https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/ Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:29:18 +0000 MyBB https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=292 Mon, 19 Apr 2021 13:46:49 -0500 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=292 https://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id110.html

Please think of the YouTube ads as like a television show commercial. AVOID unnatural methods and false vision teachers. On the positive side; knowing that Google is earning money from my videos is a positive thing; it helps to ensure that the channel, all videos will be preserved into the future, long after my lifetime is over.]]> https://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/id110.html

Please think of the YouTube ads as like a television show commercial. AVOID unnatural methods and false vision teachers. On the positive side; knowing that Google is earning money from my videos is a positive thing; it helps to ensure that the channel, all videos will be preserved into the future, long after my lifetime is over.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=291 Mon, 13 Jan 2020 14:13:24 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=291 https://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/ ; where to find the main Natural Eyesight Improvement practices, eyecharts with instructions, how to work with your eye doctor to weaken and permanently remove your glasses, 20+ free E-Books...





NOTE; Ignore other videos that YouTube autoplays/suggests after watching this video. They are NOT our videos, I cannot guarantee they are TRUE, healthy Natural Eyesight Improvement. There is no way to embed a video here that prevents YouTube showing other video suggestions.]]> https://cleareyesight-batesmethod.info/ ; where to find the main Natural Eyesight Improvement practices, eyecharts with instructions, how to work with your eye doctor to weaken and permanently remove your glasses, 20+ free E-Books...





NOTE; Ignore other videos that YouTube autoplays/suggests after watching this video. They are NOT our videos, I cannot guarantee they are TRUE, healthy Natural Eyesight Improvement. There is no way to embed a video here that prevents YouTube showing other video suggestions.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=290 Tue, 12 Jul 2016 13:37:35 -0500 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=290
Old posts years ago, and some new videos;
I am voting for Donald Trump for President of the USA;










He is also a member of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City;

]]>
Old posts years ago, and some new videos;
I am voting for Donald Trump for President of the USA;










He is also a member of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City;

]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=289 Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:36:15 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=289
DO NOT look to the right, left, up, down... with only the eyes, stretching them far in a certain direction while holding the head in the opposite direction or forward. This is causing people sprained eye muscles, astigmatism, inflamed eyes, dark eyelid veins and red soar sandy eyes.

This eye stretching is a method taught by the destructive Plus Lens method teachers, book authors and a few other teachers. It is not the Bates Method. Looking out of the sides of the face, stretching the eyes is very unnatural. Avoid it. Even some of the Yoga guys who advise this are wrong. Many people from India come to us looking for the true Bates Method. We are happy to help them.

Many people's eye health and vision are being injured by the plus lens method (also called anti-corrective, print pushing) and those unnatural eye stretches.

The true natural, healthy way to look in any direction is; To move the head with the eyes; eyes, head and body move together and face the object you want to see.

Never stretch the eyes in any direction.


Clark]]>
DO NOT look to the right, left, up, down... with only the eyes, stretching them far in a certain direction while holding the head in the opposite direction or forward. This is causing people sprained eye muscles, astigmatism, inflamed eyes, dark eyelid veins and red soar sandy eyes.

This eye stretching is a method taught by the destructive Plus Lens method teachers, book authors and a few other teachers. It is not the Bates Method. Looking out of the sides of the face, stretching the eyes is very unnatural. Avoid it. Even some of the Yoga guys who advise this are wrong. Many people from India come to us looking for the true Bates Method. We are happy to help them.

Many people's eye health and vision are being injured by the plus lens method (also called anti-corrective, print pushing) and those unnatural eye stretches.

The true natural, healthy way to look in any direction is; To move the head with the eyes; eyes, head and body move together and face the object you want to see.

Never stretch the eyes in any direction.


Clark]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=288 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 09:05:13 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=288 https://books.google.com/books?id=zm5uBg...ne&f=false

Will embed here when figure out the new link, code]]> https://books.google.com/books?id=zm5uBg...ne&f=false

Will embed here when figure out the new link, code]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=282 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:04:23 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=282

Final Magazine - Stop Staring (1-3) - Imagination Essential to Sight - A Patient’s Report - Stories From The Clinic; 123. Suggestions # 1-12 By Emily C. Lierman - (A Total of 123 Stories From The Clinic are in this Book + 2 Additional Articles by Emily C. Lierman (Later Emily A. Bates after marriage to Dr. Bates) - Questions and Answers – Announcements; Natural Eyesight Improvement Teacher’s Trained by Ophthalmologist William H. Bates – Notice: Avoid the Fraudulent, Unauthorized - Better Eyesight Periodical - It Is Not Published by Dr. Bates. – The Use of The Sunglass



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

JUNE, 1930

Final Magazine Issue

Stop Staring

It can be demonstrated by tests with the retinoscope that all persons with imperfect sight stare, strain, or try to see. To demonstrate this fact:

+Look intently at one part of a large or small letter at the distance or near-point. In a few seconds, usually, fatigue and discomfort will be produced, and the letter will blur or disappear. If the effort is continued long enough, pain may be produced.

To break the habit of staring:

(1) Shift consciously from one part to another of all objects regarded, and imagine that these objects move in a direction contrary to the movement of the eye. Do this with letters on the test card, with letters of fine print, if they can be seen, and with other objects.

(2) Close the eyes frequently for a moment or longer. When the strain is considerable, keep the eyes closed for several minutes and open them for a fraction of a second—flashing. When the stare is sufficient to keep the vision down to 2/200 or less, (most unclear) palm for a longer or shorter time; then look at the card for a moment. Later mere closing of the eyes may afford sufficient rest.

(3) Imagine that the white openings and margins of letters are whiter than the rest of the background. Do this with eyes closed and open alternately. It is an interesting fact that this practice prevents staring and improves the vision rapidly.



Imagination Essential to Sight

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IT IS a well-known fact that vision is a process of mental interpretation. The picture which the mind sees is not the impression on the retina, but a mental interpretation of it. To the mind objects seen appear to be in an upright position, but the picture on the retina is upside down. When the sight is normal the margins and openings of black letters on a white card appear whiter than the rest of the card, but this, of course, is not the fact, the whole background being of the same whiteness. One may seem to see a whole letter all alike at one time, but, as a matter of fact, the eye is shifting rapidly from one part to another. The letter may also seem to move although it is stationary.
When the vision is imperfect the imagination is also imperfect. The mind, in short, adds imperfections to the imperfect retinal image. A great part of the phenomena of imperfect sight are, therefore, imaginary and not in any way to be accounted for by the derangement of the visual apparatus. The color, size, form, position and number of objects regarded are altered, and non-existent objects may be seen. Some persons with imperfect sight literally see ghosts. A boy, or a grown person either, in a dark cellar, is often under such a strain that he thinks he sees sheeted figures, and one of my patients, in broad daylight, used to see little devils dancing on the tops of high buildings.
It is a great relief to patients to learn that these appearances are imaginary, and helps them to bring the imagination under control. And as it is impossible to imagine perfectly without perfect relaxation, any improvement in the interpretation of the retinal images means an improvement in the conditions which have led to a distortion of those images; for relaxation, as all regular readers of this magazine know, is the cure for most eye troubles. There is no more effective method of improving the sight, therefore, than by the aid of the imagination, and wonderful results have been obtained by this means. At times imagination almost seems to take the place of sight, as in the case of a patient who gained a high degree of central fixation in spite of the fact that the macula (center of sight) had been destroyed, or in those cases in which patients become able to imagine correctly letters which are seen only as grey spots without knowing what they are.

Memory, Imagination of letters on the Eyechart produces clear vision
How patients manage to see best where they are looking without a macula is hard to explain, but the imagination of letters which are not consciously seen is probably made possible by a certain degree of unconscious vision. When one looks at a letter on the Snellen test card which can be seen distinctly and tries to imagine the top straight or open when it is curved, or curved when it is straight or open, it will be found impossible to do so, and the vision will be lowered by the effort, to a greater or less degree. In one case the mere suggestion to a patient that he should imagine the top of the big C straight caused the whole card to become blank. When one looks at a letter seen indistinctly without knowing what it is and tries to imagine it to be other than it is, one is usually able to do so, but not without strain, evidenced by the fact that the letter becomes more blurred, or by the impossibility of imagining that it has a slow, easy swing of not more than a quarter of an inch. This fact makes it possible to find out what the letter is without seeing it.
The patient begins by imagining each of the four sides of the letter taken in turn to be straight, curved, or open, and observing the effect of each guess upon the swing. If the right side is straight, for instance, and he imagines it to be straight, the swing will be unchanged; but if he imagines it to be curved, the swing will be lengthened or lost, or will become less even and easy. If he is unable to tell the difference between two guesses it is because the swing is too long, and he is told to palm and remember a letter of diamond type, with its short swing, until he is able to shorten it. Having imagined each of the four sides of the letter correctly, he becomes able to imagine the whole letter, first with the eyes closed and covered, and then with the eyes open.
When one knows what the four sides of a letter are, its identification, in some cases, is a simple process of reason. A letter which is straight on top and on the left side, and open on the two other sides, cannot be anything but an F. If, on the contrary, it is straight on the bottom and on the left side, and open on the other two, it must be an L. Such letters can be imagined with a lower degree of relaxation than the less simple ones, like a V, a Y, or a K. If the letter is not imagined correctly, the swing will be altered, and in that case the process should be repeated from the beginning.
Having imagined the letter correctly, the patient is told to imagine it first with the eyes closed and covered and then with the eyes open and looking at the card, until he is able to imagine it as well when looking at the card as when palming. In this way it finally becomes possible for him to imagine it so vividly when looking at the card that he actually sees it.
With most patients this method of improving the sight produces results more quickly than any other. Others, for some unknown reason, do not succeed with it. Temporary improvement is often obtained in an incredibly short space of time, and by continued practice this temporary improvement becomes permanent.
The patient who describes her case later on in this article looked at the Snellen test card at ten feet one day, and did not see any of the letters, even as grey spots. By the method described above she became able in half an hour to read the whole card. A little girl of ten could not see anything at ten feet below the large letter at the top of the card. She was told how to make out the letters by the aid of her imagination, and then left alone for half an hour. At the end of this time she had read the whole of an unfamiliar card. A child of about the same age whose left macula had been destroyed by atrophy of the choroid (middle coat of the eye) was able with the affected eye to see only the 200 letter, on the test card, and that only when she looked to one side of the card. She was treated by means of her imagination, and after a few months, during which time she came very irregularly, she obtained normal vision in both eyes. She is still under treatment.
A school girl of sixteen with such a high degree of myopic astigmatism that she could see only the large letter at ten feet became able in four or five visits, by the aid of her imagination, to read 20/20 temporarily, and at her last visit she read 20/15 temporarily. A college student twenty-five years old, with compound hypermetropic astigmatism (four diopters in each eye), could read only 20/100 with his right eye and 14/200 with his left, and had been compelled to stop his studies because of the pain and fatigue resulting from the use of his eyes at the near-point. In four visits his vision was improved by the aid of his imagination to 20/30 and he became able to read diamond type at six inches without glasses and without discomfort.
These and many other cases of the same kind have demonstrated that imagination is necessary to normal sight.

A Patient's Report

I began to wear glasses for shortsight when I was fifteen, and from that time I wore them constantly until I came to Dr. Bates. For the last two or three years I never took them off, except for close work, until I got into bed at night, and before I got out of bed in the morning I put them on again.
In spite of these precautions my sight became steadily worse, and for the last ten years I have spent my time and money going from one specialist to another both in this county and in Europe. Three of the most famous specialists in Switzerland told me that I had retinitis pigmentosa, a condition in which pigment is deposited in the retina, and which, I was told, always ended in complete blindness if the patient lived long enough. Nothing could be done to prevent this outcome, they said, but they advised me to wear dark glasses when I went out of doors on bright days, because by exposing my eyes to strong light I was spending my capital. For the last three years I did this, and for the last year, on very sunny days, I often wore dark glasses in the house also, because my eyes had become so sensitive to the light that I could sometimes find relief only by going into a darkened room. Even with dark glasses and drawn blinds, there was a kind of razzle-dazzle before my eyes which was so maddening that I almost longed for the blindness with which I had been threatened, so that I might be free from such distresses. When I looked out of a window onto a sunny street and then back into the room again, everything became perfectly black for a minute. For the last two years and a half I have not been able to go out alone in the city.
In this state of utter hopelessness, with my sight rapidly getting worse, I heard of Dr. Bates through a patient whom he was treating, and, in spite of what I felt to be the incredulity of my friends, although they were considerate enough not to express it, I lost no time in consulting him. The unusualness of his methods, while it excited the suspicion of others, was a recommendation to me. I knew what the old methods accomplished, or rather what they did not accomplish, and I wanted something different. It seemed to me that Dr. Bates was the very man I had been looking for.
My friends have now been converted, but, in spite of the fact that I am able to report substantial improvement in my vision, I still meet with much skepticism in other quarters. A doctor to whom my progress was reported by a friend wrote to her that if my trouble were imaginary Dr. Bates might help me through hypnotism or mind cure, but that if there were anything really the matter with my eyes he could do nothing by his methods. One who had met some of Dr. Bates' cured patients and, was inclined to believe in him, said, when, told that I was being treated for retinitis pigmentosa:
"Good gracious, he surely doesn't pretend to cure retinitis pigmentosa! That is an organic disease."
I said that he not only pretended to cure it, but had made substantial progress in my case. The doctor said:
"I think he'll help you, but I don't believe you are ever going to see without limitations."
The improvement in my vision since I have been under treatment has been indisputable. After two weeks the intangible suffering caused by light left me, and it has never returned. I can go out in the brightest sunlight without glasses of any kind, and, although my eyes feel weak and I squint a little, there is no real distress. I can look out of a window onto a sunny street, and when I turn back again into the room there is no blindness. When I first took off my glasses I had to bend over close to my plate when I was eating, in order to see what was on it. Now I sit in an almost normal position, with such a slight bend that I don't think anyone would notice it. I also operate a typewriter while sitting in a normal position. For three years it has been very difficult for me to read or sew, with or without glasses. Now I do both without glasses, and instead of the distress which these activities formerly caused me, I experience a delightful feeling of freedom. And not only can I read ordinary print, but I can read diamond type and photographic reductions. About a year ago I began to lose my color perception, and up to two weeks ago I was unable to distinguish the rug from the floor in the doctor's office. Now I can see that the floor is red and the rug blue, tan and black. At the present writing I have just become able to observe that a couch cover in my apartment, which had always appeared blue to me, is green. I am still unable to see very much at the distance. But I am beginning to make out the features of the people around me and to read signs in the streets and street-cars, and when I look out of the windows on the Subway I see the people on the platforms. My field is still very limited, but I am conscious that it is slowly enlarging. The other day I pinned a piece of paper three inches from the test card, and was able to see it while looking at the card. After such improvement, in the brief period of five weeks, I do not feel inclined to credit the prediction of my medical friend that I am going to regain my sight only with limitations. I hope I am going to get normal vision.
Along with the improvement in my sight there has come also a remarkable improvement in my physical condition, the natural result of freedom from suffering. I used to be a very restless sleeper, and when I woke in the morning I was greatly fatigued. Now the bed is as smooth in the morning as if I had never stirred all night, and I am much more refreshed than I used to be, although not so much so as I hope to be later. Formerly I had to force myself to write a letter. Now it is a pleasure to do so, and I am clearing off all my correspondence. I could not attend to my accounts. Now I have them all straightened out. If I could receive nothing more from the treatment than this physical comfort and increased ability to do things, it would be worth while.


Suggestions

By EMILY A. BATES

1. If the vision of the patient is improved under the care of the doctor, and the patient neglects to practice, when he leaves the office, what he is told to do at home, the treatment has been of no benefit whatever. The improved vision was only temporary. Faithful practice permanently improves the sight to normal.

2. If the patient conscientiously practices the methods, as advised by the doctor, his vision always improves. This applies to patients with errors of refraction, as well as organic diseases.

3. For cases of squint we find that the long swing is beneficial to adults and to children.

4. When a patient suffers with cataract, palming is usually the best method of treatment, and should be practiced many times every day.

5. All patients with imperfect sight unconsciously stare, and should be reminded by those who are near to them to blink often. To stare is to strain. Strain is the cause of imperfect sight.

The following rules will be found helpful if faithfully observed:—

6. While sitting, do not look up without raising your chin. Always turn your head in the direction in which you look.
Blink often.

7. Do not make an effort to see things more clearly. If you let your eyes alone, things will clear up by themselves.

8. Do not look at anything longer than a fraction of a second without shifting.

9. While reading, do not think about your eyes, but let your mind and imagination rule.

10. When you are conscious of your eyes while looking at objects at any time, it causes discomfort and lessens your vision.

11. It is very important that you learn how to imagine stationary objects to be moving, without moving your head or your body.

12. Palming is a help, and I suggest that you palm for a few minutes many times during the day, at least ten times. At night just before retiring, it is well to palm for half an hour or longer.

In reference to #11; a discussion by Clark Night;

Emily is saying; ability to imagine and see stationary objects moving (‘oppositional movement-the swing’) when the eyes move 'shift' even when the head, body do not move; only the eyes are moving. When the eyes shift; stationary objects appear to move ‘swing’ in the opposite direction. Close and far stationary objects show a opposite movement ‘swing’ when shifting the eyes (visual Attention) on the object. When doing the long swing or sway; Close objects show a longer swing. Far objects show a smaller, short swing and 'appear' to move with the eyes in the same direction. (Stationary objects=objects not truly moving. A moving train or person walking... is a non-stationary object.) If the head moves with the eyes when shifting on a far object the opposite movement will appear but; if the head, body movement increase as when doing a long swing or sway; the opposite movement turns into a movement in the same direction with the eyes. Like the appearance seen when riding in a car, looking out the side window; see the different speeds, appearance of opposite movement of objects at close, middle and far distances.

Shift left and right on a close or far letter and see it move ‘swing’ opposite. It’s a illusion but a healthy one, a normal eye-brain function.

+ Some modern teachers think #11 is a misprint and should say; “It is very important that you learn how to imagine stationary objects to be moving.” These teachers prefer that the head moves with the eyes.
+Teachers that stay only with Dr. Bates, Emily’s original practice state Emily is correct in her full statement.

Reason for these two opinions;

The movement, shift of the eyes produces the appearance of stationary objects moving in the opposite direction the eyes move to, ‘oppositional movement’. Imagining, seeing stationary objects moving is easy when moving the head, body with the eyes because the head movement increases the opposite movement. (Mainly for close objects, see variations... for distant objects in this article) The head, body usually moves with the eyes when shifting from object to object and shifting part to part on an object. Moving the head and body with the eyes when shifting is the normal function of the visual system and improves, perfects shifting, central fixation. It keeps the eyes, head, neck muscles relaxed and vision clear. Movement also prevents tension in the eye muscles and helps prevent staring. Staring is a main cause of unclear vision. Moving the head in synchronization with the eyes makes oppositional movement, 'the swing' easier to see, can increase its appearance. The head, neck, face muscles and eyes, eye muscles can tense up, feel uncomfortable when constantly trying to keep the head, body immobile when shifting so it is best to allow relaxed head movement; turn the head/face with the eyes - face the object, part of the object the eyes are looking at. The eyes shift continually; let the head move naturally, automatically with the eyes. Blink and relax.

When shifts are smaller, the head movement is smaller. When shifts are very small, tiny, the head movement may be very small or not occur but the head, neck, eyes remain relaxed. There is usually an underlying tiny head movement, almost imperceptible even when shifting on small, tiny objects, small parts of objects at close or far distances. Shift on a small letter and notice that when the head moves with the eyes there is no effort, no tension. Blink.
The shorter the eyes, head movement; the shorter the appearance of the opposite swing.
The head does not always move with the eyes; Example; when sitting, leaning the head on a blanket, pillow while resting and shifting on objects, the moon at night, trees, snow or leaves falling blowing around in the wind…; sometimes only the eyes move. If your relaxed, no tension in eyes, head... the sight is clear. There usually is some head movement. If larger shifts occur while looking about the scenery, the head will move with the eyes.
Teachers that stay only with Dr. Bates, Emily’s original practice state; if you move the head with the eyes when shifting on a stationary object it increases the movement of the object;
For close objects it increases the opposite swing.
For distant objects; if the head movement is small, an opposite swing is seen but if the head moves more the opposite swing turns into the object appearing to move with the eyes;
Some original teachers say;
When the eyes can imagine and see a opposite swing when looking at, shifting on a close object without moving the head, body and
When the eyes can imagine and see a opposite swing when looking at, shifting on a far object without moving the head, body; relaxation of the mind is perfect and eyesight is clear.

It must be noted the non movement of the head can CAUSE tension and unclear vision;
I consider shifting and seeing the opposite swing without moving the head just a test done only occasionally to check if the eyes can do this. It is NOT advised to stop movement of the head when normally using the eyes, vision and when practicing Natural Eyesight Improvement, practicing shifting. This practice of seeing the swing without moving the head all the time can tense the eye, neck... muscles and this causes unclear vision. Tension travels into the mind. It’s not normal to keep the head still for each object the eyes look at! Even when shifting from part to part on a object; the head normally moves with the eyes. A tiny letter can be seen clear when the head moves a little with the tiny eye shift on the letter. Notice relaxation is maintained in this way.
When practicing the test of seeing stationary objects moving without moving the head when the eyes move; do not keep the head, body so still that it causes tension in the head, neck, eyes. Some head movement when practicing this test will prevent tension, strain.
It should also be noted that imagining and seeing the swing all the time is not necessary. People that have clear vision don’t even think about their eyes, effects of the visual system; they just go about in a positive state with automatic clear eyesight.
I tell my students; practice Natural Eyesight Improvement; then; Don’t practice; let the eyes, vision work completely natural; on their own; same as the heart beats, lungs breath without thinking about it, without conscious control. When the mind is on something interesting, positive, completely forget about the eyes, vision; that is when many people state their vision is suddenly perfectly clear. If a object is unclear; you know what to do; just relax and shift. Use the skills you have learned to bring the vision back to better than 20/20. Spend some time shifting and seeing the swing in a relaxed state; it does greatly relax and improve the mind, eyes and eye movement, central fixation and the vision! And remember; Dr. Bates says its normal for the vision to fluctuate in all peoples eyes. If it goes a little less clear sometimes; stay away from glasses. Use your skills, relax, eat right, keep a healthy positive mind and the vision will always return to clear. The eyes, brain, visual system have their own memory of the perfect state of health and work to stay in that normal place.
When the eyes shift is short a smaller oppositional movement is seen. Try this on close and far objects; try a tiny shift; shift on a tiny object or tiny part of a object and see a tiny opposite swing. Blink, relax. Imagining the swing when shifting helps the eyes see the swing. Try this with the eyes open, closed, open. See the movement with eyes open and closed. Notice the eyes continue to move when practicing shifting, seeing the opposite swing with the eyes closed with the memory, imagination.

Read about the Variable and other Swings in Dr. Bates Magazines.

Questions and Answers

Q—(1) Should a house be brightly lighted by a direct electric light or a reflected white light?
(2) In many homes colored shades are used on the lights. Does that impair the sight? C. I. I.
A—(1) The more brightly the house is lighted the better for the sight.
(2)Yes. Avoid all forms of fluorescent lights.

Q—(1) Is it advisable to use specimens of diamond type other than the "Seven Truths of Normal sight?" Would it be well to get a New Testament in diamond type?
(2) I have thus far found the flashing method the most helpful. However, after closing the eyes, I have difficulty in opening them. The lids seem to stick together, as it were. What is the cause of such stickiness and the remedy?
(3) I was trying to read the "Seven Truths" lately by the flashing method, and for about twenty minutes obtained very little results. Then, all of a sudden, upon closing my eyes, I saw the blackest object I have ever seen with closed eyes. I was startled, it seemed so real, and on opening my eyes I was surprised to find that I could read practically all of the "Seven Truths" clearly, at thirteen inches, without closing my eyes. I think the black object was probably the black rubber key of the electric socket in the fixture which I had unconsciously looked at from time to time during the exercise. I have not been able to do just this since. What is the probable reason for my failure?
(4) I find I see any reading matter more clearly in a bright light—sunlight or electric light—than in a dim or less bright light. Why is this?
(5) Today in trying to read the "Seven Truths" I found that I could do it at six or seven inches with few alternate closings of the eyes; but I found in accomplishing this I was partially closing my eyelids, (squinting) so that I must have looked much like the Patagonians in Fig. I in Dr. Bates' book, said to be probably myopic when the picture was taken. I found that I could not keep my eyes thus partly closed without some strain, but I could not see the print clearly when they were wide open. Often the print would look quite blurred when I first looked at it, but it cleared perceptibly and became quite black as I continued to look. I also found myself reading today twenty pages of fairly small print at about eight or nine inches in much the same way. W. C. C.
A—(1) Yes, if you wish to. The "Testament" would be a good thing to have.
(2) Difficulty in closing or opening the eyes is a common symptom of strain, and may be relieved by any method that relieves strain. (3) Such intervals of relaxation are a very common phenomenon. They will come more frequently and last longer if you continue to practice.
(4) In a bright light the contrast between black letters and their white background is more marked than in a dim light. Persons differ greatly, however, in the amount of light they require for maximum vision. Some people see better in a dim light, because they think that condition a favorable one.
(5) It is a bad one.



Announcements

Space does not permit us to print the entire list of Dr. Bates' authorized representatives in the United States, Canada and Europe, which we should like to do for the benefit of our subscribers. The following, however, is a list of those who have taken courses of instruction in the Bates Method within the past few months. Those subscribers who wish to know if there is an authorized representative in their city may obtain this information by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 210 Madison Avenue, New York City.

Miss Clara M. Brewster
Studio 6, Aquila Court,
Omaha, Nebraska.

Miss Mary E. Wilson,
2538 Charming Way,
Berkeley, Calif.

Dr. Paul J. Dodge,
911 New Industrial Trust
Bldg., Providence, R. I.

Mrs. D. L. Corbett,
1712½ Fifth Ave.,
Los Angeles, Calif.

Miss Jane Button,
249 Harvey St.,
Germantown, Pa.

Mr. Fred Baechtold,
572 12th St.,
West New York, N. J.
Tel.—Palisade 6-7735

Mr. Harold E. Ensley,
112 West 104th St.,
New York City.

Dr. Med. E. Schluter,
Hamburg, Mundsburger-
damm 11, Germany.

Mrs. R. Norman Jolliffe,
171 West 71st St.,
New York City.

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight". We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interest of the Bates Method. The title, "Better Eyesight", is protected against illegal usage.

As we have already notified our subscribers, "Better Eyesight" is being discontinued with this issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses which will be kept on file.
Bound volumes of "Better Eyesight" containing the issues from July, 1929 to June, 1930, inclusive, will be ready about July 15th. Those subscribers wishing to have their own magazines bound may send them to us before July 10th and they will be bound at the same time our issues are being bound. The price for binding will be $1.00.


The Use Of The Sun Glass

In using the sun glass, it is well to accustom the eyes of the patient to the strong light by having him sit in the sun with his eyes closed, and at the same time he should slowly move his head from side to side, in order to avoid discomfort from the heat. Enough light shines through the eyelid to cause some people a great deal of discomfort at first, but after a few hours' exposure in this way, they become able to gradually open their eyes to some extent without squeezing the lids. When this stage is reached, one can focus, with the aid of the sun glass, the light on the dosed eyelids, which at first is very disagreeable . When the patient becomes able to open the eyes, he is directed to look as far down as possible, and in this way the pupil is protected by the lower lid. Then by gently lifting the upper lid, only the white part of the eye is exposed, while the sun's rays strike directly upon this part of the eyeball. The sun glass may then be used on the white part of the eye. Care should be taken to move the glass from side to side quickly. The length of time devoted to focusing the light on the white part of the eye is never longer than a few seconds. After such a treatment the patient almost immediately becomes able to open his eyes widely in the light.

The light through the sunglass is constantly moving and is used for a short time to prevent the sun from burning the eye. Size, strength, distance affects the heat. It can burn the eye if not done correct. Find a Bates Method Ophthalmologist only to do the treatment.

This Sun-Glass article is repeated many time in the magazines. I have kept only a few here to save space.]]>

Final Magazine - Stop Staring (1-3) - Imagination Essential to Sight - A Patient’s Report - Stories From The Clinic; 123. Suggestions # 1-12 By Emily C. Lierman - (A Total of 123 Stories From The Clinic are in this Book + 2 Additional Articles by Emily C. Lierman (Later Emily A. Bates after marriage to Dr. Bates) - Questions and Answers – Announcements; Natural Eyesight Improvement Teacher’s Trained by Ophthalmologist William H. Bates – Notice: Avoid the Fraudulent, Unauthorized - Better Eyesight Periodical - It Is Not Published by Dr. Bates. – The Use of The Sunglass



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

JUNE, 1930

Final Magazine Issue

Stop Staring

It can be demonstrated by tests with the retinoscope that all persons with imperfect sight stare, strain, or try to see. To demonstrate this fact:

+Look intently at one part of a large or small letter at the distance or near-point. In a few seconds, usually, fatigue and discomfort will be produced, and the letter will blur or disappear. If the effort is continued long enough, pain may be produced.

To break the habit of staring:

(1) Shift consciously from one part to another of all objects regarded, and imagine that these objects move in a direction contrary to the movement of the eye. Do this with letters on the test card, with letters of fine print, if they can be seen, and with other objects.

(2) Close the eyes frequently for a moment or longer. When the strain is considerable, keep the eyes closed for several minutes and open them for a fraction of a second—flashing. When the stare is sufficient to keep the vision down to 2/200 or less, (most unclear) palm for a longer or shorter time; then look at the card for a moment. Later mere closing of the eyes may afford sufficient rest.

(3) Imagine that the white openings and margins of letters are whiter than the rest of the background. Do this with eyes closed and open alternately. It is an interesting fact that this practice prevents staring and improves the vision rapidly.



Imagination Essential to Sight

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IT IS a well-known fact that vision is a process of mental interpretation. The picture which the mind sees is not the impression on the retina, but a mental interpretation of it. To the mind objects seen appear to be in an upright position, but the picture on the retina is upside down. When the sight is normal the margins and openings of black letters on a white card appear whiter than the rest of the card, but this, of course, is not the fact, the whole background being of the same whiteness. One may seem to see a whole letter all alike at one time, but, as a matter of fact, the eye is shifting rapidly from one part to another. The letter may also seem to move although it is stationary.
When the vision is imperfect the imagination is also imperfect. The mind, in short, adds imperfections to the imperfect retinal image. A great part of the phenomena of imperfect sight are, therefore, imaginary and not in any way to be accounted for by the derangement of the visual apparatus. The color, size, form, position and number of objects regarded are altered, and non-existent objects may be seen. Some persons with imperfect sight literally see ghosts. A boy, or a grown person either, in a dark cellar, is often under such a strain that he thinks he sees sheeted figures, and one of my patients, in broad daylight, used to see little devils dancing on the tops of high buildings.
It is a great relief to patients to learn that these appearances are imaginary, and helps them to bring the imagination under control. And as it is impossible to imagine perfectly without perfect relaxation, any improvement in the interpretation of the retinal images means an improvement in the conditions which have led to a distortion of those images; for relaxation, as all regular readers of this magazine know, is the cure for most eye troubles. There is no more effective method of improving the sight, therefore, than by the aid of the imagination, and wonderful results have been obtained by this means. At times imagination almost seems to take the place of sight, as in the case of a patient who gained a high degree of central fixation in spite of the fact that the macula (center of sight) had been destroyed, or in those cases in which patients become able to imagine correctly letters which are seen only as grey spots without knowing what they are.

Memory, Imagination of letters on the Eyechart produces clear vision
How patients manage to see best where they are looking without a macula is hard to explain, but the imagination of letters which are not consciously seen is probably made possible by a certain degree of unconscious vision. When one looks at a letter on the Snellen test card which can be seen distinctly and tries to imagine the top straight or open when it is curved, or curved when it is straight or open, it will be found impossible to do so, and the vision will be lowered by the effort, to a greater or less degree. In one case the mere suggestion to a patient that he should imagine the top of the big C straight caused the whole card to become blank. When one looks at a letter seen indistinctly without knowing what it is and tries to imagine it to be other than it is, one is usually able to do so, but not without strain, evidenced by the fact that the letter becomes more blurred, or by the impossibility of imagining that it has a slow, easy swing of not more than a quarter of an inch. This fact makes it possible to find out what the letter is without seeing it.
The patient begins by imagining each of the four sides of the letter taken in turn to be straight, curved, or open, and observing the effect of each guess upon the swing. If the right side is straight, for instance, and he imagines it to be straight, the swing will be unchanged; but if he imagines it to be curved, the swing will be lengthened or lost, or will become less even and easy. If he is unable to tell the difference between two guesses it is because the swing is too long, and he is told to palm and remember a letter of diamond type, with its short swing, until he is able to shorten it. Having imagined each of the four sides of the letter correctly, he becomes able to imagine the whole letter, first with the eyes closed and covered, and then with the eyes open.
When one knows what the four sides of a letter are, its identification, in some cases, is a simple process of reason. A letter which is straight on top and on the left side, and open on the two other sides, cannot be anything but an F. If, on the contrary, it is straight on the bottom and on the left side, and open on the other two, it must be an L. Such letters can be imagined with a lower degree of relaxation than the less simple ones, like a V, a Y, or a K. If the letter is not imagined correctly, the swing will be altered, and in that case the process should be repeated from the beginning.
Having imagined the letter correctly, the patient is told to imagine it first with the eyes closed and covered and then with the eyes open and looking at the card, until he is able to imagine it as well when looking at the card as when palming. In this way it finally becomes possible for him to imagine it so vividly when looking at the card that he actually sees it.
With most patients this method of improving the sight produces results more quickly than any other. Others, for some unknown reason, do not succeed with it. Temporary improvement is often obtained in an incredibly short space of time, and by continued practice this temporary improvement becomes permanent.
The patient who describes her case later on in this article looked at the Snellen test card at ten feet one day, and did not see any of the letters, even as grey spots. By the method described above she became able in half an hour to read the whole card. A little girl of ten could not see anything at ten feet below the large letter at the top of the card. She was told how to make out the letters by the aid of her imagination, and then left alone for half an hour. At the end of this time she had read the whole of an unfamiliar card. A child of about the same age whose left macula had been destroyed by atrophy of the choroid (middle coat of the eye) was able with the affected eye to see only the 200 letter, on the test card, and that only when she looked to one side of the card. She was treated by means of her imagination, and after a few months, during which time she came very irregularly, she obtained normal vision in both eyes. She is still under treatment.
A school girl of sixteen with such a high degree of myopic astigmatism that she could see only the large letter at ten feet became able in four or five visits, by the aid of her imagination, to read 20/20 temporarily, and at her last visit she read 20/15 temporarily. A college student twenty-five years old, with compound hypermetropic astigmatism (four diopters in each eye), could read only 20/100 with his right eye and 14/200 with his left, and had been compelled to stop his studies because of the pain and fatigue resulting from the use of his eyes at the near-point. In four visits his vision was improved by the aid of his imagination to 20/30 and he became able to read diamond type at six inches without glasses and without discomfort.
These and many other cases of the same kind have demonstrated that imagination is necessary to normal sight.

A Patient's Report

I began to wear glasses for shortsight when I was fifteen, and from that time I wore them constantly until I came to Dr. Bates. For the last two or three years I never took them off, except for close work, until I got into bed at night, and before I got out of bed in the morning I put them on again.
In spite of these precautions my sight became steadily worse, and for the last ten years I have spent my time and money going from one specialist to another both in this county and in Europe. Three of the most famous specialists in Switzerland told me that I had retinitis pigmentosa, a condition in which pigment is deposited in the retina, and which, I was told, always ended in complete blindness if the patient lived long enough. Nothing could be done to prevent this outcome, they said, but they advised me to wear dark glasses when I went out of doors on bright days, because by exposing my eyes to strong light I was spending my capital. For the last three years I did this, and for the last year, on very sunny days, I often wore dark glasses in the house also, because my eyes had become so sensitive to the light that I could sometimes find relief only by going into a darkened room. Even with dark glasses and drawn blinds, there was a kind of razzle-dazzle before my eyes which was so maddening that I almost longed for the blindness with which I had been threatened, so that I might be free from such distresses. When I looked out of a window onto a sunny street and then back into the room again, everything became perfectly black for a minute. For the last two years and a half I have not been able to go out alone in the city.
In this state of utter hopelessness, with my sight rapidly getting worse, I heard of Dr. Bates through a patient whom he was treating, and, in spite of what I felt to be the incredulity of my friends, although they were considerate enough not to express it, I lost no time in consulting him. The unusualness of his methods, while it excited the suspicion of others, was a recommendation to me. I knew what the old methods accomplished, or rather what they did not accomplish, and I wanted something different. It seemed to me that Dr. Bates was the very man I had been looking for.
My friends have now been converted, but, in spite of the fact that I am able to report substantial improvement in my vision, I still meet with much skepticism in other quarters. A doctor to whom my progress was reported by a friend wrote to her that if my trouble were imaginary Dr. Bates might help me through hypnotism or mind cure, but that if there were anything really the matter with my eyes he could do nothing by his methods. One who had met some of Dr. Bates' cured patients and, was inclined to believe in him, said, when, told that I was being treated for retinitis pigmentosa:
"Good gracious, he surely doesn't pretend to cure retinitis pigmentosa! That is an organic disease."
I said that he not only pretended to cure it, but had made substantial progress in my case. The doctor said:
"I think he'll help you, but I don't believe you are ever going to see without limitations."
The improvement in my vision since I have been under treatment has been indisputable. After two weeks the intangible suffering caused by light left me, and it has never returned. I can go out in the brightest sunlight without glasses of any kind, and, although my eyes feel weak and I squint a little, there is no real distress. I can look out of a window onto a sunny street, and when I turn back again into the room there is no blindness. When I first took off my glasses I had to bend over close to my plate when I was eating, in order to see what was on it. Now I sit in an almost normal position, with such a slight bend that I don't think anyone would notice it. I also operate a typewriter while sitting in a normal position. For three years it has been very difficult for me to read or sew, with or without glasses. Now I do both without glasses, and instead of the distress which these activities formerly caused me, I experience a delightful feeling of freedom. And not only can I read ordinary print, but I can read diamond type and photographic reductions. About a year ago I began to lose my color perception, and up to two weeks ago I was unable to distinguish the rug from the floor in the doctor's office. Now I can see that the floor is red and the rug blue, tan and black. At the present writing I have just become able to observe that a couch cover in my apartment, which had always appeared blue to me, is green. I am still unable to see very much at the distance. But I am beginning to make out the features of the people around me and to read signs in the streets and street-cars, and when I look out of the windows on the Subway I see the people on the platforms. My field is still very limited, but I am conscious that it is slowly enlarging. The other day I pinned a piece of paper three inches from the test card, and was able to see it while looking at the card. After such improvement, in the brief period of five weeks, I do not feel inclined to credit the prediction of my medical friend that I am going to regain my sight only with limitations. I hope I am going to get normal vision.
Along with the improvement in my sight there has come also a remarkable improvement in my physical condition, the natural result of freedom from suffering. I used to be a very restless sleeper, and when I woke in the morning I was greatly fatigued. Now the bed is as smooth in the morning as if I had never stirred all night, and I am much more refreshed than I used to be, although not so much so as I hope to be later. Formerly I had to force myself to write a letter. Now it is a pleasure to do so, and I am clearing off all my correspondence. I could not attend to my accounts. Now I have them all straightened out. If I could receive nothing more from the treatment than this physical comfort and increased ability to do things, it would be worth while.


