What's New, Things Creating For the Forum, New and Old Methods Discovered

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Some Inspiration from Better Eyesight Magazine;

Stories from the Clinic
53: Shock Causes Blindness
By EMILY C. LIERMAN

ON July 16, 1923, there came to our office a man suffering with blindness caused by a sudden shock. As I stood before him and asked him what his trouble was, his eyes looked up toward the ceiling and immediately I noticed he could not see me. He had been sent to us in the hope that Dr. Bates would be able to restore his sight. Previous to his visit on that day I received a telephone message from a woman employed by the Compensation Bureau of the City of New York. She told me that he was blind and it was the opinion of eye specialists consulted that there was no hope of his sight ever being restored. Dr. Bates examined his eyes with the ophthalmoscope and found that he had atrophy of the optic nerve and that he was under a terrible tension.

With each eye separately he could see the 200 line letter of the test card at one foot temporarily. He could only do this in flashes, because he stared continuously, which blinded him. The variable swing improved his vision to 6/200 and his field was also improved by the swing. He came daily to the office for treatment, and on the 21st of July he read 9/20 after he had palmed his eyes for a long time. Sun-gazing outdoors improved his vision also. His general depression became less and he informed me that he was feeling much better after each office visit. For a long time he did not have very much to say, but after he had become better acquainted with us all he began to talk about his case. He had been working in the moving picture studios for quite a few years and apparently he felt no discomfort in his eyes. This is the story he told me:

"I was standing on the top rung of a ladder readjusting electrical parts used in the studio for taking moving pictures. At the time there was just an ordinary light such as is used in most offices. Without my knowing it, a strong Kleig light was suddenly turned on and I received a sudden shock which caused blindness instantly. I was taken care of, as are other employees in the studio, and then was taken home. Since then I have not been able to work. It seemed as though my troubles were multiplied when my little baby boy took sick and died. I had no money with which to bury him until my wife's parents came to our aid. Christmas came very shortly, with no hope of Christmas cheer for my other child, a little girl just three years old. We were in debt, but I had planned, when I was able to work again, to pay back the money which was used to bury my baby. My wife tried to console me and make me feel that things were not quite so bad, but I saw no hope ahead of me on account of my blindness."

We felt all the more here at the office that our patient should have all the treatment that could be given him in order to restore his sight, if possible, and we worked diligently all through the Fall and Winter with steady results.

During the month of May we had many rainy days with very little sun. This patient has demonstrated to us that the sun is very necessary for the eyes. During all these months of almost daily treatment he has not had such poor vision as he had in the last few weeks. His vision was lowered to 10/50 and he became very much discouraged. After the sun had shone for a day he came to the office feeling light hearted and happy. He was given the sun treatment and immediately his vision improved to almost normal, reading 10/10 at times. Doctor questioned his ability to dodge automobiles at the crossings here in our big city. His answer was that he could get along very well on bright days when the sun was shining, but he still feared the traffic on rainy days. While this conversation was going on the patient was looking very intently at Doctor's face as he stood about three feet away. He did not move an eyelash, but just stared all the while he talked. He had forgotten the very thing that helped him. Blinking. All of a sudden he exclaimed: "Doctor, now as I look at you, you haven't any head."
"No," the Doctor replied; "seems to me the other day somebody told me I did have a head. But you never can tell; some people don't always tell the truth."
Immediately the patient apologized and hastened to say: "Oh! but Doctor, when I come close enough to you I can see that you have a head."

Dr. Bates has always advocated the movies. Whenever a patient stares he advises him to go to the movies. Dr. Bates enjoys them himself and goes as often as he is able to.
We owe a great deal to the moving picture artists, for a great part of their work is done under unfavorable conditions. The Kleig light, while it is powerful, is not injurious to the eyes of the actors and actresses when their eyes are properly used. Most of them work under a terrible tension, with the feeling that their eyes will be injured by the strong glare. A great many eye specialists no doubt have treated injury to the eyes apparently caused by the Kleig light. The light would be harmless if those who work in the studios could keep their minds relaxed and if they could also understand and use our method—resting the eyes all day long.

Dr. Bates discovered many years ago the benefit of strong light on the eyes and I have seen many patients cured by the sun treatment alone. Some of these cases were seriously affected because of their inability to stand even the rays of the sun. It is curious but true that this patient has been benefited mostly by a magnifying glass which focused the light on the white part of each eye as he looked down while the upper lid was raised. (Sunglass) In the beginning of his treatment the mere mention of light would make him frown and shrink with fear. Now he enjoys sitting in the sun all day long and realizes that it gives him the greatest benefit. He is steadily improving. While he is not entirely cured, he reads the bottom line of the test card occasionally at ten feet.

He has great hopes of being cured and is so grateful for what has been done for his eyes that he insisted upon my writing to two of our most popular actresses of the screen who are interested in his case. We are striving to cure him so that we can send a note of thanks to those who are interested in him and to try and encourage others, who might be troubled by the Kleig light, to come to us to be benefited as he was.

Nervous Symptoms Relieved
By EDITH T. FISHER, M.S., M.D.

