swing: There is one objection to the universal swing and that is that at the end of the count to the right or left, the patient in some cases stares. This stoppage of the swing may be corrected by the practice of the circular swing, when all objects are imagined to move continuously in a circular direction. The circular swing may be remembered with the eyes closed and differs from the other swings in that the finger, Snellen test card, or other objects appear to move in a circular direction.
In the circular swing, the head and eyes are moved in a circular direction.

Square Swing: In the square swing, the head and eyes are moved in a horizontal line from one side to the other and then downward, across, upward, and across, without a stop being made in any part of the swing. Many patients can practice a square swing when they find it difficult or impossible to practice a circular swing. Either the circular or square swing may be practiced with the eyes open or closed.

(The Figure Eight – Infinity Swing is an improved, modern version of the circular and square swings.
See last page this book.) There are more examples of different swings throughout the magazines.
See index or use word search in the free Adobe PDF on the main website; http://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id10.html

Not all persons can practice any particular kind of a swing successfully with the eyes open, but with the eyes closed, with the help of the memory and the imagination, almost any swing can be practiced with benefit. It is interesting to observe that swinging the head and eyes a long distance from side to side is more easily accomplished than a short movement, although a short swing when practiced properly is more beneficial.
Practice the swings with the eyes open, closed, open and remember, imagine and see oppositional movement of objects.