Suggestions

By EMILY A. BATES

1. If the vision of the patient is improved under the care of the doctor, and the patient neglects to practice, when he leaves the office, what he is told to do at home, the treatment has been of no benefit whatever. The improved vision was only temporary. Faithful practice permanently improves the sight to normal.

2. If the patient conscientiously practices the methods, as advised by the doctor, his vision always improves. This applies to patients with errors of refraction, as well as organic diseases.

3. For cases of squint we find that the long swing is beneficial to adults and to children.

4. When a patient suffers with cataract, palming is usually the best method of treatment, and should be practiced many times every day.

5. All patients with imperfect sight unconsciously stare, and should be reminded by those who are near to them to blink often. To stare is to strain. Strain is the cause of imperfect sight.

The following rules will be found helpful if faithfully observed:—

6. While sitting, do not look up without raising your chin. Always turn your head in the direction in which you look.
Blink often.

7. Do not make an effort to see things more clearly. If you let your eyes alone, things will clear up by themselves.

8. Do not look at anything longer than a fraction of a second without shifting.

9. While reading, do not think about your eyes, but let your mind and imagination rule.

10. When you are conscious of your eyes while looking at objects at any time, it causes discomfort and lessens your vision.

11. It is very important that you learn how to imagine stationary objects to be moving, without moving your head or your body.

12. Palming is a help, and I suggest that you palm for a few minutes many times during the day, at least ten times. At night just before retiring, it is well to palm for half an hour or longer.

In reference to #11; a discussion by Clark Night;

Emily is saying; ability to imagine and see stationary objects moving (‘oppositional movement-the swing’) when the eyes move 'shift' even when the head, body do not move; only the eyes are moving. When the eyes shift; stationary objects appear to move ‘swing’ in the opposite direction. Close and far stationary objects show a opposite movement ‘swing’ when shifting the eyes (visual Attention) on the object. When doing the long swing or sway; Close objects show a longer swing. Far objects show a smaller, short swing and 'appear' to move with the eyes in the same direction. (Stationary objects=objects not truly moving. A moving train or person walking... is a non-stationary object.) If the head moves with the eyes when shifting on a far object the opposite movement will appear but; if the head, body movement increase as when doing a long swing or sway; the opposite movement turns into a movement in the same direction with the eyes. Like the appearance seen when riding in a car, looking out the side window; see the different speeds, appearance of opposite movement of objects at close, middle and far distances.

Shift left and right on a close or far letter and see it move ‘swing’ opposite. It’s a illusion but a healthy one, a normal eye-brain function.

+ Some modern teachers think #11 is a misprint and should say; “It is very important that you learn how to imagine stationary objects to be moving.” These teachers prefer that the head moves with the eyes.
+Teachers that stay only with Dr. Bates, Emily’s original practice state Emily is correct in her full statement.

Reason for these two opinions;

The movement, shift of the eyes produces the appearance of stationary objects moving in the opposite direction the eyes move to, ‘oppositional movement’. Imagining, seeing stationary objects moving is easy when moving the head, body with the eyes because the head movement increases the opposite movement. (Mainly for close objects, see variations... for distant objects in this article) The head, body usually moves with the eyes when shifting from object to object and shifting part to part on an object. Moving the head and body with the eyes when shifting is the normal function of the visual system and improves, perfects shifting, central fixation. It keeps the eyes, head, neck muscles relaxed and vision clear. Movement also prevents tension in the eye muscles and helps prevent staring. Staring is a main cause of unclear vision. Moving the head in synchronization with the eyes makes oppositional movement, 'the swing' easier to see, can increase its appearance. The head, neck, face muscles and eyes, eye muscles can tense up, feel uncomfortable when constantly trying to keep the head, body immobile when shifting so it is best to allow relaxed head movement; turn the head/face with the eyes - face the object, part of the object the eyes are looking at. The eyes shift continually; let the head move naturally, automatically with the eyes. Blink and relax.

When shifts are smaller, the head movement is smaller. When shifts are very small, tiny, the head movement may be very small or not occur but the head, neck, eyes remain relaxed. There is usually an underlying tiny head movement, almost imperceptible even when shifting on small, tiny objects, small parts of objects at close or far distances. Shift on a small letter and notice that when the head moves with the eyes there is no effort, no tension. Blink.
The shorter the eyes, head movement; the shorter the appearance of the opposite swing.
The head does not always move with the eyes; Example; when sitting, leaning the head on a blanket, pillow while resting and shifting on objects, the moon at night, trees, snow or leaves falling blowing around in the wind…; sometimes only the eyes move. If your relaxed, no tension in eyes, head... the sight is clear. There usually is some head movement. If larger shifts occur while looking about the scenery, the head will move with the eyes.
Teachers that stay only with Dr. Bates, Emily’s original practice state; if you move the head with the eyes when shifting on a stationary object it increases the movement of the object;
For close objects it increases the opposite swing.
For distant objects; if the head movement is small, an opposite swing is seen but if the head moves more the opposite swing turns into the object appearing to move with the eyes;
Some original teachers say;
When the eyes can imagine and see a opposite swing when looking at, shifting on a close object without moving the head, body and
When the eyes can imagine and see a opposite swing when looking at, shifting on a far object without moving the head, body; relaxation of the mind is perfect and eyesight is clear.

It must be noted the non movement of the head can CAUSE tension and unclear vision;
I consider shifting and seeing the opposite swing without moving the head just a test done only occasionally to check if the eyes can do this. It is NOT advised to stop movement of the head when normally using the eyes, vision and when practicing Natural Eyesight Improvement, practicing shifting. This practice of seeing the swing without moving the head all the time can tense the eye, neck... muscles and this causes unclear vision. Tension travels into the mind. It’s not normal to keep the head still for each object the eyes look at! Even when shifting from part to part on a object; the head normally moves with the eyes. A tiny letter can be seen clear when the head moves a little with the tiny eye shift on the letter. Notice relaxation is maintained in this way.
When practicing the test of seeing stationary objects moving without moving the head when the eyes move; do not keep the head, body so still that it causes tension in the head, neck, eyes. Some head movement when practicing this test will prevent tension, strain.
It should also be noted that imagining and seeing the swing all the time is not necessary. People that have clear vision don’t even think about their eyes, effects of the visual system; they just go about in a positive state with automatic clear eyesight.
I tell my students; practice Natural Eyesight Improvement; then; Don’t practice; let the eyes, vision work completely natural; on their own; same as the heart beats, lungs breath without thinking about it, without conscious control. When the mind is on something interesting, positive, completely forget about the eyes, vision; that is when many people state their vision is suddenly perfectly clear. If a object is unclear; you know what to do; just relax and shift. Use the skills you have learned to bring the vision back to better than 20/20. Spend some time shifting and seeing the swing in a relaxed state; it does greatly relax and improve the mind, eyes and eye movement, central fixation and the vision! And remember; Dr. Bates says its normal for the vision to fluctuate in all peoples eyes. If it goes a little less clear sometimes; stay away from glasses. Use your skills, relax, eat right, keep a healthy positive mind and the vision will always return to clear. The eyes, brain, visual system have their own memory of the perfect state of health and work to stay in that normal place.
When the eyes shift is short a smaller oppositional movement is seen. Try this on close and far objects; try a tiny shift; shift on a tiny object or tiny part of a object and see a tiny opposite swing. Blink, relax. Imagining the swing when shifting helps the eyes see the swing. Try this with the eyes open, closed, open. See the movement with eyes open and closed. Notice the eyes continue to move when practicing shifting, seeing the opposite swing with the eyes closed with the memory, imagination.

Read about the Variable and other Swings in Dr. Bates Magazines.

Questions and Answers

Q—(1) Should a house be brightly lighted by a direct electric light or a reflected white light?
(2) In many homes colored shades are used on the lights. Does that impair the sight? C. I. I.
A—(1) The more brightly the house is lighted the better for the sight.
(2)Yes. Avoid all forms of fluorescent lights.

Q—(1) Is it advisable to use specimens of diamond type other than the "Seven Truths of Normal sight?" Would it be well to get a New Testament in diamond type?
(2) I have thus far found the flashing method the most helpful. However, after closing the eyes, I have difficulty in opening them. The lids seem to stick together, as it were. What is the cause of such stickiness and the remedy?
(3) I was trying to read the "Seven Truths" lately by the flashing method, and for about twenty minutes obtained very little results. Then, all of a sudden, upon closing my eyes, I saw the blackest object I have ever seen with closed eyes. I was startled, it seemed so real, and on opening my eyes I was surprised to find that I could read practically all of the "Seven Truths" clearly, at thirteen inches, without closing my eyes. I think the black object was probably the black rubber key of the electric socket in the fixture which I had unconsciously looked at from time to time during the exercise. I have not been able to do just this since. What is the probable reason for my failure?
(4) I find I see any reading matter more clearly in a bright light—sunlight or electric light—than in a dim or less bright light. Why is this?
(5) Today in trying to read the "Seven Truths" I found that I could do it at six or seven inches with few alternate closings of the eyes; but I found in accomplishing this I was partially closing my eyelids, (squinting) so that I must have looked much like the Patagonians in Fig. I in Dr. Bates' book, said to be probably myopic when the picture was taken. I found that I could not keep my eyes thus partly closed without some strain, but I could not see the print clearly when they were wide open. Often the print would look quite blurred when I first looked at it, but it cleared perceptibly and became quite black as I continued to look. I also found myself reading today twenty pages of fairly small print at about eight or nine inches in much the same way. W. C. C.
A—(1) Yes, if you wish to. The "Testament" would be a good thing to have.
(2) Difficulty in closing or opening the eyes is a common symptom of strain, and may be relieved by any method that relieves strain. (3) Such intervals of relaxation are a very common phenomenon. They will come more frequently and last longer if you continue to practice.
(4) In a bright light the contrast between black letters and their white background is more marked than in a dim light. Persons differ greatly, however, in the amount of light they require for maximum vision. Some people see better in a dim light, because they think that condition a favorable one.
(5) It is a bad one.



Announcements

Space does not permit us to print the entire list of Dr. Bates' authorized representatives in the United States, Canada and Europe, which we should like to do for the benefit of our subscribers. The following, however, is a list of those who have taken courses of instruction in the Bates Method within the past few months. Those subscribers who wish to know if there is an authorized representative in their city may obtain this information by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 210 Madison Avenue, New York City.

Miss Clara M. Brewster
Studio 6, Aquila Court,
Omaha, Nebraska.

Miss Mary E. Wilson,
2538 Charming Way,
Berkeley, Calif.

Dr. Paul J. Dodge,
911 New Industrial Trust
Bldg., Providence, R. I.

Mrs. D. L. Corbett,
1712½ Fifth Ave.,
Los Angeles, Calif.

Miss Jane Button,
249 Harvey St.,
Germantown, Pa.

Mr. Fred Baechtold,
572 12th St.,
West New York, N. J.
Tel.—Palisade 6-7735

Mr. Harold E. Ensley,
112 West 104th St.,
New York City.

Dr. Med. E. Schluter,
Hamburg, Mundsburger-
damm 11, Germany.

Mrs. R. Norman Jolliffe,
171 West 71st St.,
New York City.

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight". We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interest of the Bates Method. The title, "Better Eyesight", is protected against illegal usage.

As we have already notified our subscribers, "Better Eyesight" is being discontinued with this issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses which will be kept on file.
Bound volumes of "Better Eyesight" containing the issues from July, 1929 to June, 1930, inclusive, will be ready about July 15th. Those subscribers wishing to have their own magazines bound may send them to us before July 10th and they will be bound at the same time our issues are being bound. The price for binding will be $1.00.


The Use Of The Sun Glass

In using the sun glass, it is well to accustom the eyes of the patient to the strong light by having him sit in the sun with his eyes closed, and at the same time he should slowly move his head from side to side, in order to avoid discomfort from the heat. Enough light shines through the eyelid to cause some people a great deal of discomfort at first, but after a few hours' exposure in this way, they become able to gradually open their eyes to some extent without squeezing the lids. When this stage is reached, one can focus, with the aid of the sun glass, the light on the dosed eyelids, which at first is very disagreeable . When the patient becomes able to open the eyes, he is directed to look as far down as possible, and in this way the pupil is protected by the lower lid. Then by gently lifting the upper lid, only the white part of the eye is exposed, while the sun's rays strike directly upon this part of the eyeball. The sun glass may then be used on the white part of the eye. Care should be taken to move the glass from side to side quickly. The length of time devoted to focusing the light on the white part of the eye is never longer than a few seconds. After such a treatment the patient almost immediately becomes able to open his eyes widely in the light.

The light through the sunglass is constantly moving and is used for a short time to prevent the sun from burning the eye. Size, strength, distance affects the heat. It can burn the eye if not done correct. Find a Bates Method Ophthalmologist only to do the treatment.

This Sun-Glass article is repeated many time in the magazines. I have kept only a few here to save space.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=281 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:04:11 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=281

Methods That Have Succeeded in Presbyopia - Presbyopia: Its Cause and Cure - Stories From The Clinic; 122. Test Card Practice (1-10) by Emily A. Bates - Better Eyesight in Schools by a Superintendent of Public Schools - Questions and Answers - Announcements



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

MAY, 1930

Methods that Have Succeeded in Presbyopia

The cure of presbyopia, as of any other error of refraction, is rest, and many presbyopic patients are able to obtain this rest simply by closing the eyes. They are kept closed until the patient feels relieved, which may be in a few minutes, half an hour, or longer. Then some fine print is regarded for a few seconds. By alternately resting the eyes and looking at fine print many patients quickly become able to read it at eighteen inches, and by continued practice they are able to reduce the distance until it can be read at six inches in a dim light. At first the letters are seen only in flashes. Then they are seen for a longer time, until finally they are seen continuously. When this method fails, palming may be tried, combined with the use of the memory, imagination and swing. Particularly good results have been obtained from the following procedure:


+ Close the eyes and remember the letter o in diamond type, with the open space as white as starch and the outline as black as possible.

+ When the white center is at the maximum imagine that the letter is moving, and that all objects, no matter how large or small, are moving
with it. Shift on the letter.

+ Open the eyes and continue to imagine the universal swing.

+ Alternate the imagination of the swing with the eyes open with its imagination with the eyes closed.

+ When the imagination is just as good with the eyes open as when they are closed the cure will be complete.



Presbyopia: Its Cause and Cure

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

(Cures for Presbyopia Cure Cataract and other Eye Disease.)

PRESBYOPIA is the name given to the loss of power to use the eyes at the near point, without the aid of glasses, which usually occurs after the age of forty.
The text-books teach that this change is a normal one: but it is a noteworthy fact that many other eye troubles often date from the time of its appearance, or develop a little later. Many cases of glaucoma start about this time, and so do many cases of cataract and inflammation of the interior of the eye. Patients with presbyopia are very likely to have conjunctivitis. They are also subject to congestion and hemorrhages of the interior of the eye. One patient developed a lot of muscular trouble and a marked degree of double vision at the time he became presbyopic, and suffered three nervous breakdowns in quick succession. He was operated on for the muscular condition, and took prism exercises, but obtained very little relief. In another case a patient began to suffer, at the time she became unable to read without glasses, from a contraction of the muscles of the face, congestion of the conjunctiva and continual headaches. The strain was so great that she had to keep her eyes partly closed, and glasses did nothing to relieve her discomfort. Up to the time when her presbyopia appeared she had had none of these troubles.
The accepted explanation for the loss of near vision with advancing years is that it is due to the hardening of the lens, but it is quite impossible to reconcile the facts with this theory; for not only does presbyopia occur much below the age of forty and even in childhood, but it is often delayed beyond the age of fifty, and sometimes does not occur at all. There are also cases in which near vision is restored after having been lost. We are told that presbyopia comes early in the hypermetropic (farsighted) eye, and late in the myopic (nearsighted) eye; that premature hardening of the lens and weakness of the ciliary muscle (supposed to control the accommodation) may cause it to appear in youth; and that the swelling of the lens in incipient cataract may account for the restoration of near vision after it has been lost; but there are still many cases to which these explanations cannot be made to apply.
65 year old man cures unclear close vision
It is true that hypermetropia does hasten and myopia prevent or postpone the advent of presbyopia, and as myopia may exist in only one eye, without the patient's being aware of it, he may think that his vision is normal both for the near-point and the distance. There are cases, however, in which the vision has remained absolutely normal in both eyes long after the presbyopic age, and a considerable number of these cases have been brought to my attention. One of them, a man of sixty-five, examined in a moderate light indoors, was found to have a vision of 20/10. In other words he could see twice as far as the normal eye is expected to see. He also read diamond type at less than six inches, and at other distances, to more than eighteen inches. In reply to a query as to how he came to possess visual powers so unusual at his age, or, indeed, at any age, he said that when he was about forty he began to experience difficulty, at times, in reading. He consulted an optician who advised glasses. He could not believe, however, that the glasses were necessary, because at times he could read perfectly without them. The matter interested him so much that he began to observe facts, a thing that people seldom do. He noted, first, that when he tried hard to see either at the near-point or at the distance, his vision invariably became worse, and the harder he tried the worse it became. Evidently something was wrong with this method of using the eyes. Then he tried looking at things without effort, without trying to see them. He also tried resting his eyes by closing them for five minutes or longer, or by looking away from the page that he wished to read, or the distant object he wished to see. These practices always improved his sight, and by keeping them up he not only regained normal vision but retained it for twenty-five years.
"Doctor," he said, in concluding his story, "when my eyes are at rest and comfortable, my vision is always good and I forget all about them. When they do not feel comfortable I never see so well, and then I always proceed to rest them until they feel all right again."
The fact is that presbyopia is due to a strain. It is a strain similar to the one that produces hypermetropia, (farsight, unclear close vision) but differs from it in the fact that it affects chiefly vision at the near-point (close reading distance). This can be demonstrated with the retinoscope. When a person with presbyopia tries to read, the retinoscope will show that he has hypermetropia, but when he looks at a distant object the retinoscope will show either that his eyes are normal, or that the hypermetropia is less. Simultaneous retinoscopy is difficult in the case of a reading patient, for not only is the pupil small, but in order to find the shadow it is necessary for the patient to look in one general direction all the time, and this is not easy. It is also difficult to hold a glass at one side of the eye for the measurement of the refraction in such a way that the observer can look through it while the patient does not. With a sufficient zeal for the truth, however, these difficulties can be overcome.
Eyeglasses increase vision impairment and leads to development of eye diseases, problems.
The strain which produces presbyopia is accompanied by a strain, more or less pronounced, of all the other nerves of the body. Hence the many distressing symptoms from which presbyopic patients suffer. Glasses, by neutralizing the effect of the imperfect action of the muscles, may enable the patient to read; but they cannot relieve any of these strains. On the contrary they usually make them worse, and it is a matter of common experience that the vision declines rapidly after the patient begins to wear them. When people put on glasses because they cannot read fine print they often find that in a couple of weeks they cannot, without them, read the coarse print that was perfectly plain to them before. Occasionally the eye resists the artificial conditions imposed upon them by glasses to an astonishing degree, as in the case of a woman of seventy who had worn glasses for twenty years, in spite of the fact that they tired her eyes and blurred her vision, but was still able to read diamond type without them. This however is very unusual. As a rule the eyes go from bad to worse, and, if the patient lives long enough, he is almost certain to develop some serious disease which ends so frequently in blindness that nearly half of our blind population at the present time is believed to be over sixty years of age. Persons with presbyopia who are satisfied with the relief given to them by glasses should bear this fact in mind.
Presbyopia is cured just as any other error of refraction is cured, by rest. But there is a great difference in the way patients respond to this treatment. Some are cured very quickly, even in as short a time as fifteen minutes; others are very slow; but as a rule relief is obtained within a reasonable time.

One of my earliest cures of presbyopia was accomplished in less than fifteen minutes by the aid of the imagination. The patient had worn glasses for reading for ten years. When I showed him a specimen of diamond type and asked him to read it without glasses he said he knew the letters were black but they looked grey.
"If you know they are black, and yet see them grey," I said, "you must imagine that they are grey. Suppose you imagine that they are black. Can you do that?"
"Yes," he said, "I can imagine that they are black," and immediately he proceeded to read them.
In another case a patient was cured simply by closing his eyes for half an hour. His wife was cured in the same way, and when I saw the couple six months later they had had no relapse. Both had worn reading glasses for more than five years.
Old Gentleman cures his presbyopia by reading, writing fine, microscopic print.
While it is sometimes very difficult to cure presbyopia, it is, fortunately, very easy to prevent it. Oliver Wendell Holmes told us how to do it in "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," and it is astonishing not only that no attention whatever should have been paid to his advice, but that we should have been warned against the very course which was found so beneficial in the case he records.
"There is now living in New York State," he says, "an old gentleman who, perceiving his sight to fail, immediately took to exercising it on the finest print, and in this way fairly bullied Nature out of her foolish habit of taking liberties at the age of forty-five or thereabouts. And now this old gentleman performs the most extraordinary feats with his pen, showing that his eyes must be a pair of microscopes. I should be afraid to say how much he writes in the compass of a half-dime, whether the Psalms or the Gospels, or the Psalms and the Gospels, I won't be positive."
Persons whose sight is beginning to fail at the near-point, or who are approaching the presbyopic age, should imitate the example of this remarkable old gentleman. Get a specimen of diamond type, and read it every day in an artificial light, bringing it closer and closer to the eye till it can be read at six inches or less. Or get a specimen of type reduced by photography until it is much smaller than diamond type, and do the same. (microscopic type/print) You will thus escape, not only the necessity of wearing glasses for reading and near work, but all of those eye troubles which now so often darken the later years of life.


Test Card Practice

By EMILY A. BATES

Editor's Note—The following is taken from Mrs. Bates' (Lierman) book, "Stories From The Clinic". Although the majority of our subscribers have Mrs. Bates' book, we believe that these suggestions can always be re-read with benefit.

1. Every home should have a test card.
2. It is best to place the card permanently on the wall in a good light.
3. Each member of the family or household should read the card every day.
4. It takes only a minute to test the sight with the card. If you spend five minutes in the morning practicing, it will be a great help during the day.
5. Place yourself ten feet from the card and read as far as you can without effort or strain. Over each line of letters are small figures indicating the distance at which the normal eye can read them. Over the big C at the top of the card is the figure 200. The big C, therefore, should be read by the normal eye at a distance of two hundred feet. If you can read this line at ten feet, your vision would be 10/200. The numerator of the fraction is always the distance of the card from the eyes. The denominator always denotes the number of the line read. If you can only read the line marked 40 at ten feet, the vision is 10/40.
6. If you can only see the fifth line, for example, notice that the last letter on that line is an R. Now close your eyes, cover them with the palms of the hands and remember the R. If you will remember that the left side is straight, the right side partly curved, and the bottom open, you will get a good mental picture of the R with your eyes closed. This mental picture will help you to see the letter directly underneath the R, which is a T.
7. Shifting is good to stop the stare. If you stare at the letter T, you will notice that all the letters on that line begin to blur. It is beneficial to close your eyes quickly after you see the T, open them, and shift to the first figure on that line, which is a 3. Then close your eyes and remember the 3. You will become able to read all the letters on that line by closing your eyes for each letter.
8. Keep a record of each test in order to note your progress from day to day.
9. When you become able to read the bottom line with each eye at ten feet; your vision is normal for the distance, 10/10.
10. The distance of the Snellen test card from the patient is a matter of considerable importance. However, some patients improve more rapidly when the card is placed fifteen or twenty feet away, while others fail to get any benefit with the card at this distance. In some cases the best results are obtained when the card is as close as one foot. Others with poor vision may not improve when the card is placed at ten feet or further, or at one foot or less, but do much better when the card is placed at a middle distance, at about eight feet. Some patients may not improve their vision at all at ten feet, but at one foot. While some patients are benefited by practicing with the card daily, always at the same distance, there are others who seem to be benefited when the distance of the card from the patient is changed daily.

Experiment with the test card placed at a variety of close, middle, far distances.



Better Eyesight in Schools

By a Superintendent of Public Schools

Editor's Note -The following was written by a superintendent of public schools who not only helped his own eyes, but also helped the nurses to help the children. Permission was given these nurses to attend the clinic so that they could test the vision of each child and make records accordingly. Further advice was given by Dr. and Mrs. Bates and the work was carried on so that within a year's time it was noticed by those not interested in the Bates Method that there were less eye-glasses being worn by the school children.
UNDER the direction of our school nurse, a Snellen test of the eyes of all our pupils was made. A novel health experiment was begun, a campaign for "Better Eyesight." A second test was made in order to verify the value and progress in this phase of health work which showed marvelous, practical, successful results. Only the skepticism of principals, teachers and pupils, and the lack of faithfulness in carrying out its conditions, prevented the wonderful results achieved from paralleling those of an Arabian Night's story.
A Snellen test card was placed permanently in the class rooms. The children were directed to read the smallest letters they could see from their seats at least once every day, with both eyes together and with each eye separately, the other being covered with the palm of the hand in such a way as to avoid pressure of the eyeball. Those whose vision was defective were encouraged to read it more frequently, and in fact needed no encouragement to do so after they found that the practice helped them to see the blackboard, and stopped the headaches, or other discomfort, previously resulting from the use of their eyes.
Some years ago the same system was introduced into some of the schools of New York City with an attendance of about ten thousand children. Many of the teachers neglected to use the cards, being unable to believe that such a simple method and one so entirely at variance with previous teaching on the subject, could accomplish the desired results. Others kept the cards in a closet except when they were needed for the daily eye drill, lest the children should memorize them. Thus they not only put an unnecessary burden upon themselves, but did what they could to defeat the purpose of the system, which is to give the children daily exercise in distant vision with a familiar object as the point of fixation. A considerable number, however, used the system intelligently and persistently, and in less than a year were able to present reports showing that of three thousand children with imperfect sight over one thousand had obtained normal vision by its means.
Not only does this work place no additional burden upon the teachers, but, by improving the eyesight, health, disposition and mentality of their pupils, it greatly lightens their labors.

Questions and Answers

Q—It is difficult for me to find time enough to gain perfect relaxation. What would you suggest?
A—You have just as much time to relax as you have to strain. Practice relaxation all day long. Whenever you move your head or eyes, notice that stationary objects move in the direction opposite to the movement of your head or eyes. When walking about the room or on the street, the floor or pavement appears to come toward you, while objects on either side of you move in the direction opposite to the movement of your body. Remember to blink frequently just as the normal eye does. Constantly shift your eyes from one point to another seeing the point regarded more clearly than all other parts. When talking with anyone, do not stare. Look first at one eye and then the other, remembering to blink. Shift from the eyes to the nose, to one cheek and then to the other, then to the mouth, the chin, and back to the forehead.

Notice when looking in a persons eyes: if their eyes move, your eyes move. If a person stares, eyes immobile, keep your eyes moving when looking into their eyes and you will prevent staring in your eyes and help the person obtain normal eye movement.

Q—Why is it that I have perfect vision only in flashes? Can these flashes become permanent?
A—You have not yet lost your unconscious habit of straining, When relaxation methods are practiced faithfully at all times, the flashes of improved vision become more frequent and last longer until the vision becomes continuously good.

Q—What causes twitching eyelids?
A—Strain causes twitching eyelids and this is relieved by rest and relaxation. Palming, sun treatment, swinging, blinking are very beneficial.

Q—Can you explain why I see yellow and blue spots after looking at the sun?
A—You are straining. Do not look directly at the sun until your eyes are more accustomed to it. Practice the sun treatment—sit in the sun with the eyes closed. Allow the sun to shine directly upon your closed eyelids, as you slowly move your head a short distance from side to side. Do this for half an hour or longer as often as possible whenever the sun is shining.
Modern teachers state to not look into the sun with the eyes open.
Look to the side, out to the bright sky, clouds. Blink, shift continually, easy, relaxed, move the head and eyes. Daydream something pleasant.

Q—Is working or reading under electric light harmful? Should a shade be worn?
A—It is not harmful to read by electric light if the eyes are used properly. Do not wear a shade or any other protection for the eyes. Practice sun treatment.

Q—When remembering a black period, I see a bright disk with a small black center. Is this seeing a period?
A—No. you are straining. The period that you imagine is very imperfect, because to remember the period and at the same time a very bright disk, is an unconscious strain. You cannot strain and remember the bright disk, and simultaneously relax and remember a black period. When your bright disk is prominent, everything else is remembered under a strain. You cannot strain and relax at the same time.


Announcements

We take pleasure in announcing that the following have recently completed courses of instruction at Dr. Bates' office and are qualified to practice the Bates Method:

Dr. Paul J. Dodge,
911 New Industrial Trust Building, Providence, R. I.

Dr. med. E. Schluter (prominent eye specialist),
Hamburg, Mundsburgerdamm 11, Germany

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

After June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight." They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.]]>

Methods That Have Succeeded in Presbyopia - Presbyopia: Its Cause and Cure - Stories From The Clinic; 122. Test Card Practice (1-10) by Emily A. Bates - Better Eyesight in Schools by a Superintendent of Public Schools - Questions and Answers - Announcements



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

MAY, 1930

Methods that Have Succeeded in Presbyopia

The cure of presbyopia, as of any other error of refraction, is rest, and many presbyopic patients are able to obtain this rest simply by closing the eyes. They are kept closed until the patient feels relieved, which may be in a few minutes, half an hour, or longer. Then some fine print is regarded for a few seconds. By alternately resting the eyes and looking at fine print many patients quickly become able to read it at eighteen inches, and by continued practice they are able to reduce the distance until it can be read at six inches in a dim light. At first the letters are seen only in flashes. Then they are seen for a longer time, until finally they are seen continuously. When this method fails, palming may be tried, combined with the use of the memory, imagination and swing. Particularly good results have been obtained from the following procedure:


+ Close the eyes and remember the letter o in diamond type, with the open space as white as starch and the outline as black as possible.

+ When the white center is at the maximum imagine that the letter is moving, and that all objects, no matter how large or small, are moving
with it. Shift on the letter.

+ Open the eyes and continue to imagine the universal swing.

+ Alternate the imagination of the swing with the eyes open with its imagination with the eyes closed.

+ When the imagination is just as good with the eyes open as when they are closed the cure will be complete.



Presbyopia: Its Cause and Cure

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

(Cures for Presbyopia Cure Cataract and other Eye Disease.)

PRESBYOPIA is the name given to the loss of power to use the eyes at the near point, without the aid of glasses, which usually occurs after the age of forty.
The text-books teach that this change is a normal one: but it is a noteworthy fact that many other eye troubles often date from the time of its appearance, or develop a little later. Many cases of glaucoma start about this time, and so do many cases of cataract and inflammation of the interior of the eye. Patients with presbyopia are very likely to have conjunctivitis. They are also subject to congestion and hemorrhages of the interior of the eye. One patient developed a lot of muscular trouble and a marked degree of double vision at the time he became presbyopic, and suffered three nervous breakdowns in quick succession. He was operated on for the muscular condition, and took prism exercises, but obtained very little relief. In another case a patient began to suffer, at the time she became unable to read without glasses, from a contraction of the muscles of the face, congestion of the conjunctiva and continual headaches. The strain was so great that she had to keep her eyes partly closed, and glasses did nothing to relieve her discomfort. Up to the time when her presbyopia appeared she had had none of these troubles.
The accepted explanation for the loss of near vision with advancing years is that it is due to the hardening of the lens, but it is quite impossible to reconcile the facts with this theory; for not only does presbyopia occur much below the age of forty and even in childhood, but it is often delayed beyond the age of fifty, and sometimes does not occur at all. There are also cases in which near vision is restored after having been lost. We are told that presbyopia comes early in the hypermetropic (farsighted) eye, and late in the myopic (nearsighted) eye; that premature hardening of the lens and weakness of the ciliary muscle (supposed to control the accommodation) may cause it to appear in youth; and that the swelling of the lens in incipient cataract may account for the restoration of near vision after it has been lost; but there are still many cases to which these explanations cannot be made to apply.
65 year old man cures unclear close vision
It is true that hypermetropia does hasten and myopia prevent or postpone the advent of presbyopia, and as myopia may exist in only one eye, without the patient's being aware of it, he may think that his vision is normal both for the near-point and the distance. There are cases, however, in which the vision has remained absolutely normal in both eyes long after the presbyopic age, and a considerable number of these cases have been brought to my attention. One of them, a man of sixty-five, examined in a moderate light indoors, was found to have a vision of 20/10. In other words he could see twice as far as the normal eye is expected to see. He also read diamond type at less than six inches, and at other distances, to more than eighteen inches. In reply to a query as to how he came to possess visual powers so unusual at his age, or, indeed, at any age, he said that when he was about forty he began to experience difficulty, at times, in reading. He consulted an optician who advised glasses. He could not believe, however, that the glasses were necessary, because at times he could read perfectly without them. The matter interested him so much that he began to observe facts, a thing that people seldom do. He noted, first, that when he tried hard to see either at the near-point or at the distance, his vision invariably became worse, and the harder he tried the worse it became. Evidently something was wrong with this method of using the eyes. Then he tried looking at things without effort, without trying to see them. He also tried resting his eyes by closing them for five minutes or longer, or by looking away from the page that he wished to read, or the distant object he wished to see. These practices always improved his sight, and by keeping them up he not only regained normal vision but retained it for twenty-five years.
"Doctor," he said, in concluding his story, "when my eyes are at rest and comfortable, my vision is always good and I forget all about them. When they do not feel comfortable I never see so well, and then I always proceed to rest them until they feel all right again."
The fact is that presbyopia is due to a strain. It is a strain similar to the one that produces hypermetropia, (farsight, unclear close vision) but differs from it in the fact that it affects chiefly vision at the near-point (close reading distance). This can be demonstrated with the retinoscope. When a person with presbyopia tries to read, the retinoscope will show that he has hypermetropia, but when he looks at a distant object the retinoscope will show either that his eyes are normal, or that the hypermetropia is less. Simultaneous retinoscopy is difficult in the case of a reading patient, for not only is the pupil small, but in order to find the shadow it is necessary for the patient to look in one general direction all the time, and this is not easy. It is also difficult to hold a glass at one side of the eye for the measurement of the refraction in such a way that the observer can look through it while the patient does not. With a sufficient zeal for the truth, however, these difficulties can be overcome.
Eyeglasses increase vision impairment and leads to development of eye diseases, problems.
The strain which produces presbyopia is accompanied by a strain, more or less pronounced, of all the other nerves of the body. Hence the many distressing symptoms from which presbyopic patients suffer. Glasses, by neutralizing the effect of the imperfect action of the muscles, may enable the patient to read; but they cannot relieve any of these strains. On the contrary they usually make them worse, and it is a matter of common experience that the vision declines rapidly after the patient begins to wear them. When people put on glasses because they cannot read fine print they often find that in a couple of weeks they cannot, without them, read the coarse print that was perfectly plain to them before. Occasionally the eye resists the artificial conditions imposed upon them by glasses to an astonishing degree, as in the case of a woman of seventy who had worn glasses for twenty years, in spite of the fact that they tired her eyes and blurred her vision, but was still able to read diamond type without them. This however is very unusual. As a rule the eyes go from bad to worse, and, if the patient lives long enough, he is almost certain to develop some serious disease which ends so frequently in blindness that nearly half of our blind population at the present time is believed to be over sixty years of age. Persons with presbyopia who are satisfied with the relief given to them by glasses should bear this fact in mind.
Presbyopia is cured just as any other error of refraction is cured, by rest. But there is a great difference in the way patients respond to this treatment. Some are cured very quickly, even in as short a time as fifteen minutes; others are very slow; but as a rule relief is obtained within a reasonable time.

One of my earliest cures of presbyopia was accomplished in less than fifteen minutes by the aid of the imagination. The patient had worn glasses for reading for ten years. When I showed him a specimen of diamond type and asked him to read it without glasses he said he knew the letters were black but they looked grey.
"If you know they are black, and yet see them grey," I said, "you must imagine that they are grey. Suppose you imagine that they are black. Can you do that?"
"Yes," he said, "I can imagine that they are black," and immediately he proceeded to read them.
In another case a patient was cured simply by closing his eyes for half an hour. His wife was cured in the same way, and when I saw the couple six months later they had had no relapse. Both had worn reading glasses for more than five years.
Old Gentleman cures his presbyopia by reading, writing fine, microscopic print.
While it is sometimes very difficult to cure presbyopia, it is, fortunately, very easy to prevent it. Oliver Wendell Holmes told us how to do it in "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," and it is astonishing not only that no attention whatever should have been paid to his advice, but that we should have been warned against the very course which was found so beneficial in the case he records.
"There is now living in New York State," he says, "an old gentleman who, perceiving his sight to fail, immediately took to exercising it on the finest print, and in this way fairly bullied Nature out of her foolish habit of taking liberties at the age of forty-five or thereabouts. And now this old gentleman performs the most extraordinary feats with his pen, showing that his eyes must be a pair of microscopes. I should be afraid to say how much he writes in the compass of a half-dime, whether the Psalms or the Gospels, or the Psalms and the Gospels, I won't be positive."
Persons whose sight is beginning to fail at the near-point, or who are approaching the presbyopic age, should imitate the example of this remarkable old gentleman. Get a specimen of diamond type, and read it every day in an artificial light, bringing it closer and closer to the eye till it can be read at six inches or less. Or get a specimen of type reduced by photography until it is much smaller than diamond type, and do the same. (microscopic type/print) You will thus escape, not only the necessity of wearing glasses for reading and near work, but all of those eye troubles which now so often darken the later years of life.