ABOUT seven months ago this patient, who is a physician, forty-one years old, first came to me. He had studied his own case thoroughly and I shall present it in his words as he described it to me.
"Since I was seven years old I have worn glasses, and since then I have had attacks of nervousness, accompanied by headaches, which have become more frequent and more severe as I have grown older. My poor vision is due to astigmatism, asthenopia and hypermetropia, and I think all my nervous symptoms are the result of this condition of my eyes.

"About once a week, sometimes oftener, I have an excruciating headache accompanied by great weakness and nervousness. This always begins with a feeling of constriction in my eyes and spreads to my forehead, then gradually develops into a terrible headache. It continues all day and the following day I am completely exhausted.
"In addition to this weekly headache I have the same feeling of constriction in my eyes and across my forehead continually. This comes on in the morning after I have been up about two hours and it makes me very nervous.
"If I read ten or fifteen minutes this sensation of constriction increases and I become so weak that I have to lie down and rest; then I am able to read again for a short time. If I continue to read without resting one of the severe headaches will develop.
"At times for apparently no reason I suddenly feel an overwhelming desire to sleep. This usually occurs when I have been in a bright light or under a strain, as when we are entertaining or being entertained, and I assure you it is extremely embarrassing to fall asleep while conversing with some one. I can overcome this feeling for a short time, but gradually I become so exhausted that in spite of everything I can do I fall asleep. Sometimes I awake in five minutes, sometimes not for fifteen, but I always feel refreshed. This invariably happens if I go anywhere, so I have given up everything and stay at home as much as possible.
"My eyes are very sensitive to the light and I usually wear a pair of dark glasses over my other glasses. Last summer on bright days I wore two pairs of colored glasses so as to protect my eyes as much as possible from the sun.
"I have tried many different kinds of treatment but all without any relief.

(Palming – Example of incorrect and correct way to palm)

"When I heard of Dr. Bates' method of curing imperfect sight without, glasses I tried resting my eyes, but when I close them and try to relax I have a feeling of unsteadiness in the eyeball, which is almost a jerking, and this makes me more nervous. So I thought I was probably palming incorrectly."
I asked him if he had tried to imagine or remember anything while he was palming and he answered "No, I just try to relax, and the harder I try the more nervous I get."
I explained to him that by making an effort to relax he was increasing the strain. While he was talking I noticed that he had not blinked. His forehead was deeply wrinkled and there was a constant twitching of the facial muscles on the right side.
With his glasses he read 10/10; without them, 10/15; with the left eye, 10/15, and with the right, 10/50. He was unable to read the diamond type.

First I explained about blinking, but when he tried this he contracted all the facial muscles. After watching me he tried it again, but without success. Then I told him to sit in as comfortable a position as possible, close his eyes and cover them with his hand in such a way as to exclude the light without making any pressure upon the eyeballs. He said, "I've tried this, Doctor, and the unsteadiness in my eyeballs makes me very nervous."

I then asked him if he could remember the small black letter "o" that he had seen on the test card, but he could not. I asked him about many different objects, if he could remember or imagine them, but the only thing he could remember was a sunset he had seen last summer. This he could remember if he looked at the sky, then the trees, and then the grass, shifting from one to another and seeing each perfectly. After palming in this way about twenty minutes, I asked him if he could imagine a blue sky with a very white cloud moving across it. This he could do now, but for a short time only, and when he lost it he had to remember the sunset before he could imagine the blue sky and white cloud.

After palming half an hour he read 10/40 with his right eye and half of 10/10 with his left. I reminded him to blink, and though he did not contract all his facial muscles it was still a great effort for him. He said, "I don't think I ever blinked before, and this is the first time I have been able to palm without having that unsteadiness in my eyeballs." Then I explained to him that when he remembered the sunset perfectly his eyes were at rest, and when his eyes were at rest all the nerves in his body were at rest.
After palming again for half an hour he was able to imagine a small black letter "o" on the white cloud, but only for an instant. Each time that he lost it he had to imagine first the sunset, then the blue sky with the white cloud, and finally the letter "o," which he was able to imagine longer each time. He could imagine the "o" moving in the opposite direction as he looked from the right side to the left side of the "o," and in this way developed a swing, but he could keep it for a few seconds only.

The sensitiveness to light, I told him, could be overcome by sitting in the sun every day. He seemed to think he ought to wear his dark glasses until his eyes were stronger, but he promised to follow my directions. Before he left the office that day he said, "I can't remember when I have felt so relaxed."
Three days later I saw him again. He had been palming eight times a day, half an hour each time. In addition to this he had been practicing with the test card, swinging, shifting and sitting in the sun. He was very anxious to do everything that would help cure his condition.
His vision had improved to 10/30 with the right eye and 11/10 with the left. He blinked easily now, but still stared at times. He told me, "When I notice that feeling of constriction in my eyes I know I have been staring, then I palm a few minutes and that uncomfortable sensation disappears."
There was now only an occasional twitching of the facial muscles on the right side.

His vision improved slowly, and when I saw him the last time, just three months after I had first seen him, he read 10/10 with the right eye and 15/10 with the left. The diamond type he read easily. All the nervous symptoms had entirely disappeared. Before he left he said, "I have read a book in the last three days that it would have taken me at least six months to read before I discarded my glasses. Of course, I am glad to have my eyes normal, but I can't tell you how happy I am to be free from all those other symptoms."
I have heard from him several times since and he has had no relapse.