Test Card Practice

By EMILY A. BATES

Editor's Note—The following is taken from Mrs. Bates' (Lierman) book, "Stories From The Clinic". Although the majority of our subscribers have Mrs. Bates' book, we believe that these suggestions can always be re-read with benefit.

1. Every home should have a test card.
2. It is best to place the card permanently on the wall in a good light.
3. Each member of the family or household should read the card every day.
4. It takes only a minute to test the sight with the card. If you spend five minutes in the morning practicing, it will be a great help during the day.
5. Place yourself ten feet from the card and read as far as you can without effort or strain. Over each line of letters are small figures indicating the distance at which the normal eye can read them. Over the big C at the top of the card is the figure 200. The big C, therefore, should be read by the normal eye at a distance of two hundred feet. If you can read this line at ten feet, your vision would be 10/200. The numerator of the fraction is always the distance of the card from the eyes. The denominator always denotes the number of the line read. If you can only read the line marked 40 at ten feet, the vision is 10/40.
6. If you can only see the fifth line, for example, notice that the last letter on that line is an R. Now close your eyes, cover them with the palms of the hands and remember the R. If you will remember that the left side is straight, the right side partly curved, and the bottom open, you will get a good mental picture of the R with your eyes closed. This mental picture will help you to see the letter directly underneath the R, which is a T.
7. Shifting is good to stop the stare. If you stare at the letter T, you will notice that all the letters on that line begin to blur. It is beneficial to close your eyes quickly after you see the T, open them, and shift to the first figure on that line, which is a 3. Then close your eyes and remember the 3. You will become able to read all the letters on that line by closing your eyes for each letter.
8. Keep a record of each test in order to note your progress from day to day.
9. When you become able to read the bottom line with each eye at ten feet; your vision is normal for the distance, 10/10.
10. The distance of the Snellen test card from the patient is a matter of considerable importance. However, some patients improve more rapidly when the card is placed fifteen or twenty feet away, while others fail to get any benefit with the card at this distance. In some cases the best results are obtained when the card is as close as one foot. Others with poor vision may not improve when the card is placed at ten feet or further, or at one foot or less, but do much better when the card is placed at a middle distance, at about eight feet. Some patients may not improve their vision at all at ten feet, but at one foot. While some patients are benefited by practicing with the card daily, always at the same distance, there are others who seem to be benefited when the distance of the card from the patient is changed daily.

Experiment with the test card placed at a variety of close, middle, far distances.



Better Eyesight in Schools

By a Superintendent of Public Schools

Editor's Note -The following was written by a superintendent of public schools who not only helped his own eyes, but also helped the nurses to help the children. Permission was given these nurses to attend the clinic so that they could test the vision of each child and make records accordingly. Further advice was given by Dr. and Mrs. Bates and the work was carried on so that within a year's time it was noticed by those not interested in the Bates Method that there were less eye-glasses being worn by the school children.
UNDER the direction of our school nurse, a Snellen test of the eyes of all our pupils was made. A novel health experiment was begun, a campaign for "Better Eyesight." A second test was made in order to verify the value and progress in this phase of health work which showed marvelous, practical, successful results. Only the skepticism of principals, teachers and pupils, and the lack of faithfulness in carrying out its conditions, prevented the wonderful results achieved from paralleling those of an Arabian Night's story.
A Snellen test card was placed permanently in the class rooms. The children were directed to read the smallest letters they could see from their seats at least once every day, with both eyes together and with each eye separately, the other being covered with the palm of the hand in such a way as to avoid pressure of the eyeball. Those whose vision was defective were encouraged to read it more frequently, and in fact needed no encouragement to do so after they found that the practice helped them to see the blackboard, and stopped the headaches, or other discomfort, previously resulting from the use of their eyes.
Some years ago the same system was introduced into some of the schools of New York City with an attendance of about ten thousand children. Many of the teachers neglected to use the cards, being unable to believe that such a simple method and one so entirely at variance with previous teaching on the subject, could accomplish the desired results. Others kept the cards in a closet except when they were needed for the daily eye drill, lest the children should memorize them. Thus they not only put an unnecessary burden upon themselves, but did what they could to defeat the purpose of the system, which is to give the children daily exercise in distant vision with a familiar object as the point of fixation. A considerable number, however, used the system intelligently and persistently, and in less than a year were able to present reports showing that of three thousand children with imperfect sight over one thousand had obtained normal vision by its means.
Not only does this work place no additional burden upon the teachers, but, by improving the eyesight, health, disposition and mentality of their pupils, it greatly lightens their labors.

Questions and Answers

Q—It is difficult for me to find time enough to gain perfect relaxation. What would you suggest?
A—You have just as much time to relax as you have to strain. Practice relaxation all day long. Whenever you move your head or eyes, notice that stationary objects move in the direction opposite to the movement of your head or eyes. When walking about the room or on the street, the floor or pavement appears to come toward you, while objects on either side of you move in the direction opposite to the movement of your body. Remember to blink frequently just as the normal eye does. Constantly shift your eyes from one point to another seeing the point regarded more clearly than all other parts. When talking with anyone, do not stare. Look first at one eye and then the other, remembering to blink. Shift from the eyes to the nose, to one cheek and then to the other, then to the mouth, the chin, and back to the forehead.

Notice when looking in a persons eyes: if their eyes move, your eyes move. If a person stares, eyes immobile, keep your eyes moving when looking into their eyes and you will prevent staring in your eyes and help the person obtain normal eye movement.

Q—Why is it that I have perfect vision only in flashes? Can these flashes become permanent?
A—You have not yet lost your unconscious habit of straining, When relaxation methods are practiced faithfully at all times, the flashes of improved vision become more frequent and last longer until the vision becomes continuously good.

Q—What causes twitching eyelids?
A—Strain causes twitching eyelids and this is relieved by rest and relaxation. Palming, sun treatment, swinging, blinking are very beneficial.

Q—Can you explain why I see yellow and blue spots after looking at the sun?
A—You are straining. Do not look directly at the sun until your eyes are more accustomed to it. Practice the sun treatment—sit in the sun with the eyes closed. Allow the sun to shine directly upon your closed eyelids, as you slowly move your head a short distance from side to side. Do this for half an hour or longer as often as possible whenever the sun is shining.
Modern teachers state to not look into the sun with the eyes open.
Look to the side, out to the bright sky, clouds. Blink, shift continually, easy, relaxed, move the head and eyes. Daydream something pleasant.

Q—Is working or reading under electric light harmful? Should a shade be worn?
A—It is not harmful to read by electric light if the eyes are used properly. Do not wear a shade or any other protection for the eyes. Practice sun treatment.

Q—When remembering a black period, I see a bright disk with a small black center. Is this seeing a period?
A—No. you are straining. The period that you imagine is very imperfect, because to remember the period and at the same time a very bright disk, is an unconscious strain. You cannot strain and remember the bright disk, and simultaneously relax and remember a black period. When your bright disk is prominent, everything else is remembered under a strain. You cannot strain and relax at the same time.


Announcements

We take pleasure in announcing that the following have recently completed courses of instruction at Dr. Bates' office and are qualified to practice the Bates Method:

Dr. Paul J. Dodge,
911 New Industrial Trust Building, Providence, R. I.

Dr. med. E. Schluter (prominent eye specialist),
Hamburg, Mundsburgerdamm 11, Germany

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

After June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight." They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=280 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:03:46 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=280

The Optimum Swing - Vision and Education - The Doctor’s Story – Lying as a Cause of Myopia - Stories - From The Clinic; 121. Suggestions For Myopic Patients by Emily A. Bates - Announcements




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

APRIL, 1930

The Optimum Swing




The optimum swing is the swing which gives the best results under different conditions.

Most readers of this magazine and of "Perfect Sight Without Glasses" know about the swing. The swing may be spontaneous; that is to say, when one remembers a letter perfectly or sees a letter perfectly and continuously without any volition on his part he is able to imagine that it has a slow, short, easy swing. The speed is about as fast as one would count orally. The width of the swing is not more than the width of the letter, and it is remembered or imagined as easily as it is possible to imagine anything without any effort whatsoever. The normal swing of normal sight brings the greatest amount of relaxation and should be imagined. When one is able to succeed then it becomes the optimum swing under favorable conditions. Nearsighted persons have this normal optimum swing usually at the near point when the vision is perfect. At the distance where the vision is imperfect the optimum swing is something else. It is not spontaneous but has to be produced by a conscious movement of the eyes and head from side to side and is usually wider than the width of the letter, faster than the normal swing, and not so easily produced.
When one has a headache or a pain in the eyes or in any part of the body the optimum swing is always wider and more difficult to imagine than when one has less strain of the eyes. Under un-favorable conditions the long swing is the optimum swing, but under favorable conditions when the sight is good, the normal swing of the normal eye with normal sight is the optimum swing.
The long swing brings a measure of relief when done right and makes it possible to shorten it down to the normal swing of the normal eye.


Vision and Education

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

POOR sight is admitted to be one of the most fruitful causes of retardation in the schools. It is estimated that it may reasonably be held responsible for a quarter of the habitually "left-backs," and it is commonly assumed that all this might be prevented by suitable glasses.
There is much more involved in defective vision, however, than mere inability to see the blackboard, or to use the eyes without pain or discomfort. Defective vision is the result of an abnormal condition of the mind, and when the mind is in an abnormal condition it is obvious that none of the processes of education can be conducted with advantage. By putting glasses upon a child we may, in some cases, neutralize the effect of this condition upon the eyes and by making the patient more comfortable may improve his mental faculties to some extent, but we do not alter fundamentally the condition of the mind and by confirming it in a bad habit we may make it worse.
It can easily be demonstrated that among the faculties of the mind which are impaired when the vision is impaired is the memory; and as a large part of the educational process consists of storing the mind with facts, and all the other mental processes depend upon one's knowledge of facts, it is easy to see how little is accomplished by merely putting glasses on a child that has "trouble with its eyes." The extraordinary memory of primitive people has been attributed to the fact that, owing to the absence of any convenient means of making written records, they had to depend upon their memories, which were strengthened accordingly; but in view of the known facts about the relation of memory to eyesight it is more reasonable to suppose that the retentive memory of primitive man was due to the same cause as his keen vision: namely, a mind at rest.

Telescopic Vision
The primitive memory as well as primitive keenness of vision have been found among civilized people, and if the necessary tests had been made it would doubtless have been found that they always occur together, as they did in a case which recently came under my observation.
The subject was a child of ten with such marvelous eyesight that she could see the moons of Jupiter with the naked eye, a fact which was demonstrated by her drawing a diagram of these satellites which exactly corresponded to the diagrams made by persons who had used a telescope. Her memory was equally remarkable. She could recite the whole content of a book after reading it, as Lord Macauley is said to have done, and she learned more Latin in a few days without a teacher than her sister, who had six diopters of myopia, had been able to do in several years. She remembered five years afterward what she ate at a restaurant, she recalled the name of the waiter, the number of the building and the street in which it stood. She also remembered what she wore on this occasion and what everyone else in the party wore. The same was true of every other event which had awakened her interest in any way, and it was a favorite amusement in her family to ask her what the menu had been and what people had worn on particular occasions.

When the sight of two persons is different it has been found that their memories differ in exactly the same degree. Two sisters, one of whom had only ordinary good vision, indicated by the formula 20/20, while the other had 20/10, found that the time it took them to learn eight verses of a poem varied in almost exactly the same ratio as their sight. The one whose vision was 20/10 learned eight verses of the poem in fifteen minutes, while the one whose vision was only 20/20 required thirty-one minutes to do the same thing. After palming, the one with ordinary vision learned eight more verses in twenty-one minutes, while the one with 20/10 was only able to reduce her time by two minutes, a variation clearly within the limits of error. In other words, the mind of the latter being already in a normal or nearly normal condition, she could not improve it appreciably by palming, while the former, whose mind was under a strain, was able to gain relaxation, and hence improve her memory, by this means.

When the two eyes of the same person are different a corresponding difference in the memory has been noted according to whether both eyes were open, or the better eye closed.
+ A patient with normal vision in the right eye and half-normal vision in the left when looking at the Snellen test card with both eyes open could remember a period for twenty seconds continuously, but could remember it only ten seconds when the better eye was closed.
+ A patient with half-normal vision in the right eye and one-quarter normal in the left could remember a period for twelve seconds with both eyes open and only six seconds with better eye closed.
+ A third patient with normal sight in the right eye and vision of one-tenth in the left could remember a period twelve seconds with both eyes open and only two seconds when the better eye was closed. In other words if the right eye is better than the left the memory is better when the right eye is open than when only the left eye is open.

School Children
Under the present educational system there is a constant effort to compel the children to remember. These efforts always fail. They spoil both the memory and the sight. The memory cannot be forced any more than the vision can be forced. We remember without effort, just as we see without effort, and the harder we try to remember or see the less we are able to do so.
+ The sort of things we remember are the things that interest us, and the reason children have difficulty in learning their lessons is because they are bored by them. For the same reason, among others, their eyesight becomes impaired, boredom being a condition of mental strain in which it is impossible for the eye to function normally.
Some of the various kinds of compulsion now employed in the educational process may have the effect of awakening interest. Betty Smith's interest in winning a prize, for instance, or in merely getting ahead of Johnny Jones, may have the effect of rousing her interest in lessons that have hitherto bored her, and this interest may develop into a genuine interest in the acquisition of knowledge; but this cannot be said of the various fear incentives still so largely employed by teachers. These, on the contrary, have the effect, usually, of completely paralyzing minds already benumbed by lack of interest, and the effect upon the vision is equally disastrous. Boredom, fear tactics in school causes mental strain, unclear vision.
The fundamental reason, both for poor memory and poor eyesight in school children, in short, is our irrational and unnatural educational system. Montessori has taught us that it is only when children are interested that they can learn. It is equally true that it is only when they are interested that they can see. This fact was strikingly illustrated in the case of one of the two pairs of sisters mentioned above. Phebe, of the keen eyes, who could recite whole books if she happened to be interested in them, disliked mathematics and anatomy extremely, and not only could not learn them but became myopic when they were presented to her mind. She could read letters a quarter of an inch high at twenty feet in a poor light, but when asked to read figures one to two inches high in a good light at ten feet she miscalled half of them. When asked to tell how much 2 and 3 made, she said "4," before finally deciding on "5"; and all the time she was occupied with this disagreeable subject the retinoscope showed that she was myopic. When I asked her to look into my eye with the ophthalmoscope she could see nothing, although a much lower degree of visual acuity is required to note the details of the interior of the eye than to see the moons of Jupiter.

Short-sighted Isabel, on the contrary, had a passion for mathematics and anatomy, and excelled in those subjects. She learned to use the ophthalmoscope as easily as Phebe had learned Latin. Almost immediately she saw the optic nerve, and noted that the center was whiter than the periphery. She saw the light-colored lines, the arteries; and the darker ones, the veins; and she saw the light streaks on the blood-vessels. Some specialists never become able to do this, and no one could do it without normal vision. Isabel's vision, therefore, must have been temporarily normal when she did it. Her vision for figures, although not normal, was better than for letters.
In both these cases the ability to learn and the ability to see went hand in hand with interest. Phebe could read a photographic reduction of the Bible and recite what she had read verbatim, she could see the moons of Jupiter and draw a diagram of them afterwards, because she was interested in these things; but she could not see the interior of the eye, nor see figures even half as well as she saw letters, because these things bored her. When, however, it was suggested to her that it would be a good joke to surprise her teachers, who were always reproaching her for her backwardness in mathematics, by taking a high mark in a coming examination, her interest in the subject awakened and she contrived to learn enough to get seventy-eight percent. In Isabel's case letters were antagonistic. She was not interested in most of the subjects with which they dealt and, therefore, she was backward in those subjects and had become habitually myopic. But when asked to look at objects which aroused an intense interest her vision became normal.
When one is not interested, in short, one's mind is not under control, and without mental control one can neither learn nor see. Not only the memory but all other mental faculties are improved when the eyesight becomes normal. It is a common experience with patients cured of defective sight to find that their ability to do their work has improved.
A teacher whose letter was quoted in an early issue of "Better Eyesight" testified that after gaining perfect eyesight she "knew better how to get at the minds of the pupils," was "more direct, more definite, less diffused, less vague," possessed, in fact, "central fixation of the mind." In another letter she said, "The better my eyesight becomes the greater is my ambition. On the days when my sight is best I have the greatest anxiety to do things."
Another teacher reported that one of her pupils used to sit doing nothing all day long and apparently was not interested in anything. After the test card was introduced into the classroom and his sight improved, he became anxious to learn, and speedily developed into one of the best students in the class. In other words his eyes and his mind became normal together.
Improving close and distant vision activates and integrates the left and right brain hemispheres, improves all left and right hemisphere functions: math, science, art, music, sports, speech, relaxation, energy level…
Exercises to activate and integrate the left and right hemispheres improves the clarity of vision at all distances.

A bookkeeper nearly seventy years of age who had worn glasses for forty years found after he had gained perfect sight without glasses that he could work more rapidly and accurately and with less fatigue than ever in his life before. During busy seasons, or when short of help, he has worked for some weeks at a time from 7 A.M. until 11 P.M. and he reports that he felt less tired at night after he was through than he did in the morning when he started. Previously, although he had done more work than any other man in the office, it always tired him very much. He also noticed an improvement in his temper. Having been so long in the office and knowing so much more about the business than his fellow employees, he was frequently appealed to for advice. These interruptions, before his sight became normal, were very annoying to him and often caused him to lose his temper. Afterward, however, they caused him no irritation whatever. In the case of another patient whose story follows, symptoms of insanity were relieved when the vision became normal.
From all these facts it will be seen that the problems of vision are far more intimately associated with the problems of education than we had supposed, and that they can by no means be solved by putting concave, or convex, or astigmatic lenses before the eyes of the children.


THE DOCTOR'S STORY

One of the most striking cases of the relation of mind to vision that ever came to my attention was that of a physician whose mental troubles, at one time so serious that they suggested to him the idea that he might be going insane, were completely relieved when his sight became normal. He had been seen by many eye and nerve specialists before he came to me and consulted me at last, not because he had any faith in my methods, but because nothing else seemed to be left for him to do. He brought with him quite a collection of glasses prescribed by different men, no two of them being alike. He had worn glasses, he told me, for many months at a time without benefit, and then he had left them off and had been apparently no worse. Outdoor life had also failed to help him. On the advice of some prominent neurologists he had even given up his practice for a couple of years to spend the time upon a ranch, but the vacation had done him no good.
I examined his eyes and found no organic defects and no error of refraction. Yet his vision with each eye was only three-fourths of the normal, and he suffered from double vision and all sorts of unpleasant symptoms. He used to see people standing on their heads, and little devils dancing on the tops of the high buildings. He also had other illusions too numerous to mention in a short paper. At night his sight was so bad that he had difficulty in finding his way about, and when walking along a country road he believed that he saw better when he turned his eyes far to one side and viewed the road with the side of the retina instead of with the center. At variable intervals, without warning and without loss of consciousness, he had attacks of blindness. These caused him great uneasiness, for he was a surgeon with a large and lucrative practice, and he feared that he might have an attack while operating.
His memory was very poor. He could not remember the color of the eyes of any member of his family, although he had seen them all daily for years. Neither could he recall the color of his house, the number of rooms on the different floors, or other details. The faces and names of patients and friends he recalled with difficulty, or not at all.
His treatment proved to be very difficult, chiefly because he had an infinite number of erroneous ideas about physiological optics in general and his own case in particular, and insisted that all these should be discussed; while these discussions were going on he received no benefit. Every day for hours at a time over a long period he talked and argued. Never have I met a person whose logic was so wonderful, so apparently unanswerable, and yet so utterly wrong.
His eccentric fixation was of such high degree that when he looked at a point forty-five degree to one side of the big C on the Snellen test card, he saw the letter just as black as when he looked directly at it. The strain to do this was terrific, and produced much astigmatism; but the patient was unconscious of it, and could not be convinced that there was anything abnormal in the symptom. If he saw the letter at all, he argued, he must see it as black as it really was, because he was not color-blind. Finally he became able to look away from one of the smaller letters on the card and see it worse than when he looked directly at it. It took eight or nine months to accomplish this, but when it had been done the patient said that it seemed as if a great burden had been lifted from his mind. He experienced a wonderful feeling of rest and relaxation throughout his whole body.
When asked to remember black with his eyes closed and covered he said he could not do so, and he saw every color but the black which one ought normally to see when the optic nerve is not subject to the stimulus of light. He had, however, been an enthusiastic football player at college, and he found at last that he could remember a black football. I asked him to imagine that this football had been thrown into the sea and that it was being carried outward by the tide, becoming constantly smaller but no less black. This he was able to do, and the strain floated with the football, until, by the time the latter had been reduced to the size of a period in a newspaper, the strain was entirely gone. The relief continued as long as he remembered the black spot, but as he could not remember it all the time, I suggested another method of gaining permanent relief. This was to make his sight voluntarily worse, a plan against which he protested with considerable emphasis.
"Good heavens!" he said, "Is not my sight bad enough without making it worse?"
After a week of argument, however, he consented to try the method, and the result was extremely satisfactory. After he had learned to see two or more lights where there was only one, by straining to see a point above the light while still trying to see the light as well as when looking directly at it, he became able to avoid the unconscious strain that had produced his double and multiple vision and was not troubled by these superfluous images any more. In a similar manner other illusions were prevented.
One of the last illusions to disappear was his belief that an effort was required to remember black. His logic on this point was overwhelming, but after many demonstrations he was convinced that no effort was required to let go, and when he realized this, both his vision and his mental condition immediately improved.
He finally became able to read 20/10 or more, and although more than fifty-five years of age, he also read diamond type at from six to twenty-four inches. His night blindness was relieved, his attacks of day blindness ceased, and he told me the color of the eyes of his wife and children. One day he said to me:
"Doctor, I thank you for what you have done for my sight; but no words can express the gratitude I feel for what you have done for my mind."
Some years later he called with his heart full of gratitude, because there had been no relapse.


LYING AS A CAUSE OF MYOPIA

I may claim to have discovered the fact that telling lies is bad for the eyes. Whatever bearing this circumstance may have upon the prevalence of defects of vision, it can easily be demonstrated that it is impossible to say what is not true, even with no intent to deceive, or even to imagine a falsehood, without producing an error of refraction.
If a patient can read all the small letters on the bottom line of the test card, and either deliberately or carelessly miscalls any of them, the retinoscope will indicate an error of refraction. In numerous cases patients have been asked to state their ages incorrectly, or to try to imagine that they were a year older, or a year younger, than they actually were, and in every case when they did this the retinoscope indicated an error of refraction. A patient twenty-five years old had no error of refraction when he looked at a blank wall without trying to see; but if he said he was twenty-six, or if someone else said he was twenty-six, or if he tried to imagine that he was twenty-six, he became myopic. The same thing happened when he stated or tried to imagine that he was twenty-four. When he stated or remembered the truth his vision was normal, but when he stated or imagined an error he had an error of refraction.
Two little girl patients arrived one after the other one day, and the first accused the second of having stopped for an ice-cream soda, which she had been instructed not to do, being somewhat too much addicted to sweets. The second denied the charge, and the first, who had used the retinoscope and knew what it did to people who told lies, said
"Do take the retinoscope and find out."
I followed the suggestion, and having thrown the light into the second child's eye, I asked:
"Did you go to Huyler's?"
"Yes," was the response, and the retinoscope indicated no error of refraction.
"Did you have an ice-cream soda?"
"No," said the child; but the tell-tale shadow moved in a direction opposite to that of the mirror, showing that she had become myopic and was not telling the truth.
The child blushed when I told her this and acknowledged that the retinoscope was right, for she had heard of the ways of the uncanny instrument before and did not know what else it might do to her if she said anything more that was not true.
The fact is that it requires an effort to state what is not true, and this effort always results in a deviation from the normal in the refraction of the eye. So sensitive is the test that if the subject, whether his vision is ordinarily normal or not, pronounces the initials of his name correctly while looking at a blank surface without trying to see, there will be no error of refraction; but if he miscalls one initial, even without any consciousness of effort, and with full knowledge that he is deceiving no one, myopia will be produced.


Suggestions for Myopic Patients

By EMILY A. BATES

IN THE morning when you awaken, before getting out of bed, sit up and palm. Memory helps. While palming, the memory of a flower or of the color of it, of a white cloud with the sun shining behind it, of the blue of the sky, or of any pleasant thing that you can remember perfectly, something that you have seen perfectly, helps. If nothing else can be remembered you can imagine part of the test card and when you imagine some of the letters with your eyes closed and imagine the form of each letter, not trying to remember any particular letter any length of time, because that is a strain, your mind will be relaxed when you get out of bed.
After arising, practice the sway. Always blink while swaying. After the sway do the long swing; let your head and eyes alone, allow your body to do the moving. Pay no attention to stationary objects which appear to be moving as you swing. After practicing the long swing, keep up the blinking while dressing, but do not blink fast. The eyes move gently with every blink and that is a rest. You will notice that heretofore you have stared.
If the test cards can be used for practice before going to business, so much the better. Place the "C" card to the right of you, a little more than arm's length away. Place the black card to the left of you, also a little more than arm's length away. Then place the number card to the left six feet away, and the inverted "E" card to the right of you six feet away. Now start the sway. Pay no attention to anything, but just keep looking right ahead of you at the wall. Blink and keep up the sway. Notice that all cards appear to be moving opposite to the movement of your body. Blink. Never stop blinking, still noticing that the cards move opposite to the movement of the sway. Do not sway too fast; take it easy. Better vision comes without effort. Notice that when things become too blurred that you are staring, that you have forgotten to blink.
When it is noticed that the cards appear to be moving opposite to the movement of the body, then start the long swing, flashing a letter of the "C" card as you swing to the right, then noticing a letter on a line of the black card as you swing to the left. Be sure to move your body and not only your head and eyes. Don't forget to blink. Then while keeping up the long swing, flash a numeral on the number card to the left and then as you swing to the right, flash an inverted "E" on any line of that card. Every day see if you can flash a smaller numeral on one of the lower lines of the number card as well as an "E" pointing either to the right, left, up, or down on one of the lower lines of the "E" card.
The improvement in your vision all depends upon the time that you have to practice in the above way.
If sun treatment can be given on the closed eyelids by placing yourself in the sun, raising your head, and letting the sun shine on the closed eyelids for five minutes or longer, it will help to improve the vision when doing the long swing.
If palming is irksome, just sit comfortably and close the eyes, remembering something pleasant every time the eyes are being rested in this way.
Alternate practicing with the distant cards by placing yourself at a desk. When writing for practice always place your small black card to the right or to the left of your desk and after writing a sentence or two, raise your head and look over to the card at any letter that you see easily without straining. It helps to close the eyes immediately afterward, remembering that letter. Write a few more sentences, again glancing at the card after raising your head in the direction of the letters and not trying hard to see any particular letter.
When large test cards are not used for practice, place two small cards on the window sill if possible and while swaying shift from one card to the other.


Announcements

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

After June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight." They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.]]>

The Optimum Swing - Vision and Education - The Doctor’s Story – Lying as a Cause of Myopia - Stories - From The Clinic; 121. Suggestions For Myopic Patients by Emily A. Bates - Announcements




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

APRIL, 1930

The Optimum Swing




The optimum swing is the swing which gives the best results under different conditions.

Most readers of this magazine and of "Perfect Sight Without Glasses" know about the swing. The swing may be spontaneous; that is to say, when one remembers a letter perfectly or sees a letter perfectly and continuously without any volition on his part he is able to imagine that it has a slow, short, easy swing. The speed is about as fast as one would count orally. The width of the swing is not more than the width of the letter, and it is remembered or imagined as easily as it is possible to imagine anything without any effort whatsoever. The normal swing of normal sight brings the greatest amount of relaxation and should be imagined. When one is able to succeed then it becomes the optimum swing under favorable conditions. Nearsighted persons have this normal optimum swing usually at the near point when the vision is perfect. At the distance where the vision is imperfect the optimum swing is something else. It is not spontaneous but has to be produced by a conscious movement of the eyes and head from side to side and is usually wider than the width of the letter, faster than the normal swing, and not so easily produced.
When one has a headache or a pain in the eyes or in any part of the body the optimum swing is always wider and more difficult to imagine than when one has less strain of the eyes. Under un-favorable conditions the long swing is the optimum swing, but under favorable conditions when the sight is good, the normal swing of the normal eye with normal sight is the optimum swing.
The long swing brings a measure of relief when done right and makes it possible to shorten it down to the normal swing of the normal eye.


Vision and Education

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

POOR sight is admitted to be one of the most fruitful causes of retardation in the schools. It is estimated that it may reasonably be held responsible for a quarter of the habitually "left-backs," and it is commonly assumed that all this might be prevented by suitable glasses.
There is much more involved in defective vision, however, than mere inability to see the blackboard, or to use the eyes without pain or discomfort. Defective vision is the result of an abnormal condition of the mind, and when the mind is in an abnormal condition it is obvious that none of the processes of education can be conducted with advantage. By putting glasses upon a child we may, in some cases, neutralize the effect of this condition upon the eyes and by making the patient more comfortable may improve his mental faculties to some extent, but we do not alter fundamentally the condition of the mind and by confirming it in a bad habit we may make it worse.
It can easily be demonstrated that among the faculties of the mind which are impaired when the vision is impaired is the memory; and as a large part of the educational process consists of storing the mind with facts, and all the other mental processes depend upon one's knowledge of facts, it is easy to see how little is accomplished by merely putting glasses on a child that has "trouble with its eyes." The extraordinary memory of primitive people has been attributed to the fact that, owing to the absence of any convenient means of making written records, they had to depend upon their memories, which were strengthened accordingly; but in view of the known facts about the relation of memory to eyesight it is more reasonable to suppose that the retentive memory of primitive man was due to the same cause as his keen vision: namely, a mind at rest.

Telescopic Vision
The primitive memory as well as primitive keenness of vision have been found among civilized people, and if the necessary tests had been made it would doubtless have been found that they always occur together, as they did in a case which recently came under my observation.
The subject was a child of ten with such marvelous eyesight that she could see the moons of Jupiter with the naked eye, a fact which was demonstrated by her drawing a diagram of these satellites which exactly corresponded to the diagrams made by persons who had used a telescope. Her memory was equally remarkable. She could recite the whole content of a book after reading it, as Lord Macauley is said to have done, and she learned more Latin in a few days without a teacher than her sister, who had six diopters of myopia, had been able to do in several years. She remembered five years afterward what she ate at a restaurant, she recalled the name of the waiter, the number of the building and the street in which it stood. She also remembered what she wore on this occasion and what everyone else in the party wore. The same was true of every other event which had awakened her interest in any way, and it was a favorite amusement in her family to ask her what the menu had been and what people had worn on particular occasions.

When the sight of two persons is different it has been found that their memories differ in exactly the same degree. Two sisters, one of whom had only ordinary good vision, indicated by the formula 20/20, while the other had 20/10, found that the time it took them to learn eight verses of a poem varied in almost exactly the same ratio as their sight. The one whose vision was 20/10 learned eight verses of the poem in fifteen minutes, while the one whose vision was only 20/20 required thirty-one minutes to do the same thing. After palming, the one with ordinary vision learned eight more verses in twenty-one minutes, while the one with 20/10 was only able to reduce her time by two minutes, a variation clearly within the limits of error. In other words, the mind of the latter being already in a normal or nearly normal condition, she could not improve it appreciably by palming, while the former, whose mind was under a strain, was able to gain relaxation, and hence improve her memory, by this means.

When the two eyes of the same person are different a corresponding difference in the memory has been noted according to whether both eyes were open, or the better eye closed.
+ A patient with normal vision in the right eye and half-normal vision in the left when looking at the Snellen test card with both eyes open could remember a period for twenty seconds continuously, but could remember it only ten seconds when the better eye was closed.
+ A patient with half-normal vision in the right eye and one-quarter normal in the left could remember a period for twelve seconds with both eyes open and only six seconds with better eye closed.
+ A third patient with normal sight in the right eye and vision of one-tenth in the left could remember a period twelve seconds with both eyes open and only two seconds when the better eye was closed. In other words if the right eye is better than the left the memory is better when the right eye is open than when only the left eye is open.

School Children
Under the present educational system there is a constant effort to compel the children to remember. These efforts always fail. They spoil both the memory and the sight. The memory cannot be forced any more than the vision can be forced. We remember without effort, just as we see without effort, and the harder we try to remember or see the less we are able to do so.
+ The sort of things we remember are the things that interest us, and the reason children have difficulty in learning their lessons is because they are bored by them. For the same reason, among others, their eyesight becomes impaired, boredom being a condition of mental strain in which it is impossible for the eye to function normally.
Some of the various kinds of compulsion now employed in the educational process may have the effect of awakening interest. Betty Smith's interest in winning a prize, for instance, or in merely getting ahead of Johnny Jones, may have the effect of rousing her interest in lessons that have hitherto bored her, and this interest may develop into a genuine interest in the acquisition of knowledge; but this cannot be said of the various fear incentives still so largely employed by teachers. These, on the contrary, have the effect, usually, of completely paralyzing minds already benumbed by lack of interest, and the effect upon the vision is equally disastrous. Boredom, fear tactics in school causes mental strain, unclear vision.
The fundamental reason, both for poor memory and poor eyesight in school children, in short, is our irrational and unnatural educational system. Montessori has taught us that it is only when children are interested that they can learn. It is equally true that it is only when they are interested that they can see. This fact was strikingly illustrated in the case of one of the two pairs of sisters mentioned above. Phebe, of the keen eyes, who could recite whole books if she happened to be interested in them, disliked mathematics and anatomy extremely, and not only could not learn them but became myopic when they were presented to her mind. She could read letters a quarter of an inch high at twenty feet in a poor light, but when asked to read figures one to two inches high in a good light at ten feet she miscalled half of them. When asked to tell how much 2 and 3 made, she said "4," before finally deciding on "5"; and all the time she was occupied with this disagreeable subject the retinoscope showed that she was myopic. When I asked her to look into my eye with the ophthalmoscope she could see nothing, although a much lower degree of visual acuity is required to note the details of the interior of the eye than to see the moons of Jupiter.

Short-sighted Isabel, on the contrary, had a passion for mathematics and anatomy, and excelled in those subjects. She learned to use the ophthalmoscope as easily as Phebe had learned Latin. Almost immediately she saw the optic nerve, and noted that the center was whiter than the periphery. She saw the light-colored lines, the arteries; and the darker ones, the veins; and she saw the light streaks on the blood-vessels. Some specialists never become able to do this, and no one could do it without normal vision. Isabel's vision, therefore, must have been temporarily normal when she did it. Her vision for figures, although not normal, was better than for letters.
In both these cases the ability to learn and the ability to see went hand in hand with interest. Phebe could read a photographic reduction of the Bible and recite what she had read verbatim, she could see the moons of Jupiter and draw a diagram of them afterwards, because she was interested in these things; but she could not see the interior of the eye, nor see figures even half as well as she saw letters, because these things bored her. When, however, it was suggested to her that it would be a good joke to surprise her teachers, who were always reproaching her for her backwardness in mathematics, by taking a high mark in a coming examination, her interest in the subject awakened and she contrived to learn enough to get seventy-eight percent. In Isabel's case letters were antagonistic. She was not interested in most of the subjects with which they dealt and, therefore, she was backward in those subjects and had become habitually myopic. But when asked to look at objects which aroused an intense interest her vision became normal.
When one is not interested, in short, one's mind is not under control, and without mental control one can neither learn nor see. Not only the memory but all other mental faculties are improved when the eyesight becomes normal. It is a common experience with patients cured of defective sight to find that their ability to do their work has improved.
A teacher whose letter was quoted in an early issue of "Better Eyesight" testified that after gaining perfect eyesight she "knew better how to get at the minds of the pupils," was "more direct, more definite, less diffused, less vague," possessed, in fact, "central fixation of the mind." In another letter she said, "The better my eyesight becomes the greater is my ambition. On the days when my sight is best I have the greatest anxiety to do things."
Another teacher reported that one of her pupils used to sit doing nothing all day long and apparently was not interested in anything. After the test card was introduced into the classroom and his sight improved, he became anxious to learn, and speedily developed into one of the best students in the class. In other words his eyes and his mind became normal together.
Improving close and distant vision activates and integrates the left and right brain hemispheres, improves all left and right hemisphere functions: math, science, art, music, sports, speech, relaxation, energy level…
Exercises to activate and integrate the left and right hemispheres improves the clarity of vision at all distances.

A bookkeeper nearly seventy years of age who had worn glasses for forty years found after he had gained perfect sight without glasses that he could work more rapidly and accurately and with less fatigue than ever in his life before. During busy seasons, or when short of help, he has worked for some weeks at a time from 7 A.M. until 11 P.M. and he reports that he felt less tired at night after he was through than he did in the morning when he started. Previously, although he had done more work than any other man in the office, it always tired him very much. He also noticed an improvement in his temper. Having been so long in the office and knowing so much more about the business than his fellow employees, he was frequently appealed to for advice. These interruptions, before his sight became normal, were very annoying to him and often caused him to lose his temper. Afterward, however, they caused him no irritation whatever. In the case of another patient whose story follows, symptoms of insanity were relieved when the vision became normal.
From all these facts it will be seen that the problems of vision are far more intimately associated with the problems of education than we had supposed, and that they can by no means be solved by putting concave, or convex, or astigmatic lenses before the eyes of the children.


THE DOCTOR'S STORY

One of the most striking cases of the relation of mind to vision that ever came to my attention was that of a physician whose mental troubles, at one time so serious that they suggested to him the idea that he might be going insane, were completely relieved when his sight became normal. He had been seen by many eye and nerve specialists before he came to me and consulted me at last, not because he had any faith in my methods, but because nothing else seemed to be left for him to do. He brought with him quite a collection of glasses prescribed by different men, no two of them being alike. He had worn glasses, he told me, for many months at a time without benefit, and then he had left them off and had been apparently no worse. Outdoor life had also failed to help him. On the advice of some prominent neurologists he had even given up his practice for a couple of years to spend the time upon a ranch, but the vacation had done him no good.
I examined his eyes and found no organic defects and no error of refraction. Yet his vision with each eye was only three-fourths of the normal, and he suffered from double vision and all sorts of unpleasant symptoms. He used to see people standing on their heads, and little devils dancing on the tops of the high buildings. He also had other illusions too numerous to mention in a short paper. At night his sight was so bad that he had difficulty in finding his way about, and when walking along a country road he believed that he saw better when he turned his eyes far to one side and viewed the road with the side of the retina instead of with the center. At variable intervals, without warning and without loss of consciousness, he had attacks of blindness. These caused him great uneasiness, for he was a surgeon with a large and lucrative practice, and he feared that he might have an attack while operating.
His memory was very poor. He could not remember the color of the eyes of any member of his family, although he had seen them all daily for years. Neither could he recall the color of his house, the number of rooms on the different floors, or other details. The faces and names of patients and friends he recalled with difficulty, or not at all.
His treatment proved to be very difficult, chiefly because he had an infinite number of erroneous ideas about physiological optics in general and his own case in particular, and insisted that all these should be discussed; while these discussions were going on he received no benefit. Every day for hours at a time over a long period he talked and argued. Never have I met a person whose logic was so wonderful, so apparently unanswerable, and yet so utterly wrong.
His eccentric fixation was of such high degree that when he looked at a point forty-five degree to one side of the big C on the Snellen test card, he saw the letter just as black as when he looked directly at it. The strain to do this was terrific, and produced much astigmatism; but the patient was unconscious of it, and could not be convinced that there was anything abnormal in the symptom. If he saw the letter at all, he argued, he must see it as black as it really was, because he was not color-blind. Finally he became able to look away from one of the smaller letters on the card and see it worse than when he looked directly at it. It took eight or nine months to accomplish this, but when it had been done the patient said that it seemed as if a great burden had been lifted from his mind. He experienced a wonderful feeling of rest and relaxation throughout his whole body.
When asked to remember black with his eyes closed and covered he said he could not do so, and he saw every color but the black which one ought normally to see when the optic nerve is not subject to the stimulus of light. He had, however, been an enthusiastic football player at college, and he found at last that he could remember a black football. I asked him to imagine that this football had been thrown into the sea and that it was being carried outward by the tide, becoming constantly smaller but no less black. This he was able to do, and the strain floated with the football, until, by the time the latter had been reduced to the size of a period in a newspaper, the strain was entirely gone. The relief continued as long as he remembered the black spot, but as he could not remember it all the time, I suggested another method of gaining permanent relief. This was to make his sight voluntarily worse, a plan against which he protested with considerable emphasis.
"Good heavens!" he said, "Is not my sight bad enough without making it worse?"
After a week of argument, however, he consented to try the method, and the result was extremely satisfactory. After he had learned to see two or more lights where there was only one, by straining to see a point above the light while still trying to see the light as well as when looking directly at it, he became able to avoid the unconscious strain that had produced his double and multiple vision and was not troubled by these superfluous images any more. In a similar manner other illusions were prevented.
One of the last illusions to disappear was his belief that an effort was required to remember black. His logic on this point was overwhelming, but after many demonstrations he was convinced that no effort was required to let go, and when he realized this, both his vision and his mental condition immediately improved.
He finally became able to read 20/10 or more, and although more than fifty-five years of age, he also read diamond type at from six to twenty-four inches. His night blindness was relieved, his attacks of day blindness ceased, and he told me the color of the eyes of his wife and children. One day he said to me:
"Doctor, I thank you for what you have done for my sight; but no words can express the gratitude I feel for what you have done for my mind."
Some years later he called with his heart full of gratitude, because there had been no relapse.


LYING AS A CAUSE OF MYOPIA

I may claim to have discovered the fact that telling lies is bad for the eyes. Whatever bearing this circumstance may have upon the prevalence of defects of vision, it can easily be demonstrated that it is impossible to say what is not true, even with no intent to deceive, or even to imagine a falsehood, without producing an error of refraction.
If a patient can read all the small letters on the bottom line of the test card, and either deliberately or carelessly miscalls any of them, the retinoscope will indicate an error of refraction. In numerous cases patients have been asked to state their ages incorrectly, or to try to imagine that they were a year older, or a year younger, than they actually were, and in every case when they did this the retinoscope indicated an error of refraction. A patient twenty-five years old had no error of refraction when he looked at a blank wall without trying to see; but if he said he was twenty-six, or if someone else said he was twenty-six, or if he tried to imagine that he was twenty-six, he became myopic. The same thing happened when he stated or tried to imagine that he was twenty-four. When he stated or remembered the truth his vision was normal, but when he stated or imagined an error he had an error of refraction.
Two little girl patients arrived one after the other one day, and the first accused the second of having stopped for an ice-cream soda, which she had been instructed not to do, being somewhat too much addicted to sweets. The second denied the charge, and the first, who had used the retinoscope and knew what it did to people who told lies, said
"Do take the retinoscope and find out."
I followed the suggestion, and having thrown the light into the second child's eye, I asked:
"Did you go to Huyler's?"
"Yes," was the response, and the retinoscope indicated no error of refraction.
"Did you have an ice-cream soda?"
"No," said the child; but the tell-tale shadow moved in a direction opposite to that of the mirror, showing that she had become myopic and was not telling the truth.
The child blushed when I told her this and acknowledged that the retinoscope was right, for she had heard of the ways of the uncanny instrument before and did not know what else it might do to her if she said anything more that was not true.
The fact is that it requires an effort to state what is not true, and this effort always results in a deviation from the normal in the refraction of the eye. So sensitive is the test that if the subject, whether his vision is ordinarily normal or not, pronounces the initials of his name correctly while looking at a blank surface without trying to see, there will be no error of refraction; but if he miscalls one initial, even without any consciousness of effort, and with full knowledge that he is deceiving no one, myopia will be produced.


Suggestions for Myopic Patients

By EMILY A. BATES

IN THE morning when you awaken, before getting out of bed, sit up and palm. Memory helps. While palming, the memory of a flower or of the color of it, of a white cloud with the sun shining behind it, of the blue of the sky, or of any pleasant thing that you can remember perfectly, something that you have seen perfectly, helps. If nothing else can be remembered you can imagine part of the test card and when you imagine some of the letters with your eyes closed and imagine the form of each letter, not trying to remember any particular letter any length of time, because that is a strain, your mind will be relaxed when you get out of bed.
After arising, practice the sway. Always blink while swaying. After the sway do the long swing; let your head and eyes alone, allow your body to do the moving. Pay no attention to stationary objects which appear to be moving as you swing. After practicing the long swing, keep up the blinking while dressing, but do not blink fast. The eyes move gently with every blink and that is a rest. You will notice that heretofore you have stared.
If the test cards can be used for practice before going to business, so much the better. Place the "C" card to the right of you, a little more than arm's length away. Place the black card to the left of you, also a little more than arm's length away. Then place the number card to the left six feet away, and the inverted "E" card to the right of you six feet away. Now start the sway. Pay no attention to anything, but just keep looking right ahead of you at the wall. Blink and keep up the sway. Notice that all cards appear to be moving opposite to the movement of your body. Blink. Never stop blinking, still noticing that the cards move opposite to the movement of the sway. Do not sway too fast; take it easy. Better vision comes without effort. Notice that when things become too blurred that you are staring, that you have forgotten to blink.
When it is noticed that the cards appear to be moving opposite to the movement of the body, then start the long swing, flashing a letter of the "C" card as you swing to the right, then noticing a letter on a line of the black card as you swing to the left. Be sure to move your body and not only your head and eyes. Don't forget to blink. Then while keeping up the long swing, flash a numeral on the number card to the left and then as you swing to the right, flash an inverted "E" on any line of that card. Every day see if you can flash a smaller numeral on one of the lower lines of the number card as well as an "E" pointing either to the right, left, up, or down on one of the lower lines of the "E" card.
The improvement in your vision all depends upon the time that you have to practice in the above way.
If sun treatment can be given on the closed eyelids by placing yourself in the sun, raising your head, and letting the sun shine on the closed eyelids for five minutes or longer, it will help to improve the vision when doing the long swing.
If palming is irksome, just sit comfortably and close the eyes, remembering something pleasant every time the eyes are being rested in this way.
Alternate practicing with the distant cards by placing yourself at a desk. When writing for practice always place your small black card to the right or to the left of your desk and after writing a sentence or two, raise your head and look over to the card at any letter that you see easily without straining. It helps to close the eyes immediately afterward, remembering that letter. Write a few more sentences, again glancing at the card after raising your head in the direction of the letters and not trying hard to see any particular letter.
When large test cards are not used for practice, place two small cards on the window sill if possible and while swaying shift from one card to the other.


Announcements

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

After June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight." They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=279 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:03:29 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=279

How Not to Concentrate - Squint and Amblyopia: Their Cure - Case Reports – Case 1, Case 2, Case 3 - Stories From The Clinic; 120. Cases of Squint in the Clinic by Emily A. Bates - Announcements



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

MARCH, 1930

How Not to Concentrate


To remember the letter O of diamond type continuously and within effort proceed as follows:

+ Imagine a little black spot on the right-hand side of the O blacker than the rest of the letter;
then imagine a similar spot on the left-hand side.

+ Shift the attention from the right-hand spot to the left, and observe that every time you think of (look at) the left spot the O appears to move to the right, and every time you think of (look at) the right one it appears to move to the left. This motion, when the shifting is done properly, is very short, less than the width of the letter. Later you may become able to imagine the O without conscious shifting and swinging, but whenever the attention is directed to the matter these things will be noticed.

+ Now do the same with a letter on the test card. If the shifting is normal, it will be noted that the letter can be regarded indefinitely, and that it appears to have a slight motion.

To demonstrate that the attempt to concentrate spoils the memory, or imagination, and the vision:

+ Try to think continuously of a spot on one part of an imagined letter. The spot and the whole letter will soon disappear.

+ Or try to imagine two or more spots, or the whole letter, equally black and distinct at one time. This will be found to be even more difficult.

+ Do the same with a letter on the test card. The results will be the same.

Staring = Trying to see/look at all parts of a object at once, without shifting part to part, (staring, not moving the eyes) or:
Looking at only one part without shifting to other parts (another type of staring) causes strain and blur.



Squint and Amblyopia: Their Cure

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

SQUINT, or strabismus, is that condition of the eyes in which both eyes are not directed to the same point at the same time. One eye may turn out more or less persistently while the other is normal (divergent squint), or it may turn in (convergent squint), or it may look too high or too low while deviating at the same time in an outward or inward direction (vertical squint). Sometimes these conditions change from one eye to another (alternating squint), and sometimes the character of the squint changes in the same eye, divergent squint becoming convergent and vice versa. Sometimes the patient is conscious of seeing two images of the object regarded, and sometimes he is not. Usually there is a lowering of vision in the deviating eye which cannot be improved by glasses, and for which no apparent or sufficient cause can be found. This condition is known as amblyopia and is supposed to be incurable after a very early age, even though the squint may be corrected.
Operations, which are now seldom advised, are admitted to be a gamble. According to Fuchs,1 "their results are as a rule simply cosmetic. The sight of the squinting eye is not influenced by the operation, and only in a few instances is even binocular vision restored." This is an understatement rather than the reverse, for a desirable cosmetic effect cannot be counted upon, and in not a few cases the condition is made worse. Sometimes the affected eye becomes straight and remains straight permanently, but often, after it has remained straight for a shorter or a longer time, it suddenly turns in the opposite direction.
I myself have had both successes and failures from operations. In one case the eyes not only became straight, but binocular single vision—that is, the power of fusing the two visual images into one—was restored, and when I last saw the patient, thirty years after the operation, there had been no change in these conditions. Yet when I reported to the ophthalmological section of the New York Academy of Medicine that I had cut away a quarter of an inch from the tendon of the internal rectus of each eye, the members were unanimous in their opinion that the eyes would certainly turn in the opposite direction in a very short time. In other cases the eyes, after remaining straight for a time, have reverted to their old condition, or turned in the opposite direction. The latter happened once after an apparently perfect result, including the restoration of binocular single vision, which had been permanent for five years. The consequent deformity was terrible. Sometimes I tried to undo the harm resulting from operations, my own and those of others, but invariably I failed.
Glasses, prescribed on the theory that the existence of errors of refraction is responsible for the failure of the two eyes to act together, sometimes appear to do good; but exceptions are numerous, and in many cases they fail even to prevent the condition from becoming steadily worse.
The fusion training of Worth is not believed to be of much use after the age of five or six, and often fails even then, in which case Worth recommends operations.
Fortunately for the victims of this distressing condition, their eyes often become straight spontaneously, regardless of what is or is not done to them. More rarely the vision of the squinting eye is restored. If the sight of the good eye is destroyed, the amblyopic eye is very likely to recover normal vision, often in an incredibly short space of time. In spite of the fact that the text-books agree in assuring us that amblyopia is incurable, many cases of the latter class are on record.
The fact is that both squint and amblyopia, like errors of refraction, are functional troubles, originating entirely in the mind. Both can be produced in normal eyes by a strain to see, and both are immediately relieved when the patient looks at a blank surface and remembers something perfectly. A permanent cure is a mere matter of making this temporary relaxation permanent.
Permanent relaxation can be obtained by any of the methods used in the cure of errors of refraction, but in the case of young children who do not know their letters these methods have to be modified. Such children can be cured by encouraging them to use their eyes on any small objects that interest them. There are many ways in which this can be done, and it is important to devise a variety of means so that the child will not weary of them. For the same reason the presence of other children is at times desirable. There must be no compulsion and no harshness, for as soon as any method ceases to be pleasant it ceases to be beneficial.
The needle, the brush, the pencil, kindergarten and Montessori material, picture books, playing cards, etc., may all be utilized for purposes of eye training. At first it will be necessary to use rather large objects and forms, but as the sight improves the size must be reduced. A child may begin to sew, for instance, with a coarse needle and thread, and will naturally take large stitches. As its sight improves a finer needle should be provided, and the stitches will naturally be smaller. Painting the openings of letters in different colors is an excellent practice, and as the sight improves the size of the letters can be reduced. Map drawing and the study of maps is a good thing, and can be easily adapted to the state of the vision. With a map of the United States a child can begin by picking out all the states of a particular color, and as its sight improves it can pick out the rivers and cities. In drawing maps it can proceed in the same way, beginning with the outlines of countries or states, and with improved vision putting in the details. A paper covered with spots in various colors is another useful thing, as the child gets much amusement and benefit from picking out all the spots of the same color. With improved vision the size of the spots can be reduced and their number increased.
Many interesting games can be devised with playing cards. "Slap Jack" is a good one, as it awakens intense interest and great quickness of vision is required to slap the Jack with the hand the moment its face appears on the table.
These ideas are only suggestions, and any intelligent parent will be able to add to them.


Case Reports

CASE 1

Several years ago, a woman came to me with her daughter, aged ten. The child was suffering from well marked alternate internal squint. Sometimes the right eye would turn in so far that the pupil was covered over by the inner corner of the lids. At other times, the child was observed to be afflicted with internal squint of the left eye. Her mother told me that they had been to several large cities, including the capitols of Europe, where she had hoped to obtain a cure for her daughter's squint.
The child was a great reader and had read many books. Her memory was unusually good. She also had a very good imagination. She could read the ten line of the Snellen test card at more than twenty feet in a good light. When the light was poor and her vision was tested with the aid of a strange card, she was able to imagine correctly each of the four sides of any letter. For example, the letter "E" was the fourth letter on the fifth line of the test card. When the test card was placed thirty feet away in a poor light, she was unable to distinguish the letter as a whole.
After closing her eyes and covering them with the palms of both hands (palming), she imagined the left side of the "E" to be straight. When she imagined the left side of the "E" was curved or open, she strained. She imagined the top straight, and the bottom straight, and the right side open, which was, of course, correct. When any of the sides were imagined wrong, she always strained and was more or less uncomfortable.
She was then asked to imagine the fourth letter on the sixth line. She was still practicing palming. She was able to imagine the left side of the unknown letter to be straight, the top straight, the bottom open, and the right side open. She imagined that the letter was an "F" and was correct.
She was then tested with diamond type at about ten feet from her eyes, a distance at which it was impossible for her to read the letters. She was then told to palm. While palming, she was asked to imagine the first letter of the fourth word, on the fifteenth line of the diamond type. With her eyes closed and covered, she was able, without effort, by imagining each of the four sides correctly to demonstrate a letter "M." She imagined this letter so perfectly that she was able also to imagine other letters of the same word correctly. The exercise of her imagination was continued for an hour during which time she imagined correctly a number of lines of the diamond type. The result was very gratifying, because the squint disappeared in both eyes and the relief was manifest two days later.
The mother supervised the imagination of the fine print for half an hour daily for many days and weeks, with the result that at the end of six months, the child's eyes were still straight. The treatment was then discontinued, and at the end of five years, her eyes still remained straight.


CASE 2

A girl, aged fourteen, had vision of the right eye of 3/200 while that of the left eye was 20/10. When she was two years old the tendon of the muscle which turned the right eye inwards was cut. The result was variable. Sometimes the eye turned in as before, but there were periods when the right eye was straight. Relaxation methods were employed daily with success and the squint became less when the vision improved.
The method which helped the most was to improve the vision of the amblyopic eye by remembering or imagining perfect sight of one letter of 20/10 with the eyes alternately closed and open. The vision of the right eye improved until it became 20/10. The patient was also encouraged to imagine fine print six inches from the right eye. When she succeeded in improving her vision for twenty feet and later her ability to read fine print at six inches, the squint disappeared. Both eyes focused on one point at the same time.

Central fixation or seeing best a letter or other object regarded (in the center of the visual field) while all other points are seen worse (in the peripheral field) is a successful method of curing squint and improving the sight in cases of squint.


CASE 3

A very remarkable patient, a girl aged eight, was treated more than fifteen years ago. The vision of the right eye was 2/200 while that of the left eye was 10/200. The right eye turned in most of the time. The vision of the left eye was improved without glasses by alternately resting the eyes.
An attempt was made to teach her how to see best where she was looking. She very soon acquired the ability to practice central fixation when the larger letters were regarded. The child became much interested when she realized that her eyes felt better, while the vision and squint improved. She practiced central fixation on smaller letters and other objects. The strain which was manifest by the contortions of the muscles of her eyes, face, and other parts of her body disappeared. Her voice became more musical with the improvement of her vision and the subsidence of the squint.
Microscopic Vision
It was remarkable how well she became able to practice central fixation on very small letters and other objects. She would hold a glass slide on which a small drop of blood was mounted, and claim that she saw the red cells, the white cells, and other minute particles with her right eye while the glass slide was pressed against her eyelashes. She was able to read each letter and period in photographic reductions of the Bible, by central fixation.
Many people have complained that they could not see black or imagine a black period for an appreciable length of time. This patient, when palming, stated that black was seen and that with the aid of central fixation even the smallest black periods were seen but they were always moving a distance nearly equal to the width of the period. An effort to see always failed. Distant objects were seen, by central fixation, as far off as it was possible to imagine them.
This patient was able to produce at will, consciously, and continuously, internal squint of the right eye with the left eye straight or could keep the right eye straight while the left eye turned in.


Cases of Squint in the Clinic

By EMILY A. BATES

AMONG the numerous letters we receive from correspondents there was one which drew my attention. Reports of cases are usually from those who have myopia or presbyopia. Cases of squint are less numerous. Most of the patients who have been treated for this trouble have been children whose ages ranged from two years to sixteen years and sometimes up to eighteen. The older ones are usually high school boys. There are just as many cases of squint among girls of school age as there are among boys, but those who have come to me for treatment were mostly boys.
The letter which caught my attention was from a man about 40 years of age who had squint of the left eye. This eye also had myopia and the other eye was farsighted. The man did not mention this in his letter, but explained how difficult it was for him to do his work under constant strain because of his eye trouble. He had subscribed to the "Better Eyesight" magazine and after reading the reports of squint cases, he mustered up courage enough to write and ask for help. To begin with he had very little money to pay for treatment and yet he did not wish to be a charity case. He had lost his wife when his two sons were quite young. Because of his affliction he had no desire to have a housekeeper in his home to take care of himself and his children. His boys were sent out to board but they were dissatisfied and this worried him. This worry caused still more mental strain to the poor man.
When he first wrote for help we could not admit him into our clinic at the Harlem Hospital because patients who lived outside of the hospital district were not admitted there. We gave him a little help for a while and in each letter he wrote he sent a grateful message for the help we were giving him. People who have not been to Dr. Bates or myself are not encouraged to take up correspondence treatment because it is unsatisfactory and we cannot diagnose a case properly under such conditions. Many have been helped by just reading our books, but they are usually the myopic and presbyopic cases.
We gave this patient an appointment for office treatment and with our help he was able to go on with his work and do it more easily and with less strain. Being employed every day and living about forty miles outside of New York City, he could come but once a week. Anyone who understands the treatment of squint cases will realize how difficult it is to make progress with a patient under these conditions. He was a temperamental type and most sensitive because of his eye trouble. For years he had avoided looking at people's faces and when I first met him his voice trembled when he answered my questions. I knew that mental strain was his main trouble.
I decided that the first thing to do was to speak to him in as low and gentle a voice as possible and see what effect that would have upon him. It was easier to speak to him with my eyes closed and while my eyes were closed I asked him to close his. I noticed that having our eyes closed while we talked had a soothing effect upon him because his voice sounded more relaxed and he was pleased because I spent enough time with him to listen to his troubles and the difficulties he had in taking time to practice with his eyes.
His vision for fine print is now normal at six inches, although it was much impaired when he first came for treatment. His vision for the distance improved but only at times did he have normal vision. Other cases of squint have been treated at the clinic but none received the care that he did because it was not required. The mental strain that he had almost constantly was the principal trouble and a stumbling block in the path of permanent benefit within a reasonable time.
In the beginning of the treatment, when I pointed to a letter of the test card at ten feet he would see it and if he forgot to blink regularly or stared at the letter it would disappear entirely and the test card was immediately a blank to him. The methods for treating him were varied from time to time because it was necessary on account of his mental condition. His vision first improved but then he seemed to lose ground and he stayed away from the clinic for a while. When he again returned he could not talk to me for quite a while nor could I treat him until he had finished weeping, which was an unusual sight to see at the clinic.
It is marvelous the fortitude and the splendid way in which some of our clinic folks go about the cure of their eyes. They have so little time to spend for themselves and yet they find the necessary time, even though it is early in the morning and late at night, to practice as they are directed to do. Patients at the Harlem Hospital Clinic have an advantage over patients in our clinic because they may be seen and treated three days each week, but this poor man had to wait until Saturday before he could come and then there were times when his work prevented him from keeping even these weekly appointments. The day he wept he told me that he had contemplated suicide and was about to do so when he remembered my voice and what I said to him at one time, which was that even though his eyes were crossed, others did not notice it as much as he was conscious of it himself. He also remembered what I said about being a coward and not being brave enough to face life as he had to face it, and that there were others who were less fortunate than he was.
I hope that those who have taken up the Bates Method and are practicing it seriously will have an extra amount of consideration for a man like that. His condition could not be reached or improved until he was relieved of tension and strain. After that was accomplished he improved steadily; he still comes for treatment occasionally. He can now read diamond type at six inches with his left eye and right eye separately and can read the fifteen line of the test card with the left eye at ten feet. Only at times is the squint noticeable.

Another squint case which we had lately was that of a little girl aged eight. She seemed to respond right from the start just for the sake of a smile. When I first became acquainted with her, she looked like a very serious little person who seldom smiled. When I greeted her with a smile and said that I could easily help her condition if she would co-operate with me she settled herself comfortably in the large arm chair where I placed her and after I had tested her sight for the distance and told her that closing her eyes to rest them was a benefit to her, she obeyed me. Her vision when tested on November 24 was 15/10 in the right eye and 15/100 in the left eye, the eye with squint. By practicing the sway and blinking, her vision improved to 15/20 in the left eye the first day, a temporary improvement.
A doctor who was especially interested in this case wrote me a letter asking me if I would see what I could do for her. In his letter he told me that glasses did not help or improve the squint and that her duties at school were a great punishment to her because she could not see the blackboard. While treating her in the beginning I used but one test card, which was a black one with white letters. Closing her eyes, remembering her best doll, and explaining to me how it was dressed, improved her vision considerably for the smaller letters of the card. Shifting while she was seated in her chair, looking first at a blank wall and then at the test card also helped to improve her vision, and as her father looked on he commented upon how straight the eye was as she shifted from the wall to the test card.
Purposely I had her stare to see the letters of the card without shifting and immediately her eye turned in as it had when I first tested her sight. Her father was given directions on how to take care of her eyes at home and she got along very nicely when all of a sudden our little girl stayed away and we did not see her for some time. She had retained the better vision she had shown upon her previous treatment and she again took up her eye work very seriously when she returned. Her sister, who is a few years older than she, came with her from time to time and learned how to help Elizabeth at home. A record was kept, not as regularly as we had wished, but it was enough to convince us that she was doing her part at home. The last time she came she read all of the card at normal distance 10/10 and both eyes were straight during the time she read the card.
When such cases are under treatment we cannot emphasize too strongly that using the poor eye or the eye with squint for a period of time each day while the good eye is covered with a patch is a benefit to the poor eye and lessens the squint. I know children do not like to wear a patch, because no one cares to have the eye with good sight covered while the eye under treatment is called upon to see everything for a length of time. At first the patch should be worn for five minutes each day and then the time gradually increased until the patient is able to wear the patch all day long. Every morning and night the test cards should be read with both eyes together and then with the poor eye alone, having the good eye covered.
I do not know of anything which helps more than the long swing, which can be practiced fifty or one hundred times by the patient each morning and night. After the long swing I usually have the patient shorten the swing so that he is able to read one letter at a time of the test card and then sway the body to the left or to the right, whichever is found to be best for the patient. If the right eye turns in it is best to sway to the right and then to the test card which is placed directly in front of the patient. In this way both eyes move at the same time in the same direction and there is no squint visible while the swing and the reading of the test card is going on. When the squint is again noticeable while reading the card and practicing the half swing, it is best to draw the card up a little closer where the patient has less strain while reading. The squint will then be less and the patient can practice better without any discomfort.
The reason why some cases of squint take longer than others is because the patient does not practice enough at home every day. Cases of squint in adults as well as in children need not only supervision but encouragement from those who are fortunate enough to have good sight. No one with imperfect sight ought to try to help such cases at home or away from our office because it cannot be done successfully. The unconscious strain which is evident when the sight is not perfect always produces more strain in the squint case which is under treatment.
One cannot encourage the patient enough to blink often, do the long swing morning and night as Dr. Bates advises often in his articles in this magazine, and if possible to do the long swing 100 times at least twice daily. While the long swing is being practiced, both eyes move together and at such times both eyes are straight. Every day one should notice how long the eye remains straight during treatment. If the eyes remain straight for just a few minutes longer from day to day the improvement will soon be noticed by the patient and this will encourage him to do more practicing.


Announcements

Dr. Bates wishes to announce that the following have recently completed courses of instruction and are authorized to practice the Bates Method:

Miss Mary E. Wilson,
2538 Charming Way,
Berkeley, Calif.
Miss Wilson is the principal of the Anna Head School for Girls in Berkeley and plans to introduce the method into the school for the prevention and cure of imperfect sight in her pupils.

Mr. Harold E. Ensley,
112 West 104th Street, Tel. Academy 6941,
and 45 W. 45th Street, New York City, Tel.
Regent 9483.
Mr. Ensley was formerly a student at Princeton University.

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

We wish to announce that after June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight" They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.

March, 1930

1 - "Text-Book of Ophthalmology," authorized translation from the twelfth German edition by Duane, p. 795.]]>

How Not to Concentrate - Squint and Amblyopia: Their Cure - Case Reports – Case 1, Case 2, Case 3 - Stories From The Clinic; 120. Cases of Squint in the Clinic by Emily A. Bates - Announcements



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

MARCH, 1930

How Not to Concentrate


To remember the letter O of diamond type continuously and within effort proceed as follows:

+ Imagine a little black spot on the right-hand side of the O blacker than the rest of the letter;
then imagine a similar spot on the left-hand side.

+ Shift the attention from the right-hand spot to the left, and observe that every time you think of (look at) the left spot the O appears to move to the right, and every time you think of (look at) the right one it appears to move to the left. This motion, when the shifting is done properly, is very short, less than the width of the letter. Later you may become able to imagine the O without conscious shifting and swinging, but whenever the attention is directed to the matter these things will be noticed.

+ Now do the same with a letter on the test card. If the shifting is normal, it will be noted that the letter can be regarded indefinitely, and that it appears to have a slight motion.

To demonstrate that the attempt to concentrate spoils the memory, or imagination, and the vision:

+ Try to think continuously of a spot on one part of an imagined letter. The spot and the whole letter will soon disappear.

+ Or try to imagine two or more spots, or the whole letter, equally black and distinct at one time. This will be found to be even more difficult.

+ Do the same with a letter on the test card. The results will be the same.

Staring = Trying to see/look at all parts of a object at once, without shifting part to part, (staring, not moving the eyes) or:
Looking at only one part without shifting to other parts (another type of staring) causes strain and blur.



Squint and Amblyopia: Their Cure

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

SQUINT, or strabismus, is that condition of the eyes in which both eyes are not directed to the same point at the same time. One eye may turn out more or less persistently while the other is normal (divergent squint), or it may turn in (convergent squint), or it may look too high or too low while deviating at the same time in an outward or inward direction (vertical squint). Sometimes these conditions change from one eye to another (alternating squint), and sometimes the character of the squint changes in the same eye, divergent squint becoming convergent and vice versa. Sometimes the patient is conscious of seeing two images of the object regarded, and sometimes he is not. Usually there is a lowering of vision in the deviating eye which cannot be improved by glasses, and for which no apparent or sufficient cause can be found. This condition is known as amblyopia and is supposed to be incurable after a very early age, even though the squint may be corrected.
Operations, which are now seldom advised, are admitted to be a gamble. According to Fuchs,1 "their results are as a rule simply cosmetic. The sight of the squinting eye is not influenced by the operation, and only in a few instances is even binocular vision restored." This is an understatement rather than the reverse, for a desirable cosmetic effect cannot be counted upon, and in not a few cases the condition is made worse. Sometimes the affected eye becomes straight and remains straight permanently, but often, after it has remained straight for a shorter or a longer time, it suddenly turns in the opposite direction.
I myself have had both successes and failures from operations. In one case the eyes not only became straight, but binocular single vision—that is, the power of fusing the two visual images into one—was restored, and when I last saw the patient, thirty years after the operation, there had been no change in these conditions. Yet when I reported to the ophthalmological section of the New York Academy of Medicine that I had cut away a quarter of an inch from the tendon of the internal rectus of each eye, the members were unanimous in their opinion that the eyes would certainly turn in the opposite direction in a very short time. In other cases the eyes, after remaining straight for a time, have reverted to their old condition, or turned in the opposite direction. The latter happened once after an apparently perfect result, including the restoration of binocular single vision, which had been permanent for five years. The consequent deformity was terrible. Sometimes I tried to undo the harm resulting from operations, my own and those of others, but invariably I failed.
Glasses, prescribed on the theory that the existence of errors of refraction is responsible for the failure of the two eyes to act together, sometimes appear to do good; but exceptions are numerous, and in many cases they fail even to prevent the condition from becoming steadily worse.
The fusion training of Worth is not believed to be of much use after the age of five or six, and often fails even then, in which case Worth recommends operations.
Fortunately for the victims of this distressing condition, their eyes often become straight spontaneously, regardless of what is or is not done to them. More rarely the vision of the squinting eye is restored. If the sight of the good eye is destroyed, the amblyopic eye is very likely to recover normal vision, often in an incredibly short space of time. In spite of the fact that the text-books agree in assuring us that amblyopia is incurable, many cases of the latter class are on record.
The fact is that both squint and amblyopia, like errors of refraction, are functional troubles, originating entirely in the mind. Both can be produced in normal eyes by a strain to see, and both are immediately relieved when the patient looks at a blank surface and remembers something perfectly. A permanent cure is a mere matter of making this temporary relaxation permanent.
Permanent relaxation can be obtained by any of the methods used in the cure of errors of refraction, but in the case of young children who do not know their letters these methods have to be modified. Such children can be cured by encouraging them to use their eyes on any small objects that interest them. There are many ways in which this can be done, and it is important to devise a variety of means so that the child will not weary of them. For the same reason the presence of other children is at times desirable. There must be no compulsion and no harshness, for as soon as any method ceases to be pleasant it ceases to be beneficial.
The needle, the brush, the pencil, kindergarten and Montessori material, picture books, playing cards, etc., may all be utilized for purposes of eye training. At first it will be necessary to use rather large objects and forms, but as the sight improves the size must be reduced. A child may begin to sew, for instance, with a coarse needle and thread, and will naturally take large stitches. As its sight improves a finer needle should be provided, and the stitches will naturally be smaller. Painting the openings of letters in different colors is an excellent practice, and as the sight improves the size of the letters can be reduced. Map drawing and the study of maps is a good thing, and can be easily adapted to the state of the vision. With a map of the United States a child can begin by picking out all the states of a particular color, and as its sight improves it can pick out the rivers and cities. In drawing maps it can proceed in the same way, beginning with the outlines of countries or states, and with improved vision putting in the details. A paper covered with spots in various colors is another useful thing, as the child gets much amusement and benefit from picking out all the spots of the same color. With improved vision the size of the spots can be reduced and their number increased.
Many interesting games can be devised with playing cards. "Slap Jack" is a good one, as it awakens intense interest and great quickness of vision is required to slap the Jack with the hand the moment its face appears on the table.
These ideas are only suggestions, and any intelligent parent will be able to add to them.


Case Reports

CASE 1

Several years ago, a woman came to me with her daughter, aged ten. The child was suffering from well marked alternate internal squint. Sometimes the right eye would turn in so far that the pupil was covered over by the inner corner of the lids. At other times, the child was observed to be afflicted with internal squint of the left eye. Her mother told me that they had been to several large cities, including the capitols of Europe, where she had hoped to obtain a cure for her daughter's squint.
The child was a great reader and had read many books. Her memory was unusually good. She also had a very good imagination. She could read the ten line of the Snellen test card at more than twenty feet in a good light. When the light was poor and her vision was tested with the aid of a strange card, she was able to imagine correctly each of the four sides of any letter. For example, the letter "E" was the fourth letter on the fifth line of the test card. When the test card was placed thirty feet away in a poor light, she was unable to distinguish the letter as a whole.
After closing her eyes and covering them with the palms of both hands (palming), she imagined the left side of the "E" to be straight. When she imagined the left side of the "E" was curved or open, she strained. She imagined the top straight, and the bottom straight, and the right side open, which was, of course, correct. When any of the sides were imagined wrong, she always strained and was more or less uncomfortable.
She was then asked to imagine the fourth letter on the sixth line. She was still practicing palming. She was able to imagine the left side of the unknown letter to be straight, the top straight, the bottom open, and the right side open. She imagined that the letter was an "F" and was correct.
She was then tested with diamond type at about ten feet from her eyes, a distance at which it was impossible for her to read the letters. She was then told to palm. While palming, she was asked to imagine the first letter of the fourth word, on the fifteenth line of the diamond type. With her eyes closed and covered, she was able, without effort, by imagining each of the four sides correctly to demonstrate a letter "M." She imagined this letter so perfectly that she was able also to imagine other letters of the same word correctly. The exercise of her imagination was continued for an hour during which time she imagined correctly a number of lines of the diamond type. The result was very gratifying, because the squint disappeared in both eyes and the relief was manifest two days later.
The mother supervised the imagination of the fine print for half an hour daily for many days and weeks, with the result that at the end of six months, the child's eyes were still straight. The treatment was then discontinued, and at the end of five years, her eyes still remained straight.


CASE 2

A girl, aged fourteen, had vision of the right eye of 3/200 while that of the left eye was 20/10. When she was two years old the tendon of the muscle which turned the right eye inwards was cut. The result was variable. Sometimes the eye turned in as before, but there were periods when the right eye was straight. Relaxation methods were employed daily with success and the squint became less when the vision improved.
The method which helped the most was to improve the vision of the amblyopic eye by remembering or imagining perfect sight of one letter of 20/10 with the eyes alternately closed and open. The vision of the right eye improved until it became 20/10. The patient was also encouraged to imagine fine print six inches from the right eye. When she succeeded in improving her vision for twenty feet and later her ability to read fine print at six inches, the squint disappeared. Both eyes focused on one point at the same time.

Central fixation or seeing best a letter or other object regarded (in the center of the visual field) while all other points are seen worse (in the peripheral field) is a successful method of curing squint and improving the sight in cases of squint.


CASE 3

A very remarkable patient, a girl aged eight, was treated more than fifteen years ago. The vision of the right eye was 2/200 while that of the left eye was 10/200. The right eye turned in most of the time. The vision of the left eye was improved without glasses by alternately resting the eyes.
An attempt was made to teach her how to see best where she was looking. She very soon acquired the ability to practice central fixation when the larger letters were regarded. The child became much interested when she realized that her eyes felt better, while the vision and squint improved. She practiced central fixation on smaller letters and other objects. The strain which was manifest by the contortions of the muscles of her eyes, face, and other parts of her body disappeared. Her voice became more musical with the improvement of her vision and the subsidence of the squint.
Microscopic Vision
It was remarkable how well she became able to practice central fixation on very small letters and other objects. She would hold a glass slide on which a small drop of blood was mounted, and claim that she saw the red cells, the white cells, and other minute particles with her right eye while the glass slide was pressed against her eyelashes. She was able to read each letter and period in photographic reductions of the Bible, by central fixation.
Many people have complained that they could not see black or imagine a black period for an appreciable length of time. This patient, when palming, stated that black was seen and that with the aid of central fixation even the smallest black periods were seen but they were always moving a distance nearly equal to the width of the period. An effort to see always failed. Distant objects were seen, by central fixation, as far off as it was possible to imagine them.
This patient was able to produce at will, consciously, and continuously, internal squint of the right eye with the left eye straight or could keep the right eye straight while the left eye turned in.


Cases of Squint in the Clinic

By EMILY A. BATES

AMONG the numerous letters we receive from correspondents there was one which drew my attention. Reports of cases are usually from those who have myopia or presbyopia. Cases of squint are less numerous. Most of the patients who have been treated for this trouble have been children whose ages ranged from two years to sixteen years and sometimes up to eighteen. The older ones are usually high school boys. There are just as many cases of squint among girls of school age as there are among boys, but those who have come to me for treatment were mostly boys.
The letter which caught my attention was from a man about 40 years of age who had squint of the left eye. This eye also had myopia and the other eye was farsighted. The man did not mention this in his letter, but explained how difficult it was for him to do his work under constant strain because of his eye trouble. He had subscribed to the "Better Eyesight" magazine and after reading the reports of squint cases, he mustered up courage enough to write and ask for help. To begin with he had very little money to pay for treatment and yet he did not wish to be a charity case. He had lost his wife when his two sons were quite young. Because of his affliction he had no desire to have a housekeeper in his home to take care of himself and his children. His boys were sent out to board but they were dissatisfied and this worried him. This worry caused still more mental strain to the poor man.
When he first wrote for help we could not admit him into our clinic at the Harlem Hospital because patients who lived outside of the hospital district were not admitted there. We gave him a little help for a while and in each letter he wrote he sent a grateful message for the help we were giving him. People who have not been to Dr. Bates or myself are not encouraged to take up correspondence treatment because it is unsatisfactory and we cannot diagnose a case properly under such conditions. Many have been helped by just reading our books, but they are usually the myopic and presbyopic cases.
We gave this patient an appointment for office treatment and with our help he was able to go on with his work and do it more easily and with less strain. Being employed every day and living about forty miles outside of New York City, he could come but once a week. Anyone who understands the treatment of squint cases will realize how difficult it is to make progress with a patient under these conditions. He was a temperamental type and most sensitive because of his eye trouble. For years he had avoided looking at people's faces and when I first met him his voice trembled when he answered my questions. I knew that mental strain was his main trouble.
I decided that the first thing to do was to speak to him in as low and gentle a voice as possible and see what effect that would have upon him. It was easier to speak to him with my eyes closed and while my eyes were closed I asked him to close his. I noticed that having our eyes closed while we talked had a soothing effect upon him because his voice sounded more relaxed and he was pleased because I spent enough time with him to listen to his troubles and the difficulties he had in taking time to practice with his eyes.
His vision for fine print is now normal at six inches, although it was much impaired when he first came for treatment. His vision for the distance improved but only at times did he have normal vision. Other cases of squint have been treated at the clinic but none received the care that he did because it was not required. The mental strain that he had almost constantly was the principal trouble and a stumbling block in the path of permanent benefit within a reasonable time.
In the beginning of the treatment, when I pointed to a letter of the test card at ten feet he would see it and if he forgot to blink regularly or stared at the letter it would disappear entirely and the test card was immediately a blank to him. The methods for treating him were varied from time to time because it was necessary on account of his mental condition. His vision first improved but then he seemed to lose ground and he stayed away from the clinic for a while. When he again returned he could not talk to me for quite a while nor could I treat him until he had finished weeping, which was an unusual sight to see at the clinic.
It is marvelous the fortitude and the splendid way in which some of our clinic folks go about the cure of their eyes. They have so little time to spend for themselves and yet they find the necessary time, even though it is early in the morning and late at night, to practice as they are directed to do. Patients at the Harlem Hospital Clinic have an advantage over patients in our clinic because they may be seen and treated three days each week, but this poor man had to wait until Saturday before he could come and then there were times when his work prevented him from keeping even these weekly appointments. The day he wept he told me that he had contemplated suicide and was about to do so when he remembered my voice and what I said to him at one time, which was that even though his eyes were crossed, others did not notice it as much as he was conscious of it himself. He also remembered what I said about being a coward and not being brave enough to face life as he had to face it, and that there were others who were less fortunate than he was.
I hope that those who have taken up the Bates Method and are practicing it seriously will have an extra amount of consideration for a man like that. His condition could not be reached or improved until he was relieved of tension and strain. After that was accomplished he improved steadily; he still comes for treatment occasionally. He can now read diamond type at six inches with his left eye and right eye separately and can read the fifteen line of the test card with the left eye at ten feet. Only at times is the squint noticeable.

Another squint case which we had lately was that of a little girl aged eight. She seemed to respond right from the start just for the sake of a smile. When I first became acquainted with her, she looked like a very serious little person who seldom smiled. When I greeted her with a smile and said that I could easily help her condition if she would co-operate with me she settled herself comfortably in the large arm chair where I placed her and after I had tested her sight for the distance and told her that closing her eyes to rest them was a benefit to her, she obeyed me. Her vision when tested on November 24 was 15/10 in the right eye and 15/100 in the left eye, the eye with squint. By practicing the sway and blinking, her vision improved to 15/20 in the left eye the first day, a temporary improvement.
A doctor who was especially interested in this case wrote me a letter asking me if I would see what I could do for her. In his letter he told me that glasses did not help or improve the squint and that her duties at school were a great punishment to her because she could not see the blackboard. While treating her in the beginning I used but one test card, which was a black one with white letters. Closing her eyes, remembering her best doll, and explaining to me how it was dressed, improved her vision considerably for the smaller letters of the card. Shifting while she was seated in her chair, looking first at a blank wall and then at the test card also helped to improve her vision, and as her father looked on he commented upon how straight the eye was as she shifted from the wall to the test card.
Purposely I had her stare to see the letters of the card without shifting and immediately her eye turned in as it had when I first tested her sight. Her father was given directions on how to take care of her eyes at home and she got along very nicely when all of a sudden our little girl stayed away and we did not see her for some time. She had retained the better vision she had shown upon her previous treatment and she again took up her eye work very seriously when she returned. Her sister, who is a few years older than she, came with her from time to time and learned how to help Elizabeth at home. A record was kept, not as regularly as we had wished, but it was enough to convince us that she was doing her part at home. The last time she came she read all of the card at normal distance 10/10 and both eyes were straight during the time she read the card.
When such cases are under treatment we cannot emphasize too strongly that using the poor eye or the eye with squint for a period of time each day while the good eye is covered with a patch is a benefit to the poor eye and lessens the squint. I know children do not like to wear a patch, because no one cares to have the eye with good sight covered while the eye under treatment is called upon to see everything for a length of time. At first the patch should be worn for five minutes each day and then the time gradually increased until the patient is able to wear the patch all day long. Every morning and night the test cards should be read with both eyes together and then with the poor eye alone, having the good eye covered.
I do not know of anything which helps more than the long swing, which can be practiced fifty or one hundred times by the patient each morning and night. After the long swing I usually have the patient shorten the swing so that he is able to read one letter at a time of the test card and then sway the body to the left or to the right, whichever is found to be best for the patient. If the right eye turns in it is best to sway to the right and then to the test card which is placed directly in front of the patient. In this way both eyes move at the same time in the same direction and there is no squint visible while the swing and the reading of the test card is going on. When the squint is again noticeable while reading the card and practicing the half swing, it is best to draw the card up a little closer where the patient has less strain while reading. The squint will then be less and the patient can practice better without any discomfort.
The reason why some cases of squint take longer than others is because the patient does not practice enough at home every day. Cases of squint in adults as well as in children need not only supervision but encouragement from those who are fortunate enough to have good sight. No one with imperfect sight ought to try to help such cases at home or away from our office because it cannot be done successfully. The unconscious strain which is evident when the sight is not perfect always produces more strain in the squint case which is under treatment.
One cannot encourage the patient enough to blink often, do the long swing morning and night as Dr. Bates advises often in his articles in this magazine, and if possible to do the long swing 100 times at least twice daily. While the long swing is being practiced, both eyes move together and at such times both eyes are straight. Every day one should notice how long the eye remains straight during treatment. If the eyes remain straight for just a few minutes longer from day to day the improvement will soon be noticed by the patient and this will encourage him to do more practicing.


Announcements

Dr. Bates wishes to announce that the following have recently completed courses of instruction and are authorized to practice the Bates Method:

Miss Mary E. Wilson,
2538 Charming Way,
Berkeley, Calif.
Miss Wilson is the principal of the Anna Head School for Girls in Berkeley and plans to introduce the method into the school for the prevention and cure of imperfect sight in her pupils.

Mr. Harold E. Ensley,
112 West 104th Street, Tel. Academy 6941,
and 45 W. 45th Street, New York City, Tel.
Regent 9483.
Mr. Ensley was formerly a student at Princeton University.

It has come to our attention that certain parties not connected with Dr. Bates in any way are desirous of publishing a periodical called "Better Eyesight." We wish to say that any such use of this title is not with the permission of Dr. Bates or the Central Fixation Publishing Company and that any magazine issued under this title, other than the present one, is not published in the interests of the Bates Method. The title "Better Eyesight" is protected against illegal usage.

We wish to announce that after June, it will be necessary to raise the price of bound volumes of "Better Eyesight" They are now listing at $3.00 per volume and begin with the year 1923. They contain much valuable information and we would suggest that subscribers secure any volume or volumes which they may desire before the price is raised.
We desire to inform our subscribers that the "Better Eyesight" magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.

March, 1930

1 - "Text-Book of Ophthalmology," authorized translation from the twelfth German edition by Duane, p. 795.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=278 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:03:17 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=278

See Things Moving - The Sway - Stories From The Clinic; 119. Why Patients Fail by Emily A. Bates - Case Report - Notice - Announcement



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

FEBRUARY, 1930

See Things Moving

When the sight is perfect the subject is able to observe that all objects regarded appear to be moving. A letter seen at the near point or at the distance appears to move slightly in various directions. The pavement comes toward one in walking, and the houses appear to move in a direction opposite to one's own. In reading, the page appears to move in a direction opposite to that of the eye. If one tries to imagine things stationary, the vision is at once lowered and discomfort and pain may be produced, not only in the eyes and head, but in other parts of the body.
This movement is usually so slight that it is seldom noticed till the attention is called to it, but it may be so conspicuous as to be plainly observable even to persons with markedly imperfect sight.
+If such persons, for instance, hold the hand within six inches of the face and turn the head and eyes rapidly from side to side, the hand will be seen to move in a direction opposite to that of the eyes. If it does not move, it will be found that the patient is straining to see it in the eccentric field. By observing this movement it becomes possible to see or imagine a less conspicuous movement, and thus the patient may gradually become able to observe a slight movement in every object regarded. Some persons with imperfect sight have been cured simply by imagining that they always see things moving.
The world moves. Let it move. All objects move if you let them. Do not interfere with this movement, or try to stop it. This cannot be done without an effort which impairs the efficiency of the eye and mind.


The Sway

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

WHEN one imagines stationary objects to be moving in the same or opposite direction to the movement of the head or eyes when both heels are resting on the floor, it is called the sway. When both heels are lifted from the floor it is not called the sway, but the swing. The apparent movement of stationary objects may be horizontal, vertical, or at any angle. The sway is a very valuable thing to use because it promotes relaxation or rest much better than many other methods. In fact, so general is this conclusion that I always try to have every patient practice the sway immediately upon starting treatment.
The sway may be practiced rapidly or slowly and with a wide or a narrow motion. When the sway is practiced, distant objects are covered more or less completely, which explains why rest is obtained. When the sway is used properly, all stationary objects regarded appear to be moving. Whether the sway is short or long, if practiced properly, the vision is usually improved after other methods have failed.

Distant objects move in the same direction the eyes, head/body move to and close objects move in the opposite direction.
In reality, distant objects appear to move opposite but the movement is so slow that they appear to move opposite especially when there is a close object in front of the distant object.

Patients suffering from insomnia are much benefited by the sway. They soon become able to sleep at night and a maximum amount of rest is obtained. Most people with imperfect sight have a constant strain and tension of nearly all the muscles of the body. The nerves are also under a strain and their efficiency is frequently lost. By practicing the sway properly, fatigue is relieved as well as pain, dizziness, and other symptoms. The sway always brings about a relief from the effort of trying to see, staring, or concentration.
The normal eye needs relaxation or rest; it does not always have normal sight. When it is at rest it always has normal sight. Things which are done by the patient to improve the sight do not always succeed. There are many ways of improving the sight by the sway, provided it is practiced correctly. I remember a patient who came to me about ten years ago, who went to London to obtain relief from a severe and constant pain in her eyes and head. She could obtain no relief in London and was advised to come to me. When I saw her, she was in a pitiful condition from the constant pain which was often present every hour during the day and at night. Many people suffer from pain unconsciously during the night and the characteristic symptom is pain the first thing in the morning as soon as the patient becomes conscious.

(Trying to see all areas of the visual field at the same time, central and peripheral field, equally clear. Placing the object of visual attention in the peripheral field, moving the eyes and head/face in opposite directions. These are all types of diffusion, eccentric fixation, the opposite of central fixation.)

This patient had eccentric fixation simultaneously practiced unconsciously most of the time when the patient was conscious. She was examined and shown that when she practiced the sway with her eyes moving in one direction and her head in the opposite direction, the result was a very bad strain which was very painful. This is another illustration of the fact that many things which can be practiced properly can also be practiced improperly. I do not know of a pain which is more severe than that which happens when the eyes are moved in one direction while the body moves in the opposite direction. This method of practicing the sway is to be condemned because of its bad results in producing pain and other symptoms. When this patient practiced the sway properly, her pain disappeared.

A physician wrote to me about his ten-year old son. The vision of the left eye was good, but the vision of the right eye was very poor because the center of sight was gone. As a result of an injury his central vision was lost and one could see that the retina was destroyed, forming a disk of about one quarter of the size of the papilla of the optic nerve. When examined with the ophthalmoscope it was found that the center of sight had been destroyed over an area of one eighth of the size of the papilla of the optic nerve. The boy was treated for about six months and much to my surprise his vision improved and became normal in the injured eye by the practice of the sway, without any other treatment.

A third patient was treated for central scatoma. The vision of the left eye was normal but that of the right eye was very poor. The principal cause of her defective sight in the right eye was inflammation of the retina and choroid. She had called on many physicians and most of them told her very positively that she would become blind in the right eye and later on blind in the left eye. When she came to see me she was almost frantic with apprehension and with tears in her eyes she begged me to help her. I was having very good results with the sway and knowing very well that the sway could do her no injury I did not hesitate in having her practice it. In two weeks she was cured and had perfect sight in each eye.

About fifteen years ago an elderly woman was ushered into my office. It seems that she had traveled all over the country consulting prominent ophthalmologists, but had had no success in obtaining relief. She gave a history of constant pain, constant fatigue, inability to sleep at night, and many other symptoms which she could not describe. She told me that if she could only find out what was wrong with her, she might by some possibility obtain relief. She had so many and varied symptoms of discomfort that she could not discover the cause of her trouble. Every doctor who examined her admitted that he did not know what was wrong. Her sight for distant vision was good, and although over fifty years of age she had no presbyopia and could read diamond type at six inches rapidly, easily, without discomfort. In fact there were times when she could read all night without fatigue, but suffered from some discomfort that she could not describe. In other words she did not know what was the matter with herself.
Blindness was expected by some doctors in the course of two or three years. Some other doctors believed that she could live for only one year without becoming totally blind. I told the lady that I did not know what was the matter with her either, but I believed that she could be cured even without any diagnosis being made, or without discovering the cause of her trouble. Then I said to the lady: "Place your finger about opposite the lower part of the chin and then move your head and eyes from side to side. When you do it properly, you can imagine the finger to be moving and there will come to you a relief from all the various troubles from which you suffer." She started to do as I suggested and by watching her very closely it was quite easy to keep her head and eyes moving as they should. This sway was a great relief to all the troubles of which the patient complained and it gave complete relief to many discomforts from which she had suffered.

A woman from Washington came for treatment of disease and blindness of the central part of the right eye. The left eye was nearly normal, with good vision. She had been told that the right eye was inflamed to such an extent that it was probable that it would require a long time, many months, before the symptoms were relieved. When she moved her head and eyes a short distance from side to side, the test card five feet away and other stationary objects appeared to move in the opposite direction. But when her right eye moved to the left while her head was moved in the opposite direction, pain and imperfect sight were produced. The sway was practiced daily and in a few weeks her vision became normal in both eyes.


Why Patients Fail

By EMILY A. BATES

ON PAGE 15 of my book, "Stories From The Clinic" I have suggestions which if read by patients would help them to do the right thing while taking treatment for their eyes. Suggestion Number One reads as follows: "If the vision of the patient is improved under the care of the doctor, and the patient neglects to practice, when he leaves the office, what he is told to do at home, the treatment has been of no benefit whatever. The improved vision was only temporary. Faithful practice permanently improves the sight to normal." This does not mean one must work hours at a time, practicing the advice given for the improvement of sight, but it does mean that he should devote as much time as possible to practice and not make hard work of it.
We have repeated in a great number of articles that it only takes a minute to test the sight with a test card and if the patient practices a few minutes in the morning, it will help a great deal during the day. If at any time during the day, a strain is produced for some reason or another, the memory of one of the test card letters which was seen perfectly usually relieves all symptoms of strain and discomfort. Sometimes relief is only for a minute or two, but if the patient can remind himself to do this several times a day, the improved vision remains for a long time. Even with errors of refraction and organic diseases, the symptoms are lessened by the memory of a known letter or a known object seen clearly.
Most people, even those who have no trouble with their eyes, feel relieved from strain and discomfort of other parts of the body by the memory of some pleasant scenery or beautiful colors which are remembered without effort. There are certain shades of color which do produce mental strain and at the same time cause a lowering of the vision. Green, no matter what shade of green it may be, is usually a rest and relaxation to the mind and eyes. Personally I can relax immediately if I am suffering from mental strain, which is frequently the case, by thinking of a Nile green shade or any object of that color.

Perhaps I can make myself understood better by telling about a case of hypermetropia in a woman, fifty-one years old, whose sight was poor for the near point as well as for the distance. She suffered from a great deal of pain and discomfort in her eyes at times. I tested her sight for colors, using different shades of yarn which I held exposed to her view at a point about ten feet from her eyes. She wore a light colored dress which had the combined shades of brown, tan, and yellow. She mentioned the different shades of yarn as I held them up for her to see and when I placed before her a shade of black yarn, she said: "Isn't it funny that I don't care for black especially."
Here was a problem. For years the doctor had helped patients by the memory of black, usually remembered by the patient with his eyes closed. For some time we had made good progress in benefiting patients' eyes by having them remember colors with their eyes closed and imagining one period blacker than another and then vice versa. I had planned to treat this woman in this way, using a colon as an object. I immediately removed that thought from my mind and planned to help her in some other way. Some of our test cards have red and green lines which are sometimes a great help in improving the patient's vision for the smaller letters at a distance of ten feet or further. Testing her with these cards and improving her sight with the memory of the green colored line not only helped the patient's eyes, but also relieved the symptoms of pain and discomfort that she had had for some time.
At this patient's second treatment she gave me a report of the progress she had made while practicing at home. She enjoyed drawing, which I advised her to continue to do, and then for pastime while she was practicing she used different colored crayons for the drawings. She brought the drawings with her, and we thought they were beautifully done. At her second visit she wore a black gown, and all through her treatment I had to listen patiently for twenty minutes to her account of the sadness she had had through her life, of the care that some of the members of her family were to her, and of how hard it was for her to remain cheerful.
I tested her sight and found it about the same as it was before I treated her in the beginning. I made the room unusually bright by using the thermolite as well as the ceiling lights which we have in our office. I then started testing her sight for colors at fifteen feet, using the yarns again and while it took a little longer to have her mention the colors correctly, I did succeed finally in making her forget about her family troubles and worries. I wanted to be sure that I was right about the change of temperament because of her black gown, so mentioned it to her and told her to remember black while palming. Instead of being quiet she talked incessantly of her pain and the operations that she had had from time to time and the only way I could quiet her was to tell her that I had several of them myself but that I did not worry about them any longer. I asked her if she had read Irvin Cobb's book on operations and told her some of the funny stories which were in his little book. She soon found out that I did not care to discuss operations.
What I want to explain at this point is that color has a great deal to do with mind strain. I believe that people are much happier now that brighter color combinations are being used in our homes.

Modern teachers state that a dislike for certain colors can be caused by left and right brain hemisphere imbalance, one hemisphere or part of the brain not as active as the other hemisphere/areas of the brain. A unpleasant past or present experience that is associated with a certain color can also cause dislike for the color. Removing the negative thoughts, emotions associated with the color enables the person to enjoy the color. A lady that disliked the color yellow had worked in a factory where most of the toy items were yellow. She was abused by employees at the factory. After practicing deep relaxation, left and right brain hemisphere activation and integration exercises, color treatment, replacing the negative thoughts, emotions associated with the factory with positive ones, finding a better job and associating the color yellow with the shiny, bright golden color of the pollen in the center of a dandelion in the sunlight; she came to like and generative a positive feeling when seeing the color yellow.
Exposing the person to a color they dislike, in a positive way can activate the brain hemisphere/area of the brain that is suppressed for equal activation and integration of the left and right hemispheres and bring to the surface unpleasant thought emotions associated with the color, enabling their release and replacement with positive thought, emotions and clear vision.
Dr. Bates and Emily’s method of using colored yarn, crayons, remembering, imagining colors is an original version of modern Natural Vision Improvement Color Treatment.

Sometime ago I had a patient over sixty years of age who had double vision almost all the time. Large objects were seen single but small objects were always seen double. Test card reading was not easy for this patient so I had to conceal every letter on the test card with the exception of one. After he mentioned that one correctly it was covered over and another letter was exposed to view. If he looked at a card longer than a fraction of a second, without turning his head either to the right or to the left, he would always see the letter double. Shifting quickly from a letter to the blank wall on either side of our room helped him to see the letter single and not double when he looked at it again. He was told to do the long shift when he practiced with the card and to shift only an inch or two to the right or to the left whenever he was looking at anything else either up close or at the distance.
This patient did not come regularly for treatment, but he came off and on for about a year, when he was finally cured of his double vision. A variety of flowers which were growing near his home helped when he was outdoors where he practiced the sway of the body, moving from left to right and always remembering to blink. As he did this he saw the flowers as they were, instead of seeing them double which had been his trouble for many years.
Tension in/on the muscles, nerves, vertebrae in the neck, can disrupt eye muscle, eye, brain, ear function resulting in unclear vision, double vision... Relaxation, movement of the neck removes the blur and double vision.

At the present time we have a little child taking treatment for blindness in one eye. Both eyes have cataract, but the left eye also has scar tissue in the cornea. Apparently there was not any sight in the left eye because there was no red reflex seen when the ophthalmoscope was used. Toys of different colors were placed before her and as she mentioned the names of each of the animals they were placed on the floor at a distance of five feet or farther. At this distance she sometimes made a mistake in naming the animal. The harder she tried to see the toy at the distance, the more blind she became.
I taught her the long swing, having her shorten the swing to a short sway of the body and advising her to blink as she swayed. She then became able to name the animals correctly as they were placed a few feet farther, but only when she mentioned the color of the toy first. Just by blinking as she swayed she remembered for part of a minute the color of the animal she was asked to mention. When she was not reminded to blink or to keep up the sway she made an error in naming the animal.
It is good to have someone in the room while such patients are under treatment, especially if they are to help the patient away from our office. They can understand very readily why some patients fail when they stare even for only a fraction of a second. It is necessary constantly to remind the patient that in order to bring about a permanent benefit, he must not fail to do as he is advised when away from the office.
Failure to remember a color with the eyes closed lowers the vision and causes the sight to become imperfect. Failure to take time enough to practice or to read the chart every day is a mistake and causes failure. Daily practice counts, no matter how little time one has. After all, the Bates Method is eye education. To miss one day in the cure of the eyes when they need attention for the improvement of sight is much like failure to study a certain lesson each day in school, or to attend to any work which requires daily study or practice. In most cases when improvement is made in the sight by a teacher of eye education it is only a temporary one, but it is enough to encourage the patient to keep on with the practice until the sight becomes normal. Patients who are cured in one visit are those who can retain the relaxation and rest which is the foundation of the method.
Eye diseases such as atrophy of the optic nerve, iritis, glaucoma, and cataract, are always benefited when the patient does not neglect to practice every day. The sight of patients who suffer from organic diseases is usually very poor. All organic diseases become less when the sight improves by relaxation and rest.


Case Report

(Editor's Note—We believe that the following letter will prove of interest to our readers. Dr. Rath, of 115 Francis St., Jackson, Mich., has recently completed a course of instruction and, as the following report of a case indicates, he is already doing splendid work.)

Dear Dr. and Mrs. Bates:
It just occurred to me that you might be interested to know how I am coming on with the little boy that had so many doctors. We call him "the little boy of the forty doctors." His name is Stanley and when Stanley's father first came to me he had just about given up hope. He remarked that Stanley lived in a world all his own. He did not play much with other boys because he could not see. Stanley spent most of his time with his mother when not in school.
The school physician placed Stanley in the "Eye Saving School." They use great large letters in all their books.
Stanley's father was not satisfied with his last doctor and really did not know what to do. He talked to the superintendent at the factory where he works about it, and he sent him to us for advice. Having just returned from No. 18 E. 48th Street, full of inspiration, I told him to bring the boy down and let me look at him. He has now been to see me just ten times. He is now reading the bottom line on the C chart, the white card with black letters, 10/10 vision, and the bottom line on the little hand chart. He does not do this very rapidly, but he is doing it.
I wish you could see him do the "long swing." He does this with a grace that is charming.
The last time they came, his mother told me that Stanley's complexion had actually changed since he began the "Bates System." The neighbors are noticing the great change in the lad, and the mother and father want to send him to the regular school. I don't know how we will come out in this respect as they likely will not believe he can see well enough. I had him bring with him a book that they use in the regular school, and he reads it without the least difficulty. He plays with the other boys, and he tells me, in playing ball, he not only sees it, but he can hit it too.
Every time Stanley comes to see me he is just a little better. When I first saw him he was downcast; now he is happy and buoyant.
I am doing wonderfully well with the "Bates System" and if it were not for making a tedious and long letter I would write you more.

With best wishes,
Sincerely,
(Signed) John A. Rath.

P.S.—I neglected to state that when Stanley was first brought to me he was seeing all colors of the rainbow, especially green. This has all ceased.


Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.


We wish to inform our subscribers that the Better Eyesight Magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.


Announcement

Dr. Bates takes pleasure in announcing that the following have recently completed courses of instruction under him and he highly recommends them to anyone desiring their services:

Miss Clara M. Brewster,
Studio 6, Aquila Court,
Omaha, Nebraska.

Mr. Fred Baechtold,
633 Hudson Ave.,
West New York, New Jersey.

Mr. Baechtold will be pleased to visit those patients who desire to receive treatment at home.
Appointments can be arranged by telephoning him at Palisade 7735.]]>

See Things Moving - The Sway - Stories From The Clinic; 119. Why Patients Fail by Emily A. Bates - Case Report - Notice - Announcement



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

FEBRUARY, 1930

See Things Moving

When the sight is perfect the subject is able to observe that all objects regarded appear to be moving. A letter seen at the near point or at the distance appears to move slightly in various directions. The pavement comes toward one in walking, and the houses appear to move in a direction opposite to one's own. In reading, the page appears to move in a direction opposite to that of the eye. If one tries to imagine things stationary, the vision is at once lowered and discomfort and pain may be produced, not only in the eyes and head, but in other parts of the body.
This movement is usually so slight that it is seldom noticed till the attention is called to it, but it may be so conspicuous as to be plainly observable even to persons with markedly imperfect sight.
+If such persons, for instance, hold the hand within six inches of the face and turn the head and eyes rapidly from side to side, the hand will be seen to move in a direction opposite to that of the eyes. If it does not move, it will be found that the patient is straining to see it in the eccentric field. By observing this movement it becomes possible to see or imagine a less conspicuous movement, and thus the patient may gradually become able to observe a slight movement in every object regarded. Some persons with imperfect sight have been cured simply by imagining that they always see things moving.
The world moves. Let it move. All objects move if you let them. Do not interfere with this movement, or try to stop it. This cannot be done without an effort which impairs the efficiency of the eye and mind.


The Sway

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

WHEN one imagines stationary objects to be moving in the same or opposite direction to the movement of the head or eyes when both heels are resting on the floor, it is called the sway. When both heels are lifted from the floor it is not called the sway, but the swing. The apparent movement of stationary objects may be horizontal, vertical, or at any angle. The sway is a very valuable thing to use because it promotes relaxation or rest much better than many other methods. In fact, so general is this conclusion that I always try to have every patient practice the sway immediately upon starting treatment.
The sway may be practiced rapidly or slowly and with a wide or a narrow motion. When the sway is practiced, distant objects are covered more or less completely, which explains why rest is obtained. When the sway is used properly, all stationary objects regarded appear to be moving. Whether the sway is short or long, if practiced properly, the vision is usually improved after other methods have failed.

Distant objects move in the same direction the eyes, head/body move to and close objects move in the opposite direction.
In reality, distant objects appear to move opposite but the movement is so slow that they appear to move opposite especially when there is a close object in front of the distant object.

Patients suffering from insomnia are much benefited by the sway. They soon become able to sleep at night and a maximum amount of rest is obtained. Most people with imperfect sight have a constant strain and tension of nearly all the muscles of the body. The nerves are also under a strain and their efficiency is frequently lost. By practicing the sway properly, fatigue is relieved as well as pain, dizziness, and other symptoms. The sway always brings about a relief from the effort of trying to see, staring, or concentration.
The normal eye needs relaxation or rest; it does not always have normal sight. When it is at rest it always has normal sight. Things which are done by the patient to improve the sight do not always succeed. There are many ways of improving the sight by the sway, provided it is practiced correctly. I remember a patient who came to me about ten years ago, who went to London to obtain relief from a severe and constant pain in her eyes and head. She could obtain no relief in London and was advised to come to me. When I saw her, she was in a pitiful condition from the constant pain which was often present every hour during the day and at night. Many people suffer from pain unconsciously during the night and the characteristic symptom is pain the first thing in the morning as soon as the patient becomes conscious.

(Trying to see all areas of the visual field at the same time, central and peripheral field, equally clear. Placing the object of visual attention in the peripheral field, moving the eyes and head/face in opposite directions. These are all types of diffusion, eccentric fixation, the opposite of central fixation.)

This patient had eccentric fixation simultaneously practiced unconsciously most of the time when the patient was conscious. She was examined and shown that when she practiced the sway with her eyes moving in one direction and her head in the opposite direction, the result was a very bad strain which was very painful. This is another illustration of the fact that many things which can be practiced properly can also be practiced improperly. I do not know of a pain which is more severe than that which happens when the eyes are moved in one direction while the body moves in the opposite direction. This method of practicing the sway is to be condemned because of its bad results in producing pain and other symptoms. When this patient practiced the sway properly, her pain disappeared.

A physician wrote to me about his ten-year old son. The vision of the left eye was good, but the vision of the right eye was very poor because the center of sight was gone. As a result of an injury his central vision was lost and one could see that the retina was destroyed, forming a disk of about one quarter of the size of the papilla of the optic nerve. When examined with the ophthalmoscope it was found that the center of sight had been destroyed over an area of one eighth of the size of the papilla of the optic nerve. The boy was treated for about six months and much to my surprise his vision improved and became normal in the injured eye by the practice of the sway, without any other treatment.

A third patient was treated for central scatoma. The vision of the left eye was normal but that of the right eye was very poor. The principal cause of her defective sight in the right eye was inflammation of the retina and choroid. She had called on many physicians and most of them told her very positively that she would become blind in the right eye and later on blind in the left eye. When she came to see me she was almost frantic with apprehension and with tears in her eyes she begged me to help her. I was having very good results with the sway and knowing very well that the sway could do her no injury I did not hesitate in having her practice it. In two weeks she was cured and had perfect sight in each eye.

About fifteen years ago an elderly woman was ushered into my office. It seems that she had traveled all over the country consulting prominent ophthalmologists, but had had no success in obtaining relief. She gave a history of constant pain, constant fatigue, inability to sleep at night, and many other symptoms which she could not describe. She told me that if she could only find out what was wrong with her, she might by some possibility obtain relief. She had so many and varied symptoms of discomfort that she could not discover the cause of her trouble. Every doctor who examined her admitted that he did not know what was wrong. Her sight for distant vision was good, and although over fifty years of age she had no presbyopia and could read diamond type at six inches rapidly, easily, without discomfort. In fact there were times when she could read all night without fatigue, but suffered from some discomfort that she could not describe. In other words she did not know what was the matter with herself.
Blindness was expected by some doctors in the course of two or three years. Some other doctors believed that she could live for only one year without becoming totally blind. I told the lady that I did not know what was the matter with her either, but I believed that she could be cured even without any diagnosis being made, or without discovering the cause of her trouble. Then I said to the lady: "Place your finger about opposite the lower part of the chin and then move your head and eyes from side to side. When you do it properly, you can imagine the finger to be moving and there will come to you a relief from all the various troubles from which you suffer." She started to do as I suggested and by watching her very closely it was quite easy to keep her head and eyes moving as they should. This sway was a great relief to all the troubles of which the patient complained and it gave complete relief to many discomforts from which she had suffered.

A woman from Washington came for treatment of disease and blindness of the central part of the right eye. The left eye was nearly normal, with good vision. She had been told that the right eye was inflamed to such an extent that it was probable that it would require a long time, many months, before the symptoms were relieved. When she moved her head and eyes a short distance from side to side, the test card five feet away and other stationary objects appeared to move in the opposite direction. But when her right eye moved to the left while her head was moved in the opposite direction, pain and imperfect sight were produced. The sway was practiced daily and in a few weeks her vision became normal in both eyes.


Why Patients Fail

By EMILY A. BATES

ON PAGE 15 of my book, "Stories From The Clinic" I have suggestions which if read by patients would help them to do the right thing while taking treatment for their eyes. Suggestion Number One reads as follows: "If the vision of the patient is improved under the care of the doctor, and the patient neglects to practice, when he leaves the office, what he is told to do at home, the treatment has been of no benefit whatever. The improved vision was only temporary. Faithful practice permanently improves the sight to normal." This does not mean one must work hours at a time, practicing the advice given for the improvement of sight, but it does mean that he should devote as much time as possible to practice and not make hard work of it.
We have repeated in a great number of articles that it only takes a minute to test the sight with a test card and if the patient practices a few minutes in the morning, it will help a great deal during the day. If at any time during the day, a strain is produced for some reason or another, the memory of one of the test card letters which was seen perfectly usually relieves all symptoms of strain and discomfort. Sometimes relief is only for a minute or two, but if the patient can remind himself to do this several times a day, the improved vision remains for a long time. Even with errors of refraction and organic diseases, the symptoms are lessened by the memory of a known letter or a known object seen clearly.
Most people, even those who have no trouble with their eyes, feel relieved from strain and discomfort of other parts of the body by the memory of some pleasant scenery or beautiful colors which are remembered without effort. There are certain shades of color which do produce mental strain and at the same time cause a lowering of the vision. Green, no matter what shade of green it may be, is usually a rest and relaxation to the mind and eyes. Personally I can relax immediately if I am suffering from mental strain, which is frequently the case, by thinking of a Nile green shade or any object of that color.

Perhaps I can make myself understood better by telling about a case of hypermetropia in a woman, fifty-one years old, whose sight was poor for the near point as well as for the distance. She suffered from a great deal of pain and discomfort in her eyes at times. I tested her sight for colors, using different shades of yarn which I held exposed to her view at a point about ten feet from her eyes. She wore a light colored dress which had the combined shades of brown, tan, and yellow. She mentioned the different shades of yarn as I held them up for her to see and when I placed before her a shade of black yarn, she said: "Isn't it funny that I don't care for black especially."
Here was a problem. For years the doctor had helped patients by the memory of black, usually remembered by the patient with his eyes closed. For some time we had made good progress in benefiting patients' eyes by having them remember colors with their eyes closed and imagining one period blacker than another and then vice versa. I had planned to treat this woman in this way, using a colon as an object. I immediately removed that thought from my mind and planned to help her in some other way. Some of our test cards have red and green lines which are sometimes a great help in improving the patient's vision for the smaller letters at a distance of ten feet or further. Testing her with these cards and improving her sight with the memory of the green colored line not only helped the patient's eyes, but also relieved the symptoms of pain and discomfort that she had had for some time.
At this patient's second treatment she gave me a report of the progress she had made while practicing at home. She enjoyed drawing, which I advised her to continue to do, and then for pastime while she was practicing she used different colored crayons for the drawings. She brought the drawings with her, and we thought they were beautifully done. At her second visit she wore a black gown, and all through her treatment I had to listen patiently for twenty minutes to her account of the sadness she had had through her life, of the care that some of the members of her family were to her, and of how hard it was for her to remain cheerful.
I tested her sight and found it about the same as it was before I treated her in the beginning. I made the room unusually bright by using the thermolite as well as the ceiling lights which we have in our office. I then started testing her sight for colors at fifteen feet, using the yarns again and while it took a little longer to have her mention the colors correctly, I did succeed finally in making her forget about her family troubles and worries. I wanted to be sure that I was right about the change of temperament because of her black gown, so mentioned it to her and told her to remember black while palming. Instead of being quiet she talked incessantly of her pain and the operations that she had had from time to time and the only way I could quiet her was to tell her that I had several of them myself but that I did not worry about them any longer. I asked her if she had read Irvin Cobb's book on operations and told her some of the funny stories which were in his little book. She soon found out that I did not care to discuss operations.
What I want to explain at this point is that color has a great deal to do with mind strain. I believe that people are much happier now that brighter color combinations are being used in our homes.

Modern teachers state that a dislike for certain colors can be caused by left and right brain hemisphere imbalance, one hemisphere or part of the brain not as active as the other hemisphere/areas of the brain. A unpleasant past or present experience that is associated with a certain color can also cause dislike for the color. Removing the negative thoughts, emotions associated with the color enables the person to enjoy the color. A lady that disliked the color yellow had worked in a factory where most of the toy items were yellow. She was abused by employees at the factory. After practicing deep relaxation, left and right brain hemisphere activation and integration exercises, color treatment, replacing the negative thoughts, emotions associated with the factory with positive ones, finding a better job and associating the color yellow with the shiny, bright golden color of the pollen in the center of a dandelion in the sunlight; she came to like and generative a positive feeling when seeing the color yellow.
Exposing the person to a color they dislike, in a positive way can activate the brain hemisphere/area of the brain that is suppressed for equal activation and integration of the left and right hemispheres and bring to the surface unpleasant thought emotions associated with the color, enabling their release and replacement with positive thought, emotions and clear vision.
Dr. Bates and Emily’s method of using colored yarn, crayons, remembering, imagining colors is an original version of modern Natural Vision Improvement Color Treatment.

Sometime ago I had a patient over sixty years of age who had double vision almost all the time. Large objects were seen single but small objects were always seen double. Test card reading was not easy for this patient so I had to conceal every letter on the test card with the exception of one. After he mentioned that one correctly it was covered over and another letter was exposed to view. If he looked at a card longer than a fraction of a second, without turning his head either to the right or to the left, he would always see the letter double. Shifting quickly from a letter to the blank wall on either side of our room helped him to see the letter single and not double when he looked at it again. He was told to do the long shift when he practiced with the card and to shift only an inch or two to the right or to the left whenever he was looking at anything else either up close or at the distance.
This patient did not come regularly for treatment, but he came off and on for about a year, when he was finally cured of his double vision. A variety of flowers which were growing near his home helped when he was outdoors where he practiced the sway of the body, moving from left to right and always remembering to blink. As he did this he saw the flowers as they were, instead of seeing them double which had been his trouble for many years.
Tension in/on the muscles, nerves, vertebrae in the neck, can disrupt eye muscle, eye, brain, ear function resulting in unclear vision, double vision... Relaxation, movement of the neck removes the blur and double vision.

At the present time we have a little child taking treatment for blindness in one eye. Both eyes have cataract, but the left eye also has scar tissue in the cornea. Apparently there was not any sight in the left eye because there was no red reflex seen when the ophthalmoscope was used. Toys of different colors were placed before her and as she mentioned the names of each of the animals they were placed on the floor at a distance of five feet or farther. At this distance she sometimes made a mistake in naming the animal. The harder she tried to see the toy at the distance, the more blind she became.
I taught her the long swing, having her shorten the swing to a short sway of the body and advising her to blink as she swayed. She then became able to name the animals correctly as they were placed a few feet farther, but only when she mentioned the color of the toy first. Just by blinking as she swayed she remembered for part of a minute the color of the animal she was asked to mention. When she was not reminded to blink or to keep up the sway she made an error in naming the animal.
It is good to have someone in the room while such patients are under treatment, especially if they are to help the patient away from our office. They can understand very readily why some patients fail when they stare even for only a fraction of a second. It is necessary constantly to remind the patient that in order to bring about a permanent benefit, he must not fail to do as he is advised when away from the office.
Failure to remember a color with the eyes closed lowers the vision and causes the sight to become imperfect. Failure to take time enough to practice or to read the chart every day is a mistake and causes failure. Daily practice counts, no matter how little time one has. After all, the Bates Method is eye education. To miss one day in the cure of the eyes when they need attention for the improvement of sight is much like failure to study a certain lesson each day in school, or to attend to any work which requires daily study or practice. In most cases when improvement is made in the sight by a teacher of eye education it is only a temporary one, but it is enough to encourage the patient to keep on with the practice until the sight becomes normal. Patients who are cured in one visit are those who can retain the relaxation and rest which is the foundation of the method.
Eye diseases such as atrophy of the optic nerve, iritis, glaucoma, and cataract, are always benefited when the patient does not neglect to practice every day. The sight of patients who suffer from organic diseases is usually very poor. All organic diseases become less when the sight improves by relaxation and rest.


Case Report

(Editor's Note—We believe that the following letter will prove of interest to our readers. Dr. Rath, of 115 Francis St., Jackson, Mich., has recently completed a course of instruction and, as the following report of a case indicates, he is already doing splendid work.)

Dear Dr. and Mrs. Bates:
It just occurred to me that you might be interested to know how I am coming on with the little boy that had so many doctors. We call him "the little boy of the forty doctors." His name is Stanley and when Stanley's father first came to me he had just about given up hope. He remarked that Stanley lived in a world all his own. He did not play much with other boys because he could not see. Stanley spent most of his time with his mother when not in school.
The school physician placed Stanley in the "Eye Saving School." They use great large letters in all their books.
Stanley's father was not satisfied with his last doctor and really did not know what to do. He talked to the superintendent at the factory where he works about it, and he sent him to us for advice. Having just returned from No. 18 E. 48th Street, full of inspiration, I told him to bring the boy down and let me look at him. He has now been to see me just ten times. He is now reading the bottom line on the C chart, the white card with black letters, 10/10 vision, and the bottom line on the little hand chart. He does not do this very rapidly, but he is doing it.
I wish you could see him do the "long swing." He does this with a grace that is charming.
The last time they came, his mother told me that Stanley's complexion had actually changed since he began the "Bates System." The neighbors are noticing the great change in the lad, and the mother and father want to send him to the regular school. I don't know how we will come out in this respect as they likely will not believe he can see well enough. I had him bring with him a book that they use in the regular school, and he reads it without the least difficulty. He plays with the other boys, and he tells me, in playing ball, he not only sees it, but he can hit it too.
Every time Stanley comes to see me he is just a little better. When I first saw him he was downcast; now he is happy and buoyant.
I am doing wonderfully well with the "Bates System" and if it were not for making a tedious and long letter I would write you more.

With best wishes,
Sincerely,
(Signed) John A. Rath.

P.S.—I neglected to state that when Stanley was first brought to me he was seeing all colors of the rainbow, especially green. This has all ceased.


Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.


We wish to inform our subscribers that the Better Eyesight Magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received. We request that all those who desire to be notified upon the publication of new books kindly send us their names and addresses, which will be kept on file.


Announcement

Dr. Bates takes pleasure in announcing that the following have recently completed courses of instruction under him and he highly recommends them to anyone desiring their services:

Miss Clara M. Brewster,
Studio 6, Aquila Court,
Omaha, Nebraska.

Mr. Fred Baechtold,
633 Hudson Ave.,
West New York, New Jersey.

Mr. Baechtold will be pleased to visit those patients who desire to receive treatment at home.
Appointments can be arranged by telephoning him at Palisade 7735.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=277 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:03:03 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=277

The Imagination Cure - Astigmatism - Stories From The Clinic; 118. Two Cases of Myopia by Emily A. Bates - Notice



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

JANUARY, 1930

The Imagination Cure

When the imagination is perfect the mind is always perfectly relaxed, and as it is impossible to relax and imagine a letter perfectly, and at the same time strain and see it imperfectly, it follows that when one imagines that one sees a letter perfectly one actually does see it, as demonstrated by the retinoscope, no matter how great an error of refraction the eye may previously have had. The sight, therefore, may often be improved very quickly by the aid of the imagination. To use this method the patient may proceed as follows:
Look at a letter at the distance at which it is seen best. Close and cover the eyes so as to exclude all the light, and remember it. Do this alternately until the memory is nearly equal to the sight. Next, after remembering the letter with the eyes closed and covered, and while still holding the mental picture of it, look at a blank surface a foot or more to the side of it, at the distance at which you wish to see it. Again close and cover the eyes and remember the letter, and on opening them look a little nearer to it. Gradually reduce the distance between the point of fixation and the letter, until able to look directly at it and imagine it as well as it is remembered with the eyes closed and covered. The letter will then be seen perfectly, and other letters in its neighborhood will come out. If unable to remember the whole letter, you may be able to imagine a black period as forming part of it. If you can do this, the letter will also be seen perfectly.

Imagine a black letter is composed of many tiny black periods and shift continually, easy, relaxed from one period to another on the letter.
When shifting: see one period at a time darkest black and clearest in the center of the visual field as the central field moves from period to period as the eyes shift.
When a letter is seen perfect, the mental image, memory, imagination of the letter is further improved, perfected, resulting in perfect memory, imagination, relaxation, and clear vision.


Astigmatism

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IN ALL cases of astigmatism one meridian of the cornea is more convex or less convex than all the other meridians. One definition of astigmatism is that the astigmatic eye is not able to focus the light from the sun or from any other object down to a point. There are many authorities who claim that astigmatism is always congenital or that people with astigmatism were born with it. However, recent work on astigmatism has demonstrated that it is always acquired and never congenital. Young children, babies, when examined with the retinoscope soon after birth usually have astigmatism which is acquired by a strain or effort to see. When the child's eye is at rest no astigmatism is manifest, but when the child's eye or the child's mind is under a strain, astigmatism is always present.
Animals always acquire astigmatism when under a strain. Those who examined the eyes of cats found that it is very difficult or impossible to make them strain to see. No fish were found which had astigmatism. The evidence is worth consideration because it is based on the examination of a great many fish at the New York Aquarium. The observer with the retinoscope stood outside of the tank and was able to observe the dark cloud moving in the same direction as the movement of the light from the retinoscope. At times the fish would come very close to the glass and strain their eyes, without the production of astigmatism. I never saw a fish with nearsightedness or astigmatism. There were a number of ophthalmologists who believed that fish were nearsighted or had astigmatism.
School children are often nervous and when the nervousness is considerable, a large amount of astigmatism may be produced by a strain of the eyes or mind. When rest is secured the astigmatism in school children promptly disappears. Rest of the eyes is not always obtained readily. Closing the eyes, palming with the help of a nearly perfect memory of some letter or other object, secures a considerable amount of rest. The more perfect the memory the greater is the rest or relaxation. Rest of the eyes and mind is also obtained after the child practices central fixation or seeing best where the eyes were looking. However, it is necessary to practice central fixation without a conscious effort. When the eye is fixed on a point it is oftentimes very easy to make an effort and the effort, even when slight, is capable of lowering the vision when astigmatism is present.
There are many conditions which are favorable in securing relaxation or rest. Some people see better when the illumination is unusually good, whereupon the astigmatism immediately becomes less. There are other people who cannot stand even a moderate amount of light and their astigmatism is less when the light is poor. The distance of the print from the eyes when seen best also varies with people. In some cases letters or other objects are seen well at twenty feet or farther and not so well at twelve inches. One patient had a vision of 20/30 plus. The large black letters of the Snellen test card appeared blood red but at one half or one quarter of the distance the astigmatism was worse or increased. In other patients the color of the black letters was a shade of brown or yellow or green at a distance of fifteen feet, while the black letters never appeared black, but corrected the astigmatism when the distance was less than ten feet.
The facts observed on the production of astigmatism were modified by shifting. One patient looking directly at the first letter of a line of letters had no astigmatism at six feet. The patient was told that he would be asked to look at the last letter of the Snellen test card and he was able to do this, but before his eyes looked from the first letter to the last letter on the same line the astigmatism became very decided. Shifting from one letter to another at ten feet produced astigmatism. Astigmatism was temporary and by alternately shifting from the top period of the colon to the bottom period of the colon his vision improved. When he tried to see all parts of the colon simultaneously a strain resulted and a severe headache annoyed the patient very much. He found fault and said that he came to have his headaches cured, not to have them made worse.
To increase astigmatism is a very difficult thing. It requires much effort and with that effort to increase the astigmatism and to make the sight worse the patient complains that it is more difficult to increase the astigmatism and make the sight worse than it is to lessen the astigmatism and make the sight better. After many methods have been tried with much strain, it can be demonstrated that the production of a large amount of astigmatism is difficult. To lessen the astigmatism and improve the sight to normal is easy and can only be accomplished without effort.
The successful treatment and the cure of astigmatism without glasses is generally accompanied by so much strain that it is not always easy to make progress. It is very easy, however, to demonstrate that astigmatism is caused by a stare or strain and that rest or relaxation of the eyes will bring about a cure of astigmatism. The memory of familiar objects with the eyes closed is a great help in obtaining relaxation and lessening the amount of astigmatism. After the astigmatism is lessened by treatment, greater benefit can often be obtained by having the patient close his eyes and remember letters, music, and other mental pictures. Perfect memory means more perfect sight, because the greater the relaxation the quicker does the astigmatism disappear. It often happens that patients with astigmatism find it difficult to obtain relaxation, because they try to see too much of any one object at once and try to see letters, left side best, top best, bottom best, right side best (trying to see all best/equally clear at the same time, without shifting part to part).
The mere act of seeing one side of a letter at a time makes it easier to imagine the vision of each part of a letter.
One patient, when examined with the retinoscope, had a high degree of astigmatism. When he looked at the left side of some letter he could imagine the left side was straight, curved, or open. He imagined it straight with his eyes open and more or less clear; with his eyes closed the left side of the letter was remembered or imagined straight; the top was also imagined straight; the bottom was also imagined straight; and with the eyes open the left side, top, and bottom were imagined correctly. By alternately regarding each side of the letter with the eyes open and imagining these sides much better with the eyes closed, each side was imagined correctly. The patient was told to close his eyes and think of a letter, the left side straight, the top straight, the bottom straight, right side open. "What can you imagine the letter to be," he was asked. He answered: "It is an "E." The patient was drilled on a number of other letters with success. He was convinced that the imagination of one part of the letter improved the relaxation and enabled the patient to ignore the blurred outline of the letter regarded.
When the imagination improves the vision improves. One can at will plan to imagine a letter with the left side more or less straight and do it successfully after a number of times. Many failures occur because patients try to imagine the unknown letter by a strain. One of the most difficult cases to cure by relaxation methods responded favorably when his attention was called to the fact that he could, when the astigmatism was corrected, see a part of a letter better than a number of small letters. The letter was so imperfect that he could not distinguish the size, the color, or the form. By explaining to him that he could see these blurred letters, one part of the letter at a time much better than he could see the whole of the letter at once, he soon became able to see the letters perfectly in this way. When a pointer was placed in the neighborhood of the letter, the vision for that one letter was improved more than for other letters of the same size and color. He could not see the left hand side correctly with his eyes open or closed. He was asked if he could imagine how the left side of the unknown letter would look if it had no blur. The imagination improved and with the improvement in the imagination the sight improved.
Some time ago there was printed in this magazine a description of a method of curing astigmatism which is far superior to all other methods. The patient was advised that there were white spaces between the lines of black letters and that these white spaces became whiter by alternately imagining them as white as possible with the eyes closed and then with the eyes open. The attention of the patient was called to the fact that one could imagine the bottoms of the letters resting upon the upper part of the white spaces, and when the letters were read a thin white line could be imagined going across the card from left to right. This thin white line was improved by the imagination of the line with the eyes alternately open and closed. When the imagination was successful in improving the thin white line, the black letters were imagined blacker and could usually be distinguished very quickly; but when the imagination of the white spaces was less perfect, the black letters could not usually be normally seen. In other words, the improvement in the vision for the black letters depended primarily upon the improvement of the whiteness of the thin white line. Of the two the thin white line was more important because one can imagine the whiteness of the thin white line much whiter relatively than the imagination can picture the blackness of the black letters.
The thin white line is directly under the bottom of the letters/sentence and is bright glowing white. The remaining area of the white space between the sentences is below the thin white line and is also bright white but less white than the thin white line.
Letters are frequently received by me, containing this very important question: "How can I remember black? It is impossible for me to remember black." One person wrote from the middle west that he could not remember or imagine black by central fixation. Whenever he tried he always failed and a number of friends of his also tried and they believed that it was impossible to remember or imagine a period that was anywhere near black. The man who complained had a high degree of astigmatism. This astigmatism was corrected by relaxation methods. His vision improved rapidly. By alternately practicing with his eyes open and with his eyes closed, his memory, his vision, and his imagination soon became normal.
Many people who try to see one period of a colon blacker than the other fail. If the patient can demonstrate that the cause of failure is a strain he soon learns that his failure is due entirely to strain. This strain is a mental strain. Many people fail because they lose their sight, memory, and imagination by an effort. It is a benefit to people with imperfect sight to demonstrate that the cause is always an effort or trying to see. It is astonishing to know that the memory of imperfect sight is so difficult and that it requires considerable time and patience to help a patient realize the facts. Most people believe that to do wrong is easy and are very much surprised when someone tells them the contrary and still more surprised when the facts are demonstrated.
Children eight years of age or younger have repeatedly demonstrated that imperfect sight, imperfect memory, and imperfect imagination are difficult.
When the largest letter of the Snellen test card is regarded, the blackness of it, the clearness of it, are so much better that people erroneously believe that the imagination of a large letter is much easier than the imagination of one half of the letter. When one half of a letter is covered, some people can imagine successfully that one half of the largest letter on the card is just as black, clear, and distinct as the same letter very much smaller. By continued practice the size of the letter or other object can be reduced to an area as small as the eye of a needle.
Perfect central fixation, using the exact center of the retina, fovea centralis, center of the visual field.
On one occasion a child ten years of age was brought to my office with normal eyes. The vision was tested and found to be normal. Her father said to her: "Can you tell that the largest letter on the test card is blacker than the very small letters." The child intelligently declared that the large letter was not blacker or clearer than the smaller letters. She could also make an effort sufficient to produce a considerable amount of astigmatism. Having normal vision, her control over her imagination was much better than that of patients with imperfect sight. The father then asked his daughter how she explained that she could see the small letters better than large ones. She replied that the reason she saw small letters better than large ones was because there was not so much to see.
Having good sight the child could very readily produce a considerable amount of astigmatism by an effort of which she was conscious. Her father had much less control over his eyes than his daughter had. He could regard the card with good vision but his daughter could strain much more and produce a higher degree of astigmatism measured with the aid of the ophthalmometer. She was also able to imagine, when she saw a small letter at fifteen feet, that it was moving.
She was asked if she could stop the movement and when she did so a larger amount of astigmatism was demonstrated in her eyes than in those of her father. She was very much annoyed when she produced astigmatism because she said it gave her great pain. His central fixation was not so good as hers. It was difficult for him to imagine the top period of a colon best and the bottom worse or to imagine the bottom best and the top worse. He invariably saw both at the same time nearly equally well, while the daughter always saw one period at a time, the upper or lower, best.

A boy came to me to obtain glasses for the correction of astigmatism in each eye. With the right eye his vision was 10/20 or one half of the normal, but with the other eye he saw four times as much and the astigmatism was four times as great as in the other eye. This boy, when he covered over both closed eyes with the palm of one or both hands, instead of seeing black, saw everything else but black—gray, green, blue, yellow, and other colors—and his efforts to obtain black did not readily succeed. When he imagined imperfect sight he did not see black. When he imagined perfect sight and remembered perfectly the things which he had seen the astigmatism disappeared and he was able to remember, imagine, or see perfect black.
Many facts of considerable value were observed. When the boy imagined a large object while palming, his astigmatism was slight when he opened his eyes, but when he remembered letters or other objects with imperfect sight with the left eye open his vision became worse. Perfect imagination enabled him to produce a greater amount of astigmatism than he was able to do when the vision was poor. When the right eye had more perfect imagination he became able to imagine more perfect vision and in addition he could imagine sight that was more imperfect. With a good imagination he had more perfect sight and at the same time remembered or imagined a greater degree of astigmatism than when his sight was poor. He demonstrated that when his mind was more under his control he could remember or imagine a larger amount of astigmatism. When his sight was good the mental control of his vision was improved. When his eyes were closed he could remember or imagine more perfect black than he could remember or imagine when his eyes were open. He demonstrated that he could produce a larger amount of astigmatism or a lesser amount of astigmatism as he desired because, his mind being under his control, he could remember things or imagine things better than he could when his mind was not under his control. The retinoscope was a great help in controlling the astigmatism. With its aid the amount of the astigmatism could be determined.


Two Cases of Myopia

By EMILY A. BATES

A LITTLE girl, aged seven, came to Dr. Bates for the first time for treatment. She had a high degree of myopia with astigmatism and had worn glasses for a few years. According to her mother's statement she was a very nervous child, due to eyestrain. The vision in each eye was 15/40 minus. The usual treatment was given the child, first having her close her eyes to rest them. Then with the aid of the long swing, the variable swing, and the sway of the body, which was a rest to her, her vision improved to 15/20 minus. Dr. Bates explained to the mother that it would be necessary for her to have daily treatment for at least two weeks in order to bring about a satisfactory improvement in her sight. The mother explained that she was taking a long trip with her family and could not at that time remain longer than a day.
On her way west she stopped at a place where we had a competent student who treated the child successfully and gave her a temporary improvement in her sight as Dr. Bates did. The mother then went west where her child was placed under the care of a person who has only a slight knowledge of what the Bates Method really is. As the result of the improper treatment given this child, in one year's time her vision was lowered from 15/40 to 15/100 in each eye. Dr. Bates was much concerned about the lowering of her vision and found out that diathermy (A form of physical therapy using the therapeutic generation of local heat in body tissues by high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, electric currents, or ultrasonic waves.) and other appliances were given as treatment for the relief of eye strain. The treatment produced more strain and the myopia became worse. When such patients return to Dr. Bates they are extremely hard to treat and if I can possibly help it I try to dodge such cases unless I am promised a reasonable length of time in which to benefit the patient.
After the Doctor saw the child again, Miss Katherine Hayes, our secretary and assistant, was directed to treat the child, which she did with satisfactory results. On October 19th, the day the patient returned for more help, her vision was 15/100. On October 22nd her vision had improved to 15/15.
On September 12th, 1929, the mother returned again with her child for more treatment. It was found that the vision in both eyes was the same and by practice she improved to 15/10. During her absence between September 12th and October 26th, her vision gradually became better because the mother had kept in constant communication with Dr. Bates. The advice which she received for home treatment for her child helped. With but a few exceptions results are usually obtained if the mother keeps up the constant practice for her child every day.
On September 14th, the mother again left for her home in the west and again returned early in December for a check up. It was found that Betty had carried out the instructions given her for daily practice at home or wherever she might be, with the result that she no longer made an effort to read the letters of the various test cards placed before her, which was something she always did and had to be reminded constantly not to do. She found out all by herself that the harder she tried to read the letters of the cards the more her vision blurred. Shifting from a near object to the test card as she was reading avoided any effort to see better. When she noticed that the black letters of the white test card became blacker if she did not look too long at them, she enjoyed the treatment much more. The card which she had moved near her was placed at ten feet and she began to strain her eyes to see, causing a frown and a wrinkling of her forehead, which the mother herself corrected before I had a chance to do so myself. I know that the mother's efforts to help me with the child brought about a better vision which remained with her most of the time.
The next day Betty did better, improving two lines on a strange test card. On a sign about fifty feet to the left of our office windows were letters which she could not read distinctly at first, but during the treatment she became able to read all of the sign letters which were much smaller at the bottom of the sign than at the top. Shifting from this sign to the test card in the room again improved her vision for another line, namely 10/15.
The next day, having sunshine in the room, we gave her the sun treatment for about twenty minutes. Small test card letters seen by the normal eye at four feet she was able to read nine inches farther away by shifting from the white spaces to the type. Then all the test cards which were used in our office were placed at a distance of fifteen feet and she read each one of them through to the bottom line without a mistake. Her mother and I decided to test her memory for these various test card letters by having her close her eyes and read from memory. She was able to do this successfully with two of the test cards but she had not memorized the others, even though she had practiced with them while she was in our office. This proved to the mother that the memory of the known letters with her eyes closed helped her to read all the other test cards when her eyes were open and to read them at more than the normal distance. The nervous twitch of her body which was in evidence always toward the end of her treatment and during her last few treatments had entirely disappeared. I believe that Betty is entirely cured now.
Betty's brother Bobby, aged twelve, had never worn glasses although he has for many years had myopia or short sight. His vision in the right eye was 10/50 and with some help from me he was able to read some of the ten line letters of the card with his left eye. He explained that the bottom line of the test card looked as though each line had a tail to it, and that all the P's looked like T's and the F's much like a P, only distorted. He could not raise his head sufficiently to read the test card but always while reading he would lower his head so that his chin almost touched his chest. This produced a strain which Bobby did not at first believe was the cause of his trouble. He thought that it was perfectly right for him to lower his head in order to see better.
I did something to Bobby which I rarely care to do with most patients, although it is a good demonstration to the patient that strain causes the lowering of sight. Dr. Bates is successful in having patients demonstrate for themselves that producing discomfort from straining helps them to overcome the trouble. In most cases I have hesitated to try this because it affects me personally and causes me to strain so that sometimes I cannot go on with the treatment. Bobby was so enthusiastic about wanting to be cured that he was perfectly willing to have me demonstrate anything that he did which was wrong so that he could cure it.
Bobby had the mind of a boy sixteen or seventeen years of age instead of a boy of twelve, and he carried out my instructions very much like our West Point cadets or the boys who are ready to enter Annapolis. We have had many from both academies and so far we have not found one of them difficult to treat, no matter how severe their eyestrain might be. Dr. Bates thinks that discipline and knowing what it means to pay attention makes this type of patient easy to treat and to benefit. I think little Bobby is headed for either one of these places for he spoke about it every time he came.
He was encouraged to do the long swing, not paying any attention to stationary objects in the room. Occasionally I had to remind him to keep his chin up like a soldier, which always spurred him on. I believe also that his sister being in the room and watching his treatment helped me in treating him also. She looks upon him very much like a hero and is proud of everything good that he does. Just a little sound of approval from her made him show off a wee bit, which made it amusing to me. His vision improved in less than a half hour's time to 12/10, reading with both eyes together at first. Having no sunshine while treating him I gave him the thermo-lite for half an hour. Then I tested his right eye, having his left eye covered, and found that he had improved to 10/15 from 10/50 in less than one hour's time and not once had he lowered his head to read better.
The next day we had sunshine and while Bobby resented the strong light of the sun at first as the sun glass was used on his closed eyelids, he soon became accustomed to it and liked it, asking for more. After the sunlight treatment the vision of the right eye improved that day to 10/10. The next day we did some mental arithmetic while he was taking the sun treatment and found that that was not so good. Trying two things at one time was not helpful to Bobby. The sun glass was then used and after half an hour of sun treatment he palmed and then we did some mental arithmetic. He visualized the numerals as they were given to him and as quickly as I mentioned the figures he gave the answers correctly, not once making a mistake. Again his right eye was tested with a strange card and his vision had improved to 12/10.
I drew his attention then to the sign outside of our window and then to a more distant sign about five hundred feet away and he became able to read all of the sign at that distance with both eyes together. Then I turned him around, facing another strange test card and he read the bottom line, the smallest letters of the card, at fourteen feet two inches.
This boy before coming to me had had diathermy and other treatment, which perhaps improved his vision temporarily but did not last. He explained to me that the electric treatment which was given him for the improvement of myopia caused a nervous affliction of the body. The advice given Bobby to keep up the good vision obtained through our treatment was to play ball, watch the ball as he threw it to the other player and then blink and sway a little bit as the ball was thrown back to him. I gave him a little demonstration of this in the office, which he enjoyed. I told him to play other games where only two objects were used, one a ball and the other a goal or certain point where the ball should be thrown. The old fashioned horse-shoe game is not only relaxing but it gives the patient an opportunity to practice shifting.
Betty and Bobby could not be treated exactly alike because their minds were not alike. Each had to be studied carefully before the treatment could be successfully given. If the doctor or student does not carry out this idea the patient has little chance to be relieved entirely of eyestrain.

Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.
+ We wish to inform our subscribers that the Better Eyesight Magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received.]]>

The Imagination Cure - Astigmatism - Stories From The Clinic; 118. Two Cases of Myopia by Emily A. Bates - Notice



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

JANUARY, 1930

The Imagination Cure

When the imagination is perfect the mind is always perfectly relaxed, and as it is impossible to relax and imagine a letter perfectly, and at the same time strain and see it imperfectly, it follows that when one imagines that one sees a letter perfectly one actually does see it, as demonstrated by the retinoscope, no matter how great an error of refraction the eye may previously have had. The sight, therefore, may often be improved very quickly by the aid of the imagination. To use this method the patient may proceed as follows:
Look at a letter at the distance at which it is seen best. Close and cover the eyes so as to exclude all the light, and remember it. Do this alternately until the memory is nearly equal to the sight. Next, after remembering the letter with the eyes closed and covered, and while still holding the mental picture of it, look at a blank surface a foot or more to the side of it, at the distance at which you wish to see it. Again close and cover the eyes and remember the letter, and on opening them look a little nearer to it. Gradually reduce the distance between the point of fixation and the letter, until able to look directly at it and imagine it as well as it is remembered with the eyes closed and covered. The letter will then be seen perfectly, and other letters in its neighborhood will come out. If unable to remember the whole letter, you may be able to imagine a black period as forming part of it. If you can do this, the letter will also be seen perfectly.

Imagine a black letter is composed of many tiny black periods and shift continually, easy, relaxed from one period to another on the letter.
When shifting: see one period at a time darkest black and clearest in the center of the visual field as the central field moves from period to period as the eyes shift.
When a letter is seen perfect, the mental image, memory, imagination of the letter is further improved, perfected, resulting in perfect memory, imagination, relaxation, and clear vision.


Astigmatism

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IN ALL cases of astigmatism one meridian of the cornea is more convex or less convex than all the other meridians. One definition of astigmatism is that the astigmatic eye is not able to focus the light from the sun or from any other object down to a point. There are many authorities who claim that astigmatism is always congenital or that people with astigmatism were born with it. However, recent work on astigmatism has demonstrated that it is always acquired and never congenital. Young children, babies, when examined with the retinoscope soon after birth usually have astigmatism which is acquired by a strain or effort to see. When the child's eye is at rest no astigmatism is manifest, but when the child's eye or the child's mind is under a strain, astigmatism is always present.
Animals always acquire astigmatism when under a strain. Those who examined the eyes of cats found that it is very difficult or impossible to make them strain to see. No fish were found which had astigmatism. The evidence is worth consideration because it is based on the examination of a great many fish at the New York Aquarium. The observer with the retinoscope stood outside of the tank and was able to observe the dark cloud moving in the same direction as the movement of the light from the retinoscope. At times the fish would come very close to the glass and strain their eyes, without the production of astigmatism. I never saw a fish with nearsightedness or astigmatism. There were a number of ophthalmologists who believed that fish were nearsighted or had astigmatism.
School children are often nervous and when the nervousness is considerable, a large amount of astigmatism may be produced by a strain of the eyes or mind. When rest is secured the astigmatism in school children promptly disappears. Rest of the eyes is not always obtained readily. Closing the eyes, palming with the help of a nearly perfect memory of some letter or other object, secures a considerable amount of rest. The more perfect the memory the greater is the rest or relaxation. Rest of the eyes and mind is also obtained after the child practices central fixation or seeing best where the eyes were looking. However, it is necessary to practice central fixation without a conscious effort. When the eye is fixed on a point it is oftentimes very easy to make an effort and the effort, even when slight, is capable of lowering the vision when astigmatism is present.
There are many conditions which are favorable in securing relaxation or rest. Some people see better when the illumination is unusually good, whereupon the astigmatism immediately becomes less. There are other people who cannot stand even a moderate amount of light and their astigmatism is less when the light is poor. The distance of the print from the eyes when seen best also varies with people. In some cases letters or other objects are seen well at twenty feet or farther and not so well at twelve inches. One patient had a vision of 20/30 plus. The large black letters of the Snellen test card appeared blood red but at one half or one quarter of the distance the astigmatism was worse or increased. In other patients the color of the black letters was a shade of brown or yellow or green at a distance of fifteen feet, while the black letters never appeared black, but corrected the astigmatism when the distance was less than ten feet.
The facts observed on the production of astigmatism were modified by shifting. One patient looking directly at the first letter of a line of letters had no astigmatism at six feet. The patient was told that he would be asked to look at the last letter of the Snellen test card and he was able to do this, but before his eyes looked from the first letter to the last letter on the same line the astigmatism became very decided. Shifting from one letter to another at ten feet produced astigmatism. Astigmatism was temporary and by alternately shifting from the top period of the colon to the bottom period of the colon his vision improved. When he tried to see all parts of the colon simultaneously a strain resulted and a severe headache annoyed the patient very much. He found fault and said that he came to have his headaches cured, not to have them made worse.
To increase astigmatism is a very difficult thing. It requires much effort and with that effort to increase the astigmatism and to make the sight worse the patient complains that it is more difficult to increase the astigmatism and make the sight worse than it is to lessen the astigmatism and make the sight better. After many methods have been tried with much strain, it can be demonstrated that the production of a large amount of astigmatism is difficult. To lessen the astigmatism and improve the sight to normal is easy and can only be accomplished without effort.
The successful treatment and the cure of astigmatism without glasses is generally accompanied by so much strain that it is not always easy to make progress. It is very easy, however, to demonstrate that astigmatism is caused by a stare or strain and that rest or relaxation of the eyes will bring about a cure of astigmatism. The memory of familiar objects with the eyes closed is a great help in obtaining relaxation and lessening the amount of astigmatism. After the astigmatism is lessened by treatment, greater benefit can often be obtained by having the patient close his eyes and remember letters, music, and other mental pictures. Perfect memory means more perfect sight, because the greater the relaxation the quicker does the astigmatism disappear. It often happens that patients with astigmatism find it difficult to obtain relaxation, because they try to see too much of any one object at once and try to see letters, left side best, top best, bottom best, right side best (trying to see all best/equally clear at the same time, without shifting part to part).
The mere act of seeing one side of a letter at a time makes it easier to imagine the vision of each part of a letter.
One patient, when examined with the retinoscope, had a high degree of astigmatism. When he looked at the left side of some letter he could imagine the left side was straight, curved, or open. He imagined it straight with his eyes open and more or less clear; with his eyes closed the left side of the letter was remembered or imagined straight; the top was also imagined straight; the bottom was also imagined straight; and with the eyes open the left side, top, and bottom were imagined correctly. By alternately regarding each side of the letter with the eyes open and imagining these sides much better with the eyes closed, each side was imagined correctly. The patient was told to close his eyes and think of a letter, the left side straight, the top straight, the bottom straight, right side open. "What can you imagine the letter to be," he was asked. He answered: "It is an "E." The patient was drilled on a number of other letters with success. He was convinced that the imagination of one part of the letter improved the relaxation and enabled the patient to ignore the blurred outline of the letter regarded.
When the imagination improves the vision improves. One can at will plan to imagine a letter with the left side more or less straight and do it successfully after a number of times. Many failures occur because patients try to imagine the unknown letter by a strain. One of the most difficult cases to cure by relaxation methods responded favorably when his attention was called to the fact that he could, when the astigmatism was corrected, see a part of a letter better than a number of small letters. The letter was so imperfect that he could not distinguish the size, the color, or the form. By explaining to him that he could see these blurred letters, one part of the letter at a time much better than he could see the whole of the letter at once, he soon became able to see the letters perfectly in this way. When a pointer was placed in the neighborhood of the letter, the vision for that one letter was improved more than for other letters of the same size and color. He could not see the left hand side correctly with his eyes open or closed. He was asked if he could imagine how the left side of the unknown letter would look if it had no blur. The imagination improved and with the improvement in the imagination the sight improved.
Some time ago there was printed in this magazine a description of a method of curing astigmatism which is far superior to all other methods. The patient was advised that there were white spaces between the lines of black letters and that these white spaces became whiter by alternately imagining them as white as possible with the eyes closed and then with the eyes open. The attention of the patient was called to the fact that one could imagine the bottoms of the letters resting upon the upper part of the white spaces, and when the letters were read a thin white line could be imagined going across the card from left to right. This thin white line was improved by the imagination of the line with the eyes alternately open and closed. When the imagination was successful in improving the thin white line, the black letters were imagined blacker and could usually be distinguished very quickly; but when the imagination of the white spaces was less perfect, the black letters could not usually be normally seen. In other words, the improvement in the vision for the black letters depended primarily upon the improvement of the whiteness of the thin white line. Of the two the thin white line was more important because one can imagine the whiteness of the thin white line much whiter relatively than the imagination can picture the blackness of the black letters.
The thin white line is directly under the bottom of the letters/sentence and is bright glowing white. The remaining area of the white space between the sentences is below the thin white line and is also bright white but less white than the thin white line.
Letters are frequently received by me, containing this very important question: "How can I remember black? It is impossible for me to remember black." One person wrote from the middle west that he could not remember or imagine black by central fixation. Whenever he tried he always failed and a number of friends of his also tried and they believed that it was impossible to remember or imagine a period that was anywhere near black. The man who complained had a high degree of astigmatism. This astigmatism was corrected by relaxation methods. His vision improved rapidly. By alternately practicing with his eyes open and with his eyes closed, his memory, his vision, and his imagination soon became normal.
Many people who try to see one period of a colon blacker than the other fail. If the patient can demonstrate that the cause of failure is a strain he soon learns that his failure is due entirely to strain. This strain is a mental strain. Many people fail because they lose their sight, memory, and imagination by an effort. It is a benefit to people with imperfect sight to demonstrate that the cause is always an effort or trying to see. It is astonishing to know that the memory of imperfect sight is so difficult and that it requires considerable time and patience to help a patient realize the facts. Most people believe that to do wrong is easy and are very much surprised when someone tells them the contrary and still more surprised when the facts are demonstrated.
Children eight years of age or younger have repeatedly demonstrated that imperfect sight, imperfect memory, and imperfect imagination are difficult.
When the largest letter of the Snellen test card is regarded, the blackness of it, the clearness of it, are so much better that people erroneously believe that the imagination of a large letter is much easier than the imagination of one half of the letter. When one half of a letter is covered, some people can imagine successfully that one half of the largest letter on the card is just as black, clear, and distinct as the same letter very much smaller. By continued practice the size of the letter or other object can be reduced to an area as small as the eye of a needle.
Perfect central fixation, using the exact center of the retina, fovea centralis, center of the visual field.
On one occasion a child ten years of age was brought to my office with normal eyes. The vision was tested and found to be normal. Her father said to her: "Can you tell that the largest letter on the test card is blacker than the very small letters." The child intelligently declared that the large letter was not blacker or clearer than the smaller letters. She could also make an effort sufficient to produce a considerable amount of astigmatism. Having normal vision, her control over her imagination was much better than that of patients with imperfect sight. The father then asked his daughter how she explained that she could see the small letters better than large ones. She replied that the reason she saw small letters better than large ones was because there was not so much to see.
Having good sight the child could very readily produce a considerable amount of astigmatism by an effort of which she was conscious. Her father had much less control over his eyes than his daughter had. He could regard the card with good vision but his daughter could strain much more and produce a higher degree of astigmatism measured with the aid of the ophthalmometer. She was also able to imagine, when she saw a small letter at fifteen feet, that it was moving.
She was asked if she could stop the movement and when she did so a larger amount of astigmatism was demonstrated in her eyes than in those of her father. She was very much annoyed when she produced astigmatism because she said it gave her great pain. His central fixation was not so good as hers. It was difficult for him to imagine the top period of a colon best and the bottom worse or to imagine the bottom best and the top worse. He invariably saw both at the same time nearly equally well, while the daughter always saw one period at a time, the upper or lower, best.

A boy came to me to obtain glasses for the correction of astigmatism in each eye. With the right eye his vision was 10/20 or one half of the normal, but with the other eye he saw four times as much and the astigmatism was four times as great as in the other eye. This boy, when he covered over both closed eyes with the palm of one or both hands, instead of seeing black, saw everything else but black—gray, green, blue, yellow, and other colors—and his efforts to obtain black did not readily succeed. When he imagined imperfect sight he did not see black. When he imagined perfect sight and remembered perfectly the things which he had seen the astigmatism disappeared and he was able to remember, imagine, or see perfect black.
Many facts of considerable value were observed. When the boy imagined a large object while palming, his astigmatism was slight when he opened his eyes, but when he remembered letters or other objects with imperfect sight with the left eye open his vision became worse. Perfect imagination enabled him to produce a greater amount of astigmatism than he was able to do when the vision was poor. When the right eye had more perfect imagination he became able to imagine more perfect vision and in addition he could imagine sight that was more imperfect. With a good imagination he had more perfect sight and at the same time remembered or imagined a greater degree of astigmatism than when his sight was poor. He demonstrated that when his mind was more under his control he could remember or imagine a larger amount of astigmatism. When his sight was good the mental control of his vision was improved. When his eyes were closed he could remember or imagine more perfect black than he could remember or imagine when his eyes were open. He demonstrated that he could produce a larger amount of astigmatism or a lesser amount of astigmatism as he desired because, his mind being under his control, he could remember things or imagine things better than he could when his mind was not under his control. The retinoscope was a great help in controlling the astigmatism. With its aid the amount of the astigmatism could be determined.


Two Cases of Myopia

By EMILY A. BATES

A LITTLE girl, aged seven, came to Dr. Bates for the first time for treatment. She had a high degree of myopia with astigmatism and had worn glasses for a few years. According to her mother's statement she was a very nervous child, due to eyestrain. The vision in each eye was 15/40 minus. The usual treatment was given the child, first having her close her eyes to rest them. Then with the aid of the long swing, the variable swing, and the sway of the body, which was a rest to her, her vision improved to 15/20 minus. Dr. Bates explained to the mother that it would be necessary for her to have daily treatment for at least two weeks in order to bring about a satisfactory improvement in her sight. The mother explained that she was taking a long trip with her family and could not at that time remain longer than a day.
On her way west she stopped at a place where we had a competent student who treated the child successfully and gave her a temporary improvement in her sight as Dr. Bates did. The mother then went west where her child was placed under the care of a person who has only a slight knowledge of what the Bates Method really is. As the result of the improper treatment given this child, in one year's time her vision was lowered from 15/40 to 15/100 in each eye. Dr. Bates was much concerned about the lowering of her vision and found out that diathermy (A form of physical therapy using the therapeutic generation of local heat in body tissues by high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, electric currents, or ultrasonic waves.) and other appliances were given as treatment for the relief of eye strain. The treatment produced more strain and the myopia became worse. When such patients return to Dr. Bates they are extremely hard to treat and if I can possibly help it I try to dodge such cases unless I am promised a reasonable length of time in which to benefit the patient.
After the Doctor saw the child again, Miss Katherine Hayes, our secretary and assistant, was directed to treat the child, which she did with satisfactory results. On October 19th, the day the patient returned for more help, her vision was 15/100. On October 22nd her vision had improved to 15/15.
On September 12th, 1929, the mother returned again with her child for more treatment. It was found that the vision in both eyes was the same and by practice she improved to 15/10. During her absence between September 12th and October 26th, her vision gradually became better because the mother had kept in constant communication with Dr. Bates. The advice which she received for home treatment for her child helped. With but a few exceptions results are usually obtained if the mother keeps up the constant practice for her child every day.
On September 14th, the mother again left for her home in the west and again returned early in December for a check up. It was found that Betty had carried out the instructions given her for daily practice at home or wherever she might be, with the result that she no longer made an effort to read the letters of the various test cards placed before her, which was something she always did and had to be reminded constantly not to do. She found out all by herself that the harder she tried to read the letters of the cards the more her vision blurred. Shifting from a near object to the test card as she was reading avoided any effort to see better. When she noticed that the black letters of the white test card became blacker if she did not look too long at them, she enjoyed the treatment much more. The card which she had moved near her was placed at ten feet and she began to strain her eyes to see, causing a frown and a wrinkling of her forehead, which the mother herself corrected before I had a chance to do so myself. I know that the mother's efforts to help me with the child brought about a better vision which remained with her most of the time.
The next day Betty did better, improving two lines on a strange test card. On a sign about fifty feet to the left of our office windows were letters which she could not read distinctly at first, but during the treatment she became able to read all of the sign letters which were much smaller at the bottom of the sign than at the top. Shifting from this sign to the test card in the room again improved her vision for another line, namely 10/15.
The next day, having sunshine in the room, we gave her the sun treatment for about twenty minutes. Small test card letters seen by the normal eye at four feet she was able to read nine inches farther away by shifting from the white spaces to the type. Then all the test cards which were used in our office were placed at a distance of fifteen feet and she read each one of them through to the bottom line without a mistake. Her mother and I decided to test her memory for these various test card letters by having her close her eyes and read from memory. She was able to do this successfully with two of the test cards but she had not memorized the others, even though she had practiced with them while she was in our office. This proved to the mother that the memory of the known letters with her eyes closed helped her to read all the other test cards when her eyes were open and to read them at more than the normal distance. The nervous twitch of her body which was in evidence always toward the end of her treatment and during her last few treatments had entirely disappeared. I believe that Betty is entirely cured now.
Betty's brother Bobby, aged twelve, had never worn glasses although he has for many years had myopia or short sight. His vision in the right eye was 10/50 and with some help from me he was able to read some of the ten line letters of the card with his left eye. He explained that the bottom line of the test card looked as though each line had a tail to it, and that all the P's looked like T's and the F's much like a P, only distorted. He could not raise his head sufficiently to read the test card but always while reading he would lower his head so that his chin almost touched his chest. This produced a strain which Bobby did not at first believe was the cause of his trouble. He thought that it was perfectly right for him to lower his head in order to see better.
I did something to Bobby which I rarely care to do with most patients, although it is a good demonstration to the patient that strain causes the lowering of sight. Dr. Bates is successful in having patients demonstrate for themselves that producing discomfort from straining helps them to overcome the trouble. In most cases I have hesitated to try this because it affects me personally and causes me to strain so that sometimes I cannot go on with the treatment. Bobby was so enthusiastic about wanting to be cured that he was perfectly willing to have me demonstrate anything that he did which was wrong so that he could cure it.
Bobby had the mind of a boy sixteen or seventeen years of age instead of a boy of twelve, and he carried out my instructions very much like our West Point cadets or the boys who are ready to enter Annapolis. We have had many from both academies and so far we have not found one of them difficult to treat, no matter how severe their eyestrain might be. Dr. Bates thinks that discipline and knowing what it means to pay attention makes this type of patient easy to treat and to benefit. I think little Bobby is headed for either one of these places for he spoke about it every time he came.
He was encouraged to do the long swing, not paying any attention to stationary objects in the room. Occasionally I had to remind him to keep his chin up like a soldier, which always spurred him on. I believe also that his sister being in the room and watching his treatment helped me in treating him also. She looks upon him very much like a hero and is proud of everything good that he does. Just a little sound of approval from her made him show off a wee bit, which made it amusing to me. His vision improved in less than a half hour's time to 12/10, reading with both eyes together at first. Having no sunshine while treating him I gave him the thermo-lite for half an hour. Then I tested his right eye, having his left eye covered, and found that he had improved to 10/15 from 10/50 in less than one hour's time and not once had he lowered his head to read better.
The next day we had sunshine and while Bobby resented the strong light of the sun at first as the sun glass was used on his closed eyelids, he soon became accustomed to it and liked it, asking for more. After the sunlight treatment the vision of the right eye improved that day to 10/10. The next day we did some mental arithmetic while he was taking the sun treatment and found that that was not so good. Trying two things at one time was not helpful to Bobby. The sun glass was then used and after half an hour of sun treatment he palmed and then we did some mental arithmetic. He visualized the numerals as they were given to him and as quickly as I mentioned the figures he gave the answers correctly, not once making a mistake. Again his right eye was tested with a strange card and his vision had improved to 12/10.
I drew his attention then to the sign outside of our window and then to a more distant sign about five hundred feet away and he became able to read all of the sign at that distance with both eyes together. Then I turned him around, facing another strange test card and he read the bottom line, the smallest letters of the card, at fourteen feet two inches.
This boy before coming to me had had diathermy and other treatment, which perhaps improved his vision temporarily but did not last. He explained to me that the electric treatment which was given him for the improvement of myopia caused a nervous affliction of the body. The advice given Bobby to keep up the good vision obtained through our treatment was to play ball, watch the ball as he threw it to the other player and then blink and sway a little bit as the ball was thrown back to him. I gave him a little demonstration of this in the office, which he enjoyed. I told him to play other games where only two objects were used, one a ball and the other a goal or certain point where the ball should be thrown. The old fashioned horse-shoe game is not only relaxing but it gives the patient an opportunity to practice shifting.
Betty and Bobby could not be treated exactly alike because their minds were not alike. Each had to be studied carefully before the treatment could be successfully given. If the doctor or student does not carry out this idea the patient has little chance to be relieved entirely of eyestrain.

Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.
+ We wish to inform our subscribers that the Better Eyesight Magazine will be discontinued after the June, 1930, issue. This will enable Dr. Bates and Mrs. Bates to devote more time to the writing of new books on treatment alone for which there has been a very great demand during the past year. Subscriptions for the remaining months, however, are being received.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=276 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:02:43 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=276

The Flashing Cure - Hypermetropia - Stories From The Clinic; 117. Christmas 1928 by Emily A. Bates - Notice – A Suggestion – Questions and Answers




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

DECEMBER, 1929

The Flashing Cure

Do you read imperfectly? Can you observe then that when you look at the first word, or the first letter, of a sentence you do not see best where you are looking; that you see other words, or other letters, just as well as or better than the one you are looking at? Do you observe also that the harder you try to see the worse you see?
Now close your eyes and rest them, remembering some color, like black or white, that you can remember perfectly. Keep them closed until they feel rested, or until the feeling of strain has been completely relieved. Now open them and look at the first word or letter of a sentence for a fraction of a second. If you have been able to relax, partially or completely, you will have a flash of improved or clear vision, and the area seen best will be smaller.
After opening the eyes for this fraction of a second, close them again quickly, still remembering the color, and keep them closed until they again feel rested. Then again open them for a fraction of a second. Continue this alternate resting of the eyes and flashing of the letters for a time, and you may soon find that you can keep your eyes open longer than a fraction of a second without losing the improved vision.
If your trouble is with distant instead of near vision, use the same method with distant letters.
In this way you can demonstrate for yourself the fundamental principle of the cure of imperfect sight by treatment without glasses.
If you fail, ask someone with perfect sight to help you.


Hypermetropia

(Unclear Close Vision, Farsight)

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

THE importance of hypermetropia cannot be overestimated. It is sometimes acquired soon after birth, or it may be manifest at ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years of age. Eighty percent of eye troubles are caused by hypermetropia, while near-sightedness occurs in ten percent. There are only ten percent of normal eyes. These figures are startling. The majority of persons at the age of forty-five or over acquire hypermetropia, and it is of the utmost importance that such cases be carefully studied.
Nearly everyone has the symptoms of hypermetropia. When the sight is good for distant vision, that does not necessarily mean that the sight is also good for reading at a near point of ten or twelve inches. Too often such cases are not treated seriously. Poor sight for reading (hypermetropia) is usually corrected by the use of reading glasses, while vision at all other distances is neglected.

In middle age, serious eye diseases are caused by hypermetropia. Among the most common are glaucoma, cataract, and diseases of the optic nerve and retina. In the early stages of these serious diseases, they are more readily curable than after they become chronic and more serious, because the vision is only slightly affected and the treatment which cures hypermetropia is the treatment which prevents serious eye diseases. Cataract and glaucoma are now being prevented or cured by treatment which cures hypermetropia. It should be emphasized that early treatment of hypermetropia yields quicker, more continuous results than later treatment.
Eye physicians or ophthalmologists have almost universally believed that absolute glaucoma is not curable by any form of treatment. It has been demonstrated that glaucoma is caused by strain—the strain of hypermetropia. When this strain is relieved or corrected, glaucoma usually improves. This treatment is more successful than operation or eye drops. It is only in the last ten years that it was discovered that glaucoma is caused by a strain which produces hypermetropia and that when this strain is relieved the glaucoma improves. I think it is a mistake to condemn this simple method of relieving the hypermetropia, which also relieves glaucoma. The eye strain which produces hypermetropia also produces cataract.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that in all diseases of the eyes which cause imperfect sight, the eye is under a strain and when this strain is removed all diseases of the eye are benefited. Patients with atrophy of the optic nerve have good sight when eyestrain is not present. For example, a patient came from Austria for treatment of amblyopia which was so advanced that the vision in one eye was only perception of light and in the other eye it was one half of normal. She had consulted many physicians who advised operation for the cure of the total blindness. She was given the hypermetropia treatment daily for about two weeks, at the end of which time the vision was normal in both eyes. Surely if hypermetropia treatment can be so beneficial, more physicians ought to know about it. There have been numerous similar cases.
It can be demonstrated that atrophy of the optic nerve can be caused by the eyestrain of hypermetropia. Palming, swinging, central fixation have always improved the sight temporarily or permanently. It is interesting to prove that such a disease as atrophy of the optic nerve can be benefited by the treatment which relieves hypermetropia.
Patients suffering from squint are benefited by hypermetropia treatment. Patients with hypermetropia not only strain to produce squint with one or both eyes turned in, but they also strain to correct the imperfect sight which is caused by the squint. This fact should be more widely known, because even at this time many physicians believe that the poor sight caused by hypermetropia is incurable.
(Two types of strain combined. One type of strain can lead to a secondary different type of strain.)
What is the lowest degree of hypermetropia that can be produced? is a question that has been asked. The answer is that there is no limit, not only to the low degree of hypermetropia, but there is no limit to the high degrees. In other words, by an effort hypermetropia of thirty diopters or more can be produced and, by treatment, perfect vision can be obtained just as readily.
In studying the production of high or low degrees of hypermetropia it is interesting to discover the conclusions of well known ophthalmologists. One prominent doctor was asked this question: Is hypermetropia curable? He replied that it was not curable. He was then asked, "Why do you claim that no one can cure hypermetropia?" He answered, "I know that it cannot be cured because I was unable to succeed and if I cannot succeed no one else can."
Massage of the eyelids has been recommended for the cure of hypermetropia. Another doctor claimed that he was able to cure a majority of the cases of hypermetropia, and that if the patient was not cured by massage, no other doctor in the world could succeed. Other physicians, however, did not believe that massage was a cure for hypermetropia.
Since hypermetropia is so common and produces so many different kinds of eye trouble—imperfect sight, pain, dizziness, and other nervous symptoms to a greater extent than do other errors of refraction—it is well to understand as much as we can of the occurrence, symptoms, prevention, and cure of hypermetropia.

The best methods of preventing hypermetropia are the sway, reading fine print such as diamond type, palming occasionally, and imagining stationary objects to be moving when the eyes move in the same or opposite direction. (oppositional movement) The last one of these methods is not always easy to practice. Some cases are very obstinate without any known reason. They may try for days, without success, to imagine stationary objects to be moving. The cause of failure is usually due to concentration, staring, looking fixedly at stationary objects, and efforts to try to see.
When success is not attained, hold the finger about six inches from the chin while looking at distant objects and move the head and eyes from side to side, taking care not to look directly at the finger. When this movement of the head and eyes is practiced easily, continuously, the finger appears to move in the opposite direction. This method is called the variable swing and most people have no trouble whatever in imagining the finger moving. The length of the movement of the finger is much wider than stationary objects regarded at ten, twenty, or forty feet or farther. (Distant objects appear to move with the eyes in the same direction.)
Another case of failure occurs when the patient turns the head to the right and simultaneously turns the eyes to the left. It is a very painful experience. When one fails to obtain movement of stationary objects with the variable swing, he suffers much pain, dizziness, and other nervous symptoms.
Hypermetropia may be prevented by many other methods. The memory or the imagination of perfect sight prevents hypermetropia in the normal eye. The memory of imperfect sight is very difficult and the memory or imagination of perfect sight is easy.

In the city of Chicago a school teacher developed a method of treating children which prevented hypermetropia from being acquired. She had charge of about fifty ore more children at the age when fatigue is common. As a result, all the teachers in the Chicago school allowed their children to rest for a time at frequent intervals—about every half an hour in two. (in two – misprint?) They were taught relaxation methods, although they were all under ten years of age. It was astonishing to observe how much they could remember, how much they could imagine, and how much their activities were improved with benefit to their eyes. Sometimes the usual exercises in the class room would be stopped and the children would be taught how to palm successfully and while palming to improve their imagination. They were taught to draw pictures which they copied from the blackboard twenty feet away. After some months, the hypermetropia was improved and finally entirely cured.
A school teacher in Long Island was treated by me for compound hypermetropic astigmatism. By the use of relaxation methods the hypermetropia and astigmatism were corrected and the patient obtained normal vision. The hypermetropia was prevented from increasing by curing it. The patient was very much pleased with the results and told the principal of her school that because hypermetropia was curable, it was also preventable. A negative proposition cannot be the truth. Hypermetropia could be prevented when it was found possible to cure it.
A number of teachers became interested and all those wearing glasses for hypermetropia were cured either by palming or swinging or by the memory of fine print. The principal was much pleased and placed a Snellen test card in all the cases rooms with directions that it should be read by all the teachers and pupils who were afflicted with hypermetropia. The first patient cured of hypermetropia was to continue the work.
Since she could not treat patients in the class rooms, she decided to treat them outside the school building. She made an arrangement with the teachers who wished treatment that she would teach them how to use their eyes properly and prevent or cure hypermetropia. She made arrangements with them all that after a teacher was cured, she would agree to teach, cure, or prevent some other teacher from acquiring hypermetropia. So much interest was shown by the teachers in this school building that it made an endless chain and a great many teachers and school children were cured of hypermetropia.
For many years, it has been believed that retardation is incurable. It seemed wrong that children, fifteen or sixteen years old and older should be kept in the grades with children ten years old or under. These children did not like to study. Many of them complained of severe headaches and other discomforts. Truancy was common. After retardation was cured by relaxation methods, most of the children started in and worked hard with their studies, with the result that many of them graduated into the rapid advancement classes.
I was told by many principals that imperfect sight was never found in the rapid advancement classes. Nearly all cases of retardation were suffering from hypermetropia. It was demonstrated that patients suffering from imperfect sight from any cause were also suffering from retardation. The teachers who devoted an hour or more every day to the cure of hypermetropia discovered much to their surprise that almost every disease of the eye and nervous system was benefited or cured by treatment which cured hypermetropia.
In one year, 20,000 pupils suffered from pain, headache, loss of memory, imperfect sight from hypermetropia. In one year after, 80 percent of the 20,000 children who were suffering from headaches and other nervous troubles all recovered after the hypermetropia was cured.

Reading fine print improves eye muscle relaxation, function, coordination, shape of and normal pressure on/in the eye, central fixation, shifting resulting in improved circulation of blood, fluids in the eye resulting in healthy eyes and clear close and distant vision.


Christmas 1928

By EMILY A. BATES

AS I began to write my Christmas story, a sense of fear comes over me that I might forget to give credit where it is due, or to omit some important detail which helped to make our Christmas party, I think, the best we ever had, I should say "parties," for there were three of them.
One party was held at the office of a doctor here in New York, who specializes in ear, nose, and throat work. This doctor, with his untiring efforts, has saved the lives of many children who were suffering from a stoppage of the throat from diphtheria or some other diseases which affected the larynx and trachea. It doesn't matter what hour it may be, he is always ready to respond to a call at a time when other doctors are asleep. Both he and his nurse deserve only the highest kind of praise for the wonderful work that they are doing. Along with his private practice, he has a host of charity cases; among them are children of the slums, who would not be alive today if it were not for his skill.
The doctor's nurse gives untiringly of her time to the children who need her special care. In her kind, quiet way she explains to some patients how necessary it is to be clean. Most of these patients are little soldiers and never tell the doctor during their treatment whether it hurts or not. He knows and so does the nurse, so after the treatment is over they are usually repaid for their courage with good things to eat.
In the group assembled at our Christmas Festival were children between the ages of six and sixteen. The younger children all believed in Santa Claus and were anxious to know what he had brought for them. Mothers of some of them were present, and they shared in what there was to give.
We were quite certain at the Christmas party that the doctor was the happiest of the group. The large dining table was filled with tempting things to eat, and our Christmas fund provided all of his charges with useful gifts. Each of the boys over ten years of age received the usual necktie. Each of the younger boys received a mechanical toy of some sort, while each of the little girls received a doll; purses were given to the older girls. Boxes of good candy from Loft's, oranges, and apples were provided for all, including the mothers.
One of the poor patients of our own clinic, a woman whose sight was so impaired when she first came to us that she could not make her living, placed an envelope in the hand of our assistant, Miss Hayes, and said: "It is only a little that I have to give, but let me help someone less fortunate than I am, and you and Mrs. Bates will find that someone much better than I can." She made me think of "the widow's mite" and how much it meant to the greatest Teacher this world has ever had. When we opened the envelope we found not a mite, but ten dollars.
This woman had had what is known as compound myopic astigmatism. Her eyes at times were much irritated and the pain she suffered prevented her from doing any sort of work. She came for two years off and on and during the last year was able to earn her living again. When she first came her vision with the test card was 10/70 in the right eye and 10/50 in the left; her vision at the near point was also very poor and she had been obliged to wear glasses when she attempted to do any close work. When we last saw her, her vision had improved to 10/10 in each eye and she was able to read No. 15 on the Fundamental card at eight inches from her eyes. She no longer wore her glasses and she said that the pain from which she suffered had entirely disappeared.
Although I am usually at the office during clinic hours, the Doctor's work keeps me in other parts of our office during clinic time each Saturday morning. Miss Hayes deserves all the credit for the cure of this poor woman, as well as other cases. Not once has she failed us in taking care of her charges and the many cases which have been treated and permanently cured by her are more than grateful.
The poor woman was very happy when she learned that her money was spent to make not only one, but eight unfortunate boys, happier than they had been for a long time. These boys had their first real Christmas party in all the years of their confinement in the Home for Feeble Minded. The one who had charge over these boys was a Bates' student. She came first to Dr. Bates as a patient and after she was cured she studied the method so that she could help others. Fate and good fortune brought her to this Home for the Feeble Minded in Thiells, N. Y., where hundreds of boys and girls and men and women are confined because their minds are not normal. The eight boys who were made happy because of our Christmas fund were between the ages of seventeen and twenty years of age, but their minds were like those of little children at the age of eight years or younger. Time and again those who took care of them left because the strain was too great. Others who were less tender hearted did not handle the boys properly, which did not aid in the improvement of the minds of these poor unfortunates.
For no other reason but to be of good service Miss Anna Woessner came to take charge and see what she could do for them. The boys responded quickly under her gentle treatment and care and changed in time from being destructive to being useful and willing to learn. Some of them had a constant desire to steal anything they could lay their hands on when she was not looking, but she did not lose patience with them or threaten them at any time. She studied their greatest faults and weaknesses and taught them right from wrong.
Although she did not mention to the heads of the institution the method that she was using to improve the minds of her charges, she went about in a quiet way, teaching them relaxation and rest of the mind and body by using the Bates Method. She allowed them to come to her room after their work hours were over and encouraged them to read her test cards, teaching them how to rest their eyes by palming.
They would do anything to hear a fairy story, so while their eyes were closed and covered they sat quietly while she told them simple fairy tales. She taught them the long swing of the body, explaining how well the big elephant could do it and how restful and happy he was because it relaxed him. She explained that relaxation meant that he was on his good behavior when he did the long swing. Even though their simple minds did not grasp everything she told them, they at least understood what good behavior meant.
Miss Woessner's mother, one of the good old-fashioned kind one reads about, always had a package for her to take back to the home after her weekend visit with her family and friends. The package usually contained homemade jellies and home-made cake which the mother prepared, arranging everything temptingly for the boys. It was always a joy to the boys to see Miss Woessner return to them. When they did wrong, they were denied the good things which she had for them. When they repented and promised to do better next time, they were always forgiven and given their share of the contents of the package.
She taught them how to make flowers of tissue paper and being an expert herself at making wax flowers, she taught them how to do this also. Some of their work was placed on exhibition for visitors to see when they called at the home. When our Christmas package arrived for them, each boy received a tie as well as candy and oranges. One of the boys sent a letter which he had written all by himself; it was hardly readable, but expressed the gratitude of each one and the letter ended by saying that he was anxious that I should receive his most precious possession, a live "bunny rabbit," as a gift.
At our own Christmas party, which was held at our new offices, there were about eight children altogether. No partiality was shown among the children so the presents that were purchased for the boys were carefully chosen so that each one received a similar gift. The same thing was done in selecting the dollies for the little girls. The men received ties and the women handkerchiefs and purses. Our tree for the clinic family seemed more beautiful than ever; it was lit up with electric lights and placed in the reception room where everyone could enjoy it.
There was one old lady who was especially happy with her gift. She had saved up enough money from her husband's small earnings during the year to buy a much needed winter coat for herself; she had also managed to buy a cheap hat and now with her new purse, she had a complete new outfit. She had been coming to the clinic almost every Saturday for about a year. She had been suffering from cataract in both eyes; her vision was so bad when she first came that she was unable to come alone and had to be brought to the office by her sister-in law. She was very much frightened the first day, because, not knowing very much about the Doctor's work, she thought that he might advise operation as had other doctors whom she had consulted. She was very much relieved when she was told that Dr. Bates did not operate and that he had cured cataract without operation or eye drops. She was ready to devote as much time as necessary to home practice.
She sat in the sun every morning for an hour or longer; she palmed or rested her eyes every hour for ten minutes and practiced the long swing every night and morning. When she first came, her vision was 10/200 in the right eye and 10/100 in the left. She complained of a mist before her eyes, which was becoming worse all the time. Dr. Bates examined her eyes several times during the year and each time found an improvement in their condition. The last time her vision was tested, she could read the line next to the bottom at ten feet (10/15) with either eye and the mist which had troubled her for so long had almost entirely disappeared. It was only when she strained her eyes that it would bother her and after she relaxed her eyes it disappeared. She stopped coming soon after Christmas, before she was entirely cured, but I feel sure that she kept up her practice at home.
Dr. Bates, Miss Hayes, and I wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to those who added to the clinic Christmas fund and helped to make our Christmas parties possible.

Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.

A Suggestion

A great many people who have been benefited by Dr. Bates' book, "Perfect Sight Without Glasses," Mrs. Bates' "Stories from the Clinic," or by "Better Eyesight," order copies of the books or subscriptions to "Better Eyesight" to be sent to some of their friends suffering from imperfect sight. Why not order books or subscriptions for some of your friends as a Christmas gift. We will mail books direct to the recipients, postage prepaid, and enclose your Christmas card.


Questions and Answers

Q—Would the reading of fine print at four inches be helpful?
A—The reading of fine print at four inches is usually helpful.

Q—You mention the black period in your book. Must this be any particular size? I only imagine large round black objects like cannon balls, the center of a target, or a moving football. This is restful, but is it beneficial?
A—No. Anything that is restful is beneficial.

Q—I have attained normal vision, but after reading for a while, my eyes feel strained. Would you still consider I had normal sight?
A—If your eyes feel strained you are not reading with normal vision.

Q—Seeing stationary objects moving appears to me to be merely self-hypnotism. I can't do it.
A—When riding in a train the stationary telephone poles appear to move in the opposite direction. Of course this is an illusion, but it is a benefit to the eyes to imagine all stationary objects moving.

Q—Is it possible to cure squint in a child under two years of age by the Bates Method, and what is the treatment employed?
A—A child, two years of age or younger, can be treated and cured of squint, with or without imperfect sight, by the Bates Method. The treatment is varied. The swing can be practiced by the mother holding the child in her arms. If the child is able to stand or walk, it is held by the hands and the sway is practiced with the child moving from side to side. Keeping time with music encourages the child to continue the swaying for a longer time.
Improving the memory and imagination of the child is also recommended. The child is encouraged to play with toy animals and is taught the names of the different animals. Usually the animals are placed on the floor in groups and the child is asked to pick up the animals as they are named. As the child reaches for one and then another, the parent may observe whether the child goes directly toward the toy or reaches to either side of it. This method is used in extreme cases of squint where the child does not see perfectly where is looking.
Colored yarns are also used in these cases. The child is taught the names of different colors. An improvement is always noted after such treatment, because the child is constantly shifting his glance from one colored skein of yarn to the other as he selects the one called for. The problem is to educate the eyesight. The more the eyes are used the better.
Palming is beneficial in the cure of squint. If the child is told that it is just a game of peek-a-boo, he immediately becomes interested and enjoys it. Reading a story to the child as he palms is usually beneficial, and improves the squint.
With children three years or older, the pot hook card is used. This is a test card with the letter "E" pointing in various directions. The child tells whether it is pointing up or down, left or right. If a mistake is made, palming is introduced in order to rest the eyes.
Children with squint are usually unruly, disobedient or destructive. When the squint is improved, a change in their conduct is also noted. They become quiet, obedient, and their mental efficiency is improved.

See left and right brain hemisphere activation, integration, balance and other new methods for curing squint.]]>

The Flashing Cure - Hypermetropia - Stories From The Clinic; 117. Christmas 1928 by Emily A. Bates - Notice – A Suggestion – Questions and Answers




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

DECEMBER, 1929

The Flashing Cure

Do you read imperfectly? Can you observe then that when you look at the first word, or the first letter, of a sentence you do not see best where you are looking; that you see other words, or other letters, just as well as or better than the one you are looking at? Do you observe also that the harder you try to see the worse you see?
Now close your eyes and rest them, remembering some color, like black or white, that you can remember perfectly. Keep them closed until they feel rested, or until the feeling of strain has been completely relieved. Now open them and look at the first word or letter of a sentence for a fraction of a second. If you have been able to relax, partially or completely, you will have a flash of improved or clear vision, and the area seen best will be smaller.
After opening the eyes for this fraction of a second, close them again quickly, still remembering the color, and keep them closed until they again feel rested. Then again open them for a fraction of a second. Continue this alternate resting of the eyes and flashing of the letters for a time, and you may soon find that you can keep your eyes open longer than a fraction of a second without losing the improved vision.
If your trouble is with distant instead of near vision, use the same method with distant letters.
In this way you can demonstrate for yourself the fundamental principle of the cure of imperfect sight by treatment without glasses.
If you fail, ask someone with perfect sight to help you.


Hypermetropia

(Unclear Close Vision, Farsight)

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

THE importance of hypermetropia cannot be overestimated. It is sometimes acquired soon after birth, or it may be manifest at ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years of age. Eighty percent of eye troubles are caused by hypermetropia, while near-sightedness occurs in ten percent. There are only ten percent of normal eyes. These figures are startling. The majority of persons at the age of forty-five or over acquire hypermetropia, and it is of the utmost importance that such cases be carefully studied.
Nearly everyone has the symptoms of hypermetropia. When the sight is good for distant vision, that does not necessarily mean that the sight is also good for reading at a near point of ten or twelve inches. Too often such cases are not treated seriously. Poor sight for reading (hypermetropia) is usually corrected by the use of reading glasses, while vision at all other distances is neglected.

In middle age, serious eye diseases are caused by hypermetropia. Among the most common are glaucoma, cataract, and diseases of the optic nerve and retina. In the early stages of these serious diseases, they are more readily curable than after they become chronic and more serious, because the vision is only slightly affected and the treatment which cures hypermetropia is the treatment which prevents serious eye diseases. Cataract and glaucoma are now being prevented or cured by treatment which cures hypermetropia. It should be emphasized that early treatment of hypermetropia yields quicker, more continuous results than later treatment.
Eye physicians or ophthalmologists have almost universally believed that absolute glaucoma is not curable by any form of treatment. It has been demonstrated that glaucoma is caused by strain—the strain of hypermetropia. When this strain is relieved or corrected, glaucoma usually improves. This treatment is more successful than operation or eye drops. It is only in the last ten years that it was discovered that glaucoma is caused by a strain which produces hypermetropia and that when this strain is relieved the glaucoma improves. I think it is a mistake to condemn this simple method of relieving the hypermetropia, which also relieves glaucoma. The eye strain which produces hypermetropia also produces cataract.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that in all diseases of the eyes which cause imperfect sight, the eye is under a strain and when this strain is removed all diseases of the eye are benefited. Patients with atrophy of the optic nerve have good sight when eyestrain is not present. For example, a patient came from Austria for treatment of amblyopia which was so advanced that the vision in one eye was only perception of light and in the other eye it was one half of normal. She had consulted many physicians who advised operation for the cure of the total blindness. She was given the hypermetropia treatment daily for about two weeks, at the end of which time the vision was normal in both eyes. Surely if hypermetropia treatment can be so beneficial, more physicians ought to know about it. There have been numerous similar cases.
It can be demonstrated that atrophy of the optic nerve can be caused by the eyestrain of hypermetropia. Palming, swinging, central fixation have always improved the sight temporarily or permanently. It is interesting to prove that such a disease as atrophy of the optic nerve can be benefited by the treatment which relieves hypermetropia.
Patients suffering from squint are benefited by hypermetropia treatment. Patients with hypermetropia not only strain to produce squint with one or both eyes turned in, but they also strain to correct the imperfect sight which is caused by the squint. This fact should be more widely known, because even at this time many physicians believe that the poor sight caused by hypermetropia is incurable.
(Two types of strain combined. One type of strain can lead to a secondary different type of strain.)
What is the lowest degree of hypermetropia that can be produced? is a question that has been asked. The answer is that there is no limit, not only to the low degree of hypermetropia, but there is no limit to the high degrees. In other words, by an effort hypermetropia of thirty diopters or more can be produced and, by treatment, perfect vision can be obtained just as readily.
In studying the production of high or low degrees of hypermetropia it is interesting to discover the conclusions of well known ophthalmologists. One prominent doctor was asked this question: Is hypermetropia curable? He replied that it was not curable. He was then asked, "Why do you claim that no one can cure hypermetropia?" He answered, "I know that it cannot be cured because I was unable to succeed and if I cannot succeed no one else can."
Massage of the eyelids has been recommended for the cure of hypermetropia. Another doctor claimed that he was able to cure a majority of the cases of hypermetropia, and that if the patient was not cured by massage, no other doctor in the world could succeed. Other physicians, however, did not believe that massage was a cure for hypermetropia.
Since hypermetropia is so common and produces so many different kinds of eye trouble—imperfect sight, pain, dizziness, and other nervous symptoms to a greater extent than do other errors of refraction—it is well to understand as much as we can of the occurrence, symptoms, prevention, and cure of hypermetropia.

The best methods of preventing hypermetropia are the sway, reading fine print such as diamond type, palming occasionally, and imagining stationary objects to be moving when the eyes move in the same or opposite direction. (oppositional movement) The last one of these methods is not always easy to practice. Some cases are very obstinate without any known reason. They may try for days, without success, to imagine stationary objects to be moving. The cause of failure is usually due to concentration, staring, looking fixedly at stationary objects, and efforts to try to see.
When success is not attained, hold the finger about six inches from the chin while looking at distant objects and move the head and eyes from side to side, taking care not to look directly at the finger. When this movement of the head and eyes is practiced easily, continuously, the finger appears to move in the opposite direction. This method is called the variable swing and most people have no trouble whatever in imagining the finger moving. The length of the movement of the finger is much wider than stationary objects regarded at ten, twenty, or forty feet or farther. (Distant objects appear to move with the eyes in the same direction.)
Another case of failure occurs when the patient turns the head to the right and simultaneously turns the eyes to the left. It is a very painful experience. When one fails to obtain movement of stationary objects with the variable swing, he suffers much pain, dizziness, and other nervous symptoms.
Hypermetropia may be prevented by many other methods. The memory or the imagination of perfect sight prevents hypermetropia in the normal eye. The memory of imperfect sight is very difficult and the memory or imagination of perfect sight is easy.

In the city of Chicago a school teacher developed a method of treating children which prevented hypermetropia from being acquired. She had charge of about fifty ore more children at the age when fatigue is common. As a result, all the teachers in the Chicago school allowed their children to rest for a time at frequent intervals—about every half an hour in two. (in two – misprint?) They were taught relaxation methods, although they were all under ten years of age. It was astonishing to observe how much they could remember, how much they could imagine, and how much their activities were improved with benefit to their eyes. Sometimes the usual exercises in the class room would be stopped and the children would be taught how to palm successfully and while palming to improve their imagination. They were taught to draw pictures which they copied from the blackboard twenty feet away. After some months, the hypermetropia was improved and finally entirely cured.
A school teacher in Long Island was treated by me for compound hypermetropic astigmatism. By the use of relaxation methods the hypermetropia and astigmatism were corrected and the patient obtained normal vision. The hypermetropia was prevented from increasing by curing it. The patient was very much pleased with the results and told the principal of her school that because hypermetropia was curable, it was also preventable. A negative proposition cannot be the truth. Hypermetropia could be prevented when it was found possible to cure it.
A number of teachers became interested and all those wearing glasses for hypermetropia were cured either by palming or swinging or by the memory of fine print. The principal was much pleased and placed a Snellen test card in all the cases rooms with directions that it should be read by all the teachers and pupils who were afflicted with hypermetropia. The first patient cured of hypermetropia was to continue the work.
Since she could not treat patients in the class rooms, she decided to treat them outside the school building. She made an arrangement with the teachers who wished treatment that she would teach them how to use their eyes properly and prevent or cure hypermetropia. She made arrangements with them all that after a teacher was cured, she would agree to teach, cure, or prevent some other teacher from acquiring hypermetropia. So much interest was shown by the teachers in this school building that it made an endless chain and a great many teachers and school children were cured of hypermetropia.
For many years, it has been believed that retardation is incurable. It seemed wrong that children, fifteen or sixteen years old and older should be kept in the grades with children ten years old or under. These children did not like to study. Many of them complained of severe headaches and other discomforts. Truancy was common. After retardation was cured by relaxation methods, most of the children started in and worked hard with their studies, with the result that many of them graduated into the rapid advancement classes.
I was told by many principals that imperfect sight was never found in the rapid advancement classes. Nearly all cases of retardation were suffering from hypermetropia. It was demonstrated that patients suffering from imperfect sight from any cause were also suffering from retardation. The teachers who devoted an hour or more every day to the cure of hypermetropia discovered much to their surprise that almost every disease of the eye and nervous system was benefited or cured by treatment which cured hypermetropia.
In one year, 20,000 pupils suffered from pain, headache, loss of memory, imperfect sight from hypermetropia. In one year after, 80 percent of the 20,000 children who were suffering from headaches and other nervous troubles all recovered after the hypermetropia was cured.

Reading fine print improves eye muscle relaxation, function, coordination, shape of and normal pressure on/in the eye, central fixation, shifting resulting in improved circulation of blood, fluids in the eye resulting in healthy eyes and clear close and distant vision.


Christmas 1928

By EMILY A. BATES

AS I began to write my Christmas story, a sense of fear comes over me that I might forget to give credit where it is due, or to omit some important detail which helped to make our Christmas party, I think, the best we ever had, I should say "parties," for there were three of them.
One party was held at the office of a doctor here in New York, who specializes in ear, nose, and throat work. This doctor, with his untiring efforts, has saved the lives of many children who were suffering from a stoppage of the throat from diphtheria or some other diseases which affected the larynx and trachea. It doesn't matter what hour it may be, he is always ready to respond to a call at a time when other doctors are asleep. Both he and his nurse deserve only the highest kind of praise for the wonderful work that they are doing. Along with his private practice, he has a host of charity cases; among them are children of the slums, who would not be alive today if it were not for his skill.
The doctor's nurse gives untiringly of her time to the children who need her special care. In her kind, quiet way she explains to some patients how necessary it is to be clean. Most of these patients are little soldiers and never tell the doctor during their treatment whether it hurts or not. He knows and so does the nurse, so after the treatment is over they are usually repaid for their courage with good things to eat.
In the group assembled at our Christmas Festival were children between the ages of six and sixteen. The younger children all believed in Santa Claus and were anxious to know what he had brought for them. Mothers of some of them were present, and they shared in what there was to give.
We were quite certain at the Christmas party that the doctor was the happiest of the group. The large dining table was filled with tempting things to eat, and our Christmas fund provided all of his charges with useful gifts. Each of the boys over ten years of age received the usual necktie. Each of the younger boys received a mechanical toy of some sort, while each of the little girls received a doll; purses were given to the older girls. Boxes of good candy from Loft's, oranges, and apples were provided for all, including the mothers.
One of the poor patients of our own clinic, a woman whose sight was so impaired when she first came to us that she could not make her living, placed an envelope in the hand of our assistant, Miss Hayes, and said: "It is only a little that I have to give, but let me help someone less fortunate than I am, and you and Mrs. Bates will find that someone much better than I can." She made me think of "the widow's mite" and how much it meant to the greatest Teacher this world has ever had. When we opened the envelope we found not a mite, but ten dollars.
This woman had had what is known as compound myopic astigmatism. Her eyes at times were much irritated and the pain she suffered prevented her from doing any sort of work. She came for two years off and on and during the last year was able to earn her living again. When she first came her vision with the test card was 10/70 in the right eye and 10/50 in the left; her vision at the near point was also very poor and she had been obliged to wear glasses when she attempted to do any close work. When we last saw her, her vision had improved to 10/10 in each eye and she was able to read No. 15 on the Fundamental card at eight inches from her eyes. She no longer wore her glasses and she said that the pain from which she suffered had entirely disappeared.
Although I am usually at the office during clinic hours, the Doctor's work keeps me in other parts of our office during clinic time each Saturday morning. Miss Hayes deserves all the credit for the cure of this poor woman, as well as other cases. Not once has she failed us in taking care of her charges and the many cases which have been treated and permanently cured by her are more than grateful.
The poor woman was very happy when she learned that her money was spent to make not only one, but eight unfortunate boys, happier than they had been for a long time. These boys had their first real Christmas party in all the years of their confinement in the Home for Feeble Minded. The one who had charge over these boys was a Bates' student. She came first to Dr. Bates as a patient and after she was cured she studied the method so that she could help others. Fate and good fortune brought her to this Home for the Feeble Minded in Thiells, N. Y., where hundreds of boys and girls and men and women are confined because their minds are not normal. The eight boys who were made happy because of our Christmas fund were between the ages of seventeen and twenty years of age, but their minds were like those of little children at the age of eight years or younger. Time and again those who took care of them left because the strain was too great. Others who were less tender hearted did not handle the boys properly, which did not aid in the improvement of the minds of these poor unfortunates.
For no other reason but to be of good service Miss Anna Woessner came to take charge and see what she could do for them. The boys responded quickly under her gentle treatment and care and changed in time from being destructive to being useful and willing to learn. Some of them had a constant desire to steal anything they could lay their hands on when she was not looking, but she did not lose patience with them or threaten them at any time. She studied their greatest faults and weaknesses and taught them right from wrong.
Although she did not mention to the heads of the institution the method that she was using to improve the minds of her charges, she went about in a quiet way, teaching them relaxation and rest of the mind and body by using the Bates Method. She allowed them to come to her room after their work hours were over and encouraged them to read her test cards, teaching them how to rest their eyes by palming.
They would do anything to hear a fairy story, so while their eyes were closed and covered they sat quietly while she told them simple fairy tales. She taught them the long swing of the body, explaining how well the big elephant could do it and how restful and happy he was because it relaxed him. She explained that relaxation meant that he was on his good behavior when he did the long swing. Even though their simple minds did not grasp everything she told them, they at least understood what good behavior meant.
Miss Woessner's mother, one of the good old-fashioned kind one reads about, always had a package for her to take back to the home after her weekend visit with her family and friends. The package usually contained homemade jellies and home-made cake which the mother prepared, arranging everything temptingly for the boys. It was always a joy to the boys to see Miss Woessner return to them. When they did wrong, they were denied the good things which she had for them. When they repented and promised to do better next time, they were always forgiven and given their share of the contents of the package.
She taught them how to make flowers of tissue paper and being an expert herself at making wax flowers, she taught them how to do this also. Some of their work was placed on exhibition for visitors to see when they called at the home. When our Christmas package arrived for them, each boy received a tie as well as candy and oranges. One of the boys sent a letter which he had written all by himself; it was hardly readable, but expressed the gratitude of each one and the letter ended by saying that he was anxious that I should receive his most precious possession, a live "bunny rabbit," as a gift.
At our own Christmas party, which was held at our new offices, there were about eight children altogether. No partiality was shown among the children so the presents that were purchased for the boys were carefully chosen so that each one received a similar gift. The same thing was done in selecting the dollies for the little girls. The men received ties and the women handkerchiefs and purses. Our tree for the clinic family seemed more beautiful than ever; it was lit up with electric lights and placed in the reception room where everyone could enjoy it.
There was one old lady who was especially happy with her gift. She had saved up enough money from her husband's small earnings during the year to buy a much needed winter coat for herself; she had also managed to buy a cheap hat and now with her new purse, she had a complete new outfit. She had been coming to the clinic almost every Saturday for about a year. She had been suffering from cataract in both eyes; her vision was so bad when she first came that she was unable to come alone and had to be brought to the office by her sister-in law. She was very much frightened the first day, because, not knowing very much about the Doctor's work, she thought that he might advise operation as had other doctors whom she had consulted. She was very much relieved when she was told that Dr. Bates did not operate and that he had cured cataract without operation or eye drops. She was ready to devote as much time as necessary to home practice.
She sat in the sun every morning for an hour or longer; she palmed or rested her eyes every hour for ten minutes and practiced the long swing every night and morning. When she first came, her vision was 10/200 in the right eye and 10/100 in the left. She complained of a mist before her eyes, which was becoming worse all the time. Dr. Bates examined her eyes several times during the year and each time found an improvement in their condition. The last time her vision was tested, she could read the line next to the bottom at ten feet (10/15) with either eye and the mist which had troubled her for so long had almost entirely disappeared. It was only when she strained her eyes that it would bother her and after she relaxed her eyes it disappeared. She stopped coming soon after Christmas, before she was entirely cured, but I feel sure that she kept up her practice at home.
Dr. Bates, Miss Hayes, and I wish to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to those who added to the clinic Christmas fund and helped to make our Christmas parties possible.

Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.

A Suggestion

A great many people who have been benefited by Dr. Bates' book, "Perfect Sight Without Glasses," Mrs. Bates' "Stories from the Clinic," or by "Better Eyesight," order copies of the books or subscriptions to "Better Eyesight" to be sent to some of their friends suffering from imperfect sight. Why not order books or subscriptions for some of your friends as a Christmas gift. We will mail books direct to the recipients, postage prepaid, and enclose your Christmas card.


Questions and Answers

Q—Would the reading of fine print at four inches be helpful?
A—The reading of fine print at four inches is usually helpful.

Q—You mention the black period in your book. Must this be any particular size? I only imagine large round black objects like cannon balls, the center of a target, or a moving football. This is restful, but is it beneficial?
A—No. Anything that is restful is beneficial.

Q—I have attained normal vision, but after reading for a while, my eyes feel strained. Would you still consider I had normal sight?
A—If your eyes feel strained you are not reading with normal vision.

Q—Seeing stationary objects moving appears to me to be merely self-hypnotism. I can't do it.
A—When riding in a train the stationary telephone poles appear to move in the opposite direction. Of course this is an illusion, but it is a benefit to the eyes to imagine all stationary objects moving.

Q—Is it possible to cure squint in a child under two years of age by the Bates Method, and what is the treatment employed?
A—A child, two years of age or younger, can be treated and cured of squint, with or without imperfect sight, by the Bates Method. The treatment is varied. The swing can be practiced by the mother holding the child in her arms. If the child is able to stand or walk, it is held by the hands and the sway is practiced with the child moving from side to side. Keeping time with music encourages the child to continue the swaying for a longer time.
Improving the memory and imagination of the child is also recommended. The child is encouraged to play with toy animals and is taught the names of the different animals. Usually the animals are placed on the floor in groups and the child is asked to pick up the animals as they are named. As the child reaches for one and then another, the parent may observe whether the child goes directly toward the toy or reaches to either side of it. This method is used in extreme cases of squint where the child does not see perfectly where is looking.
Colored yarns are also used in these cases. The child is taught the names of different colors. An improvement is always noted after such treatment, because the child is constantly shifting his glance from one colored skein of yarn to the other as he selects the one called for. The problem is to educate the eyesight. The more the eyes are used the better.
Palming is beneficial in the cure of squint. If the child is told that it is just a game of peek-a-boo, he immediately becomes interested and enjoys it. Reading a story to the child as he palms is usually beneficial, and improves the squint.
With children three years or older, the pot hook card is used. This is a test card with the letter "E" pointing in various directions. The child tells whether it is pointing up or down, left or right. If a mistake is made, palming is introduced in order to rest the eyes.
Children with squint are usually unruly, disobedient or destructive. When the squint is improved, a change in their conduct is also noted. They become quiet, obedient, and their mental efficiency is improved.

See left and right brain hemisphere activation, integration, balance and other new methods for curing squint.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=275 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:02:31 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=275
Improve Your Sight - Amblyopia - Stories From The Clinic; 116. Amblyopia by Emily A. Bates - Notice – Questions and Answers



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

NOVEMBER, 1929

Improve Your Sight

+ When convenient, practice the long swing. Stand with the feet about one foot apart, turn the body to the right, at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes move with the body. Now place
the left heel on the floor, turn the body to the left, raising the heel of the right foot. Alternate.
+ Rest your eyes continually by blinking. The normal eye blinks irregularly but continuously. When convenient, practice blinking in the following way: Count irregularly and blink for each count. By consciously
blinking correctly, it will in time become an unconscious habit.
+ When the mind is awake it is thinking of many things. One can remember things perfectly or imagine things perfectly, which is a rest to the eyes, mind, and the body generally.
The memory of imperfect sight should be avoided because it is a strain and lowers the vision.
+ Read the Snellen test card at 20 feet with each eye, separately, twice daily or oftener when convenient. Imagine the white spaces in letters to be whiter than the rest of the card. Do this alternately with the eyes
closed and opened. Plan to imagine the white spaces in letters just as white, in looking at the Snellen test card, as can be accomplished with the eyes closed.
+ Whenever convenient, close your eyes for a few minutes and rest them. Palming.
+ Sunning. Go outside and expose the eyes, skin to Full Spectrum Sunlight daily.

Amblyopia

Dim, low, no vision in one or both eyes.
Usually occurs with squint or advanced eye problems but can occur alone.

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

WHEN the sight is poor and cannot be improved promptly by glasses, the cause is usually due to amblyopia. The word amblyopia means blindness. In amblyopia the vision is less in the region of the center of sight. One cannot have imperfect sight without having at the same time a measure of poor vision in which all parts of the field are involved. It seems curious that it is possible for the most sensitive part of the retina to become blind while other parts of the retina have considerable vision, better, in fact, than the vision obtained by the activity of the center of sight.
Some cases of amblyopia cannot count fingers. Many others have no perception of light and yet, strange to say, the advanced cases can oftentimes be cured just as quickly as other cases in which the vision is only slightly lowered. Some cases of amblyopia may have poor vision at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet, a similar reduced vision at six inches or less, but at ten feet the vision may be nearly normal.

Color Blindness
In most cases of amblyopia the field of vision is usually very small. Sometimes the letters regarded at fifteen feet appear to be blood red while other letters regarded at three feet may seem to be brown or to have a tint of green or some other color. The perception of colors varies greatly at different distances. Red may look like green when the card is regarded at fifteen feet or farther—yellow may give one the appearance of blue.
For many years color blindness has usually been considered incurable, but since amblyopia and color blindness are usually found together, the treatment which helps or improves the sight without glasses also benefits the color blindness. The reverse is also true; when color blindness is benefited the amblyopia becomes less.
Since it is a truth that staring, concentration, causes imperfect sight, any treatment which relieves strain should always improve the sight or improve the vision in amblyopia and color blindness. A great many lives have been lost as a result of acquired color blindness. A patient with imperfect sight was brought to my office by his family physician with a history of having run into another automobile while driving his own car. When I tested his vision with the Snellen test card, I found it to be normal.
The patient was very much upset and said in his defense to me: "Doctor, I never saw that automobile." A good deal of time was spent in demonstrating that the patient had acquired amblyopia which was so complete that he really did not see the other car, but the blindness had lasted for such a short time that it was not an easy matter to prove that he had an attack of temporary blindness or an attack of amblyopia.
This phenomena has occurred very often to locomotive engineers who would state after an accident that they had suddenly gone blind for a short time and when they were blind they did not see the danger signals.

One patient, a sea captain, told me that he believed that for his own safety and that of his passengers he ought to give up his occupation because he was having more and more frequent attacks of imperfect sight from amblyopia. At one time his vision was very good and he had no trouble whatsoever in seeing a lighthouse on the shore many miles away, but recently he had attacks of blindness which prevented him from recognizing the officers and sailors on his ship.

The popularity of the airplane has increased in recent years. Every once in a while a report is published of some flying machine failing to the earth and causing many deaths, because of attacks of sudden blindness suffered by the pilots. An aviator once visited me for relief. He said that some years previous he had been very much concerned about the action of his machine. The machine would start to fall, but would stop before reaching the ground. He lost control of it in the beginning, although he was positive that he acquired control again. After he had rested for a month or more, he still had the attacks of temporary blindness which cause him to lose control of the plane, although they were not so continuous.
He was told that the cause of these sudden attacks of blindness was eyestrain. The eyestrain was treated by the usual methods and treated so successfully that he drove a car for long periods of time without further attacks of sudden blindness. At one time he reported to me that if he took the trouble to practice relaxation methods he had no attacks of blindness. He was convinced that the relaxation methods prevented amblyopia and loss of mental control.

There are other occasions when these attacks of amblyopia with color blindness have interfered with the work of some artists. A portrait painter gave a history of attacks of temporary blindness while at his work. Sometimes after devoting considerable time to his work he found that he had to do it all over again because of the attacks of amblyopia and color blindness.
In another case a well known surgeon suffered from attacks of blindness at irregular periods. The blindness was complete so that he had no perception of light. The attacks of blindness worried him very much because he was afraid, while performing an important or dangerous surgical operation, that in the midst of it would come an attack of sudden blindness which would tend to interfere seriously with his work.
The neurologists whom the surgeon consulted all told him that he was threatened with insanity and that unless he took a long rest he might unexpectedly find himself blind and insane. Every ophthalmologist whom he consulted gave him a different pair of glasses to wear, none of which gave him any relief. He not only suffered from attacks of blindness but he was also bothered by illusions of sight.
He said nothing about the amblyopia at his first visit, but told me that he called to have something done for his eyes. He had many symptoms of discomfort and he would be very much obliged to me if I would cure him. While examining his eyes with the ophthalmoscope and seeking to find some treatment which would improve his vision, I discovered that he was suffering from amblyopia. Then he was told that the reason that his sight failed and that he had attacks of double vision was because of this amblyopia. Then began a great battle. The doctor knew a great deal about physiological optics and would not encourage me to treat him until he was convinced that I was right and he was wrong.
Double vision, multiple images
When he was in his office he said that where he knew there was only one light, he saw two, three, or four lights. The images in some cases were arranged one above the other and the distances between them varied within very wide limits. He said, however, that the principal illusion that he suffered from was that it seemed to him that his hands and feet were double, sometimes more than double, The size of the double images varied; sometimes one image was four or five times as large as the other. In some cases the double images were arranged one above the other, while in other cases they were arranged in an oblique direction. When he looked at a Snellen test card hanging up in my office, the bottom lines were double and the color of each line of letters appeared different. With the aid of central fixation this illusion disappeared and did not return.

Double vision caused by squint, crossed/wandering eyes is different from double, multiple images which can occur in one or both eyes and are usually caused by imperfect relaxation of the mind and eyes, eye muscles, imperfect eye muscle coordination, abnormal eye, cornea, lens shape, left and right brain hemispheres not activated, integrated, resulting in astigmatism, abnormal images.
A little double image effect can occur temporarily when the vision is improving from blurry to clear. The double, multiple images appear but are basically clear and will merge into one perfect clear image as the mind, eyes, eye muscles continue to relax, function correct.
Tension, pressure on the nerves, muscles in the neck can resonate into the eyes/eye muscles and cause double, multiple images, blur.
Relaxation and movement of the neck along with all Bates Method activities corrects these conditions.

To satisfy the surgeon I made repeated examinations of his eyes with the aid of the ophthalmoscope and each time I reported that his eyes were all right and that there was nothing in either of his eyes which could explain the illusions from which he suffered. They did not come from any malformation of the interior of the eyeball but were imagined. He was very much impressed when I told him how to produce illusions of sight consciously whenever he so desired. He discovered that it was necessary to strain in order to do this and knowing the cause of his trouble made it easier for him to relieve it by doing away with the strain.
This doctor went though the World War and when he returned he came to my office and thanked me for what I had done for him. He said that he had not had a single attack of temporary blindness from the stare or strain of amblyopia, because knowing the cause of his trouble he was able to prevent it.
The great mistake that has been made for the last one hundred years or more was in ignoring amblyopia. It was astonishing to find the number of doctors who did not believe that amblyopia was of great importance. Time after time patients with amblyopia were treated in my office with success by relaxation methods. Some doctors stated very strongly that amblyopia was congenital and emphasized the matter so strongly, so continuously that most other doctors hesitated to treat amblyopia at all, but were very glad to turn such cases over to someone else.


Amblyopia

By EMILY A. BATES

AS DR. BATES' article in this issue is on amblyopia, I thought that it would be a good opportunity for me to tell about some interesting cases which I have taken care of.
In 1912 when I first began assisting Dr. Bates in his experimental work in the Physiological Laboratory of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York I had no idea that there was so much to be learned about the cure of imperfect sight without glasses. As I became more acquainted with the Doctor's work, the desire to learn more grew stronger. Each day I helped him. Watching the Doctor in his experiments with animals (these experiments were always performed immediately after the death of the animals) was most interesting and often students in the Physiological Laboratory who were doing their experimental work would stop long enough to watch Dr. Bates doing his work and making new discoveries.
I felt very proud then to stand by his side after our work at the office was finished, taking an hour before clinic time and an hour after the clinic session was over. There were times when our work together seemed almost too strenuous for me and many times I felt as though I could not go on another day. Before I offered my assistance there were doctors who tried to keep on in assisting the Doctor until his experimental work was accomplished, but in due time, one by one, they had to give up, because they could not spare enough time away from their offices and for other reasons.
Dr. Bates has always been a great reader and has studied every book written by prominent eye specialists. He always found time enough to try other ideas and experiments even while he was doing his own work. While other doctors were away for the summer months, enjoying a rest away from their work, Dr. Bates, who did not at that time believe in vacations, would sometimes be the only physician doing any experimental work at the laboratory. Occasionally Professor Lee, who in his heart believed in Dr. Bates' work and respected his ability to do what other doctors failed to accomplish, would come into the room to watch the experimental work going on.
Amblyopia not only occurs in human beings but also in animals. Anyone who doubts this might ask the keeper of the zoo how an animal in captivity acts when he is under a strain. In the early spring, when animals that have been housed for the winter months, because they cannot stand the extreme cold, are first given the fresh air and more space outdoors, they wander around and about in a blind sort of fashion. Some of them toss their bodies against the tall railings which prevent them from escaping and for a while they do not know what it is all about. After a while, when they become accustomed to their new surroundings and different light, their temporary blindness wears away, and if anyone who understands the use of the retinoscope is near he will find that there is nothing wrong with the interiors of the animals' eyes.
Having had the opportunity of being with Doctor Bates during his experimental days, I was able to understand how something could be wrong with the eyesight of school children when apparently there was no organic change in the retina. I made a special study all by myself of the cure of the eyes of school children and this is what I found:
Usually children of the poor have very little or no idea of school work before they enter the school room. When it comes time for the mother to take her child to the public school, usually the mother does not know what is in the heart or the mind of that child. He has been accustomed to a little play each day in the streets and at other times was happy and familiar in the surroundings of the little place called home. Usually children are shy when visitors call; some become irritable for no reason whatever and are sometimes punished for that. The mother does not realize that strain of the mind is produced because the child either likes or dislikes the visitor. House pets such as dogs or cats which are accustomed to the members of the household usually run away and hide when a visitor calls. It doesn't require much to cause mind strain and when there is strain of the mind there is always eyestrain.
When a child is bought into a large school he feels as though he is in another world. The child meets children who seem different from those with whom he has been acquainted. He meets a teacher who tries her best to become acquainted with him and doesn't always succeed. He sees his mother leaving him to the care of those whom he has never met before. All these things have to be overcome, and this is not readily done in every case.
After a while the tests begin. Children soon have to read the writing on the blackboard. When this cannot be accomplished by the pupil it is understood that the child has imperfect sight and needs glasses. Eye tests are made with the aid of the Snellen test card and it is found that the vision is not normal. (Even the sound of the voice of the person who tests the vision has a mental effect on the child.) Then the mother receives a note saying that the child needs to be fitted for glasses.
In some schools this is still going on, but in others it is not. I found many schools using the Bates Method without calling it so. Schools in New Jersey have used the Bates Method successfully for many years, and while it has been stopped by the authorities as a daily routine, there have been a large number of children benefited by the use of the Snellen test card. In the larger cities of the United States as well as in Germany, South Africa, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Spain, the Bates Method is being carried on.
A great deal of eyestrain could be prevented if children were told what to do before they begin their studies. Amblyopia could be prevented by explaining to the child how necessary it is not to stare in order to see better. Blinking irregularly but often is something that is done universally by people who have no trouble with their eyes. Animals in the same way blink their eyes often, although they themselves are not conscious of it, as far as we know. When blinking is done right the eyes move and it is seldom that amblyopia is observed in people who practice this.
In the October issue of the magazine, "Good House-keeping," there is an article entitled "A New Job for the Public Schools," by Elizabeth Frazer. Her illustration of the children studying at their desks shows mental strain as well as eye strain. In the article the following appears: "What is the matter with these children? What causes them to fail in schools? What can be done to help them? Progressive educators are beginning to ask these questions and want to help to prevent failures."
I can tell them how, for I have been with school children a good many years and have helped them along just by improving their eyesight to normal. All those who are unruly should have their sight tested every day with the Snellen test card. I can prove, if I am given a chance with a group of such children, that every one has eyestrain. I can prove that when eyestrain is entirely relieved by resting the eyes, the mentality of such children is improved. Not only does the child benefit by the Bates Method of relieving eyestrain, but the mother is relieved of a great problem and the teacher is able to teach with less mental strain for her. I am ready for an interview at any time and I shall greet with pleasure anyone who is interested enough to let me help in improving the defective eyesight of school children.

Squint
During the nine years of clinic work which was done by Dr. Bates and myself at the Harlem Hospital here in New York City, many such cases as Elizabeth Frazer describes came to us to be fitted for glasses. In my book, "Stories from The Clinic," I wrote about a case of squint or cross eyes. This particular case was a little mulatto boy who first came at the age of four years, accompanied by his grandmother. He wasn't wanted in kindergarten because he was not only unruly but destructive. He was not wanted in his home where a new baby had come and where he was not safe to have around because of his cruelty. His grandmother was the only one who cared to bother with him. When he had fits of extreme nervousness, he would act exactly like a blind person and yet he was not blind. This is amblyopia.
I had to be very patient with this boy in order to do anything with him at all. His right eye turned in toward the nose so far that one could hardly see the iris. One could easily imagine the mental strain that this caused the child. Glasses had been prescribed for him, but with such a nature as he had, how was it possible to prevent the glasses from being broken? This little chap refused to wear them from the start. The family physician did not know what to do for him because physically he seemed all right and he did not know what to do for him mentally. Through some mother who had brought her child to us for treatment and whose child also had squint, this grandmother heard about Dr. Bates and his relaxation treatment for the relief of tension and eyestrain.
When I gradually won the boy over, we had to play a game at pretending. We went into the land of make believe while his eyes were closed. I also had to close my eyes frequently while treating him, because he produced a strain in my eyes as well as in his own. It was the only way I knew to treat him and obtain results. His grandmother watched him closely each time I gave him a treatment and she followed me as well as she could when she treated him at home. When the sight of his right eye improved for the test card, the right eye became straighter and he displayed less nervousness. He attended clinic regularly three days a week for some months and each time he received a treatment he became more and more patient and did as he was told by me.
Each time I tested his sight for the test card I made note of the improvement he made and so did his grandmother. He did not always do as he was told but a decided change for the better was noticed in due time and then he and his grandmother stopped coming to the clinic for a while. I did not hear from them for a year, but when he did return I did not know who he was when he spoke to me. Both eyes were straight and his vision was normal for the test card. His grandmother had brought him to me to let me see the improvement in her little boy and I was surprised to note the difference in his attitude toward her and toward me. She had helped him for an hour every day and had used the test cards as I directed her. He had in the meantime returned home to his mother and was again going to school.

A boy, aged fifteen, was brought to my attention through a patient who was treated and cured by Dr. Bates. This former patient was Mrs. H. D. Messick of Cleveland, Ohio, who has done a great deal of charity work in relieving eye strain in school children among the poorer classes. She heard of this boy whose left eye was almost blind and whose vision for the right eye was 10/30. The best eye specialist in the middle west pronounced the left eye incurable and advised him never to be without glasses for fear of going absolutely blind in the other eye. The eye which was almost blind was examined with the ophthalmoscope and nothing could be found wrong with the retina or optic nerve or any other part of the eye, yet he could not see out of that eye.
This is amblyopia or blindness without any apparent cause. The patient does not know what is wrong; neither does the doctor, yet the patient cannot see. This boy had for many years tried to improve his ability as an artist by drawing pictures of ships, but he always drew them imperfectly because he could not see them perfectly. When this boy, who was well acquainted with the Doctor's cured patient, found out what had been done for her he promised to do anything he was advised to do if he could receive help as she did. If only he would not go blind in the one eye, he said, he wouldn't mind it much having one blind eye, and the great specialist who had pronounced his apparent blindness incurable had no hope whatever for that eye.
With such thoughts in his mind I first began to treat him. When he noticed how quickly the vision improved in the blind eye, he went to work with the Bates Method as no other boy under my supervision has done since. He improved steadily, sending me reports regularly until the vision of the poor eye was normal. This was due to the help and encouragement he received from Mrs. Messick. The teachers in school knew that he had worn glasses and when he returned to school without them, they attempted to persuade him to wear them, but he wouldn't and he said that they were thrilled to notice the improvement not only in his eyesight, but in all the class work that he did under their supervision. He sent me a picture of a ship which he had drawn, after his vision became normal. "It is as perfect as any drawing could be," Dr. Bates exclaimed after he had examined it.
What was done for one boy can be done for other boys who need help as Elizabeth Frazer has explained so well in her article.


Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. This certificate, however, does not authorize the student to instruct others so that they may in turn teach the method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.


Questions and Answers

Q - My trouble is cataract. Shall I cover up the good eye while practicing?
A - Practice with both eyes together until your vision is normal. Then, cover the good eye and improve the vision of the poor eye.

Q- Often, when I am trying to see a thing, it will come to me, but my eyes will commence to smart and then I blink and lose it. What shall I do to overcome that??
A - Blinking can be done correctly, and it can be done incorrectly. You strain while you blink. The normal eye blinks easily and frequently. Strain is always accompanied by the stare. By standing and swaying from side to side so that your whole body, head, and eyes move together, the stare is lessened..

Q- What causes redness and smarting sensation of the eye even when plenty of sun treatment has been given? Should one continue with sun treatment under the circumstances??
A - Take the sun treatment frequently for five or ten minutes at a time daily, increasing the length of time until the eyes become accustomed to the sun. The eyes should always be benefited after the sun treatment, and one should always feel relaxed. When done properly, the redness and smarting should soon disappear. If the eyes are not benefited, it is an indication that you strain while taking the treatment. Alternate the sun treatment with palming or closing the eyes to rest them..
Move the head side to side when sunning..

Q - Is resting the eyes by palming a more effective cure for smarting of the eyes than the sun treatment??
A - This depends upon the individual. Some are benefited more by palming, while others receive more benefit from the sun treatment..

Q- Should motor goggles be worn as protection against wind??
A - No protection is needed against the wind if the eyes are used correctly. Blinking, shifting, central fixation, and the imagination of stationary objects to be moving, should be practiced while motoring, and, in fact, all the time. Motor goggles weaken the eyes and make them sensitive to the sunlight..

Q- Is age a factor in the cure of imperfect sight without glasses??
A - Age is not a factor..

Q- In palming should one close the eyes tightly??
A - No, easily and naturally at all times..

Q- When you suggest new methods do you mean to discontinue with the old??
A - Not necessarily; all the methods I recommend have relaxation for their object. It is for the patient to determine which treatment is most beneficial and to continue its practice faithfully. Some patients tire easily when one thing is done continuously. For this reason several are suggested in order to vary the practice..]]>
Improve Your Sight - Amblyopia - Stories From The Clinic; 116. Amblyopia by Emily A. Bates - Notice – Questions and Answers



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

NOVEMBER, 1929

Improve Your Sight

+ When convenient, practice the long swing. Stand with the feet about one foot apart, turn the body to the right, at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes move with the body. Now place
the left heel on the floor, turn the body to the left, raising the heel of the right foot. Alternate.
+ Rest your eyes continually by blinking. The normal eye blinks irregularly but continuously. When convenient, practice blinking in the following way: Count irregularly and blink for each count. By consciously
blinking correctly, it will in time become an unconscious habit.
+ When the mind is awake it is thinking of many things. One can remember things perfectly or imagine things perfectly, which is a rest to the eyes, mind, and the body generally.
The memory of imperfect sight should be avoided because it is a strain and lowers the vision.
+ Read the Snellen test card at 20 feet with each eye, separately, twice daily or oftener when convenient. Imagine the white spaces in letters to be whiter than the rest of the card. Do this alternately with the eyes
closed and opened. Plan to imagine the white spaces in letters just as white, in looking at the Snellen test card, as can be accomplished with the eyes closed.
+ Whenever convenient, close your eyes for a few minutes and rest them. Palming.
+ Sunning. Go outside and expose the eyes, skin to Full Spectrum Sunlight daily.

Amblyopia

Dim, low, no vision in one or both eyes.
Usually occurs with squint or advanced eye problems but can occur alone.

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

WHEN the sight is poor and cannot be improved promptly by glasses, the cause is usually due to amblyopia. The word amblyopia means blindness. In amblyopia the vision is less in the region of the center of sight. One cannot have imperfect sight without having at the same time a measure of poor vision in which all parts of the field are involved. It seems curious that it is possible for the most sensitive part of the retina to become blind while other parts of the retina have considerable vision, better, in fact, than the vision obtained by the activity of the center of sight.
Some cases of amblyopia cannot count fingers. Many others have no perception of light and yet, strange to say, the advanced cases can oftentimes be cured just as quickly as other cases in which the vision is only slightly lowered. Some cases of amblyopia may have poor vision at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet, a similar reduced vision at six inches or less, but at ten feet the vision may be nearly normal.

Color Blindness
In most cases of amblyopia the field of vision is usually very small. Sometimes the letters regarded at fifteen feet appear to be blood red while other letters regarded at three feet may seem to be brown or to have a tint of green or some other color. The perception of colors varies greatly at different distances. Red may look like green when the card is regarded at fifteen feet or farther—yellow may give one the appearance of blue.
For many years color blindness has usually been considered incurable, but since amblyopia and color blindness are usually found together, the treatment which helps or improves the sight without glasses also benefits the color blindness. The reverse is also true; when color blindness is benefited the amblyopia becomes less.
Since it is a truth that staring, concentration, causes imperfect sight, any treatment which relieves strain should always improve the sight or improve the vision in amblyopia and color blindness. A great many lives have been lost as a result of acquired color blindness. A patient with imperfect sight was brought to my office by his family physician with a history of having run into another automobile while driving his own car. When I tested his vision with the Snellen test card, I found it to be normal.
The patient was very much upset and said in his defense to me: "Doctor, I never saw that automobile." A good deal of time was spent in demonstrating that the patient had acquired amblyopia which was so complete that he really did not see the other car, but the blindness had lasted for such a short time that it was not an easy matter to prove that he had an attack of temporary blindness or an attack of amblyopia.
This phenomena has occurred very often to locomotive engineers who would state after an accident that they had suddenly gone blind for a short time and when they were blind they did not see the danger signals.

One patient, a sea captain, told me that he believed that for his own safety and that of his passengers he ought to give up his occupation because he was having more and more frequent attacks of imperfect sight from amblyopia. At one time his vision was very good and he had no trouble whatsoever in seeing a lighthouse on the shore many miles away, but recently he had attacks of blindness which prevented him from recognizing the officers and sailors on his ship.

The popularity of the airplane has increased in recent years. Every once in a while a report is published of some flying machine failing to the earth and causing many deaths, because of attacks of sudden blindness suffered by the pilots. An aviator once visited me for relief. He said that some years previous he had been very much concerned about the action of his machine. The machine would start to fall, but would stop before reaching the ground. He lost control of it in the beginning, although he was positive that he acquired control again. After he had rested for a month or more, he still had the attacks of temporary blindness which cause him to lose control of the plane, although they were not so continuous.
He was told that the cause of these sudden attacks of blindness was eyestrain. The eyestrain was treated by the usual methods and treated so successfully that he drove a car for long periods of time without further attacks of sudden blindness. At one time he reported to me that if he took the trouble to practice relaxation methods he had no attacks of blindness. He was convinced that the relaxation methods prevented amblyopia and loss of mental control.

There are other occasions when these attacks of amblyopia with color blindness have interfered with the work of some artists. A portrait painter gave a history of attacks of temporary blindness while at his work. Sometimes after devoting considerable time to his work he found that he had to do it all over again because of the attacks of amblyopia and color blindness.
In another case a well known surgeon suffered from attacks of blindness at irregular periods. The blindness was complete so that he had no perception of light. The attacks of blindness worried him very much because he was afraid, while performing an important or dangerous surgical operation, that in the midst of it would come an attack of sudden blindness which would tend to interfere seriously with his work.
The neurologists whom the surgeon consulted all told him that he was threatened with insanity and that unless he took a long rest he might unexpectedly find himself blind and insane. Every ophthalmologist whom he consulted gave him a different pair of glasses to wear, none of which gave him any relief. He not only suffered from attacks of blindness but he was also bothered by illusions of sight.
He said nothing about the amblyopia at his first visit, but told me that he called to have something done for his eyes. He had many symptoms of discomfort and he would be very much obliged to me if I would cure him. While examining his eyes with the ophthalmoscope and seeking to find some treatment which would improve his vision, I discovered that he was suffering from amblyopia. Then he was told that the reason that his sight failed and that he had attacks of double vision was because of this amblyopia. Then began a great battle. The doctor knew a great deal about physiological optics and would not encourage me to treat him until he was convinced that I was right and he was wrong.
Double vision, multiple images
When he was in his office he said that where he knew there was only one light, he saw two, three, or four lights. The images in some cases were arranged one above the other and the distances between them varied within very wide limits. He said, however, that the principal illusion that he suffered from was that it seemed to him that his hands and feet were double, sometimes more than double, The size of the double images varied; sometimes one image was four or five times as large as the other. In some cases the double images were arranged one above the other, while in other cases they were arranged in an oblique direction. When he looked at a Snellen test card hanging up in my office, the bottom lines were double and the color of each line of letters appeared different. With the aid of central fixation this illusion disappeared and did not return.

Double vision caused by squint, crossed/wandering eyes is different from double, multiple images which can occur in one or both eyes and are usually caused by imperfect relaxation of the mind and eyes, eye muscles, imperfect eye muscle coordination, abnormal eye, cornea, lens shape, left and right brain hemispheres not activated, integrated, resulting in astigmatism, abnormal images.
A little double image effect can occur temporarily when the vision is improving from blurry to clear. The double, multiple images appear but are basically clear and will merge into one perfect clear image as the mind, eyes, eye muscles continue to relax, function correct.
Tension, pressure on the nerves, muscles in the neck can resonate into the eyes/eye muscles and cause double, multiple images, blur.
Relaxation and movement of the neck along with all Bates Method activities corrects these conditions.

To satisfy the surgeon I made repeated examinations of his eyes with the aid of the ophthalmoscope and each time I reported that his eyes were all right and that there was nothing in either of his eyes which could explain the illusions from which he suffered. They did not come from any malformation of the interior of the eyeball but were imagined. He was very much impressed when I told him how to produce illusions of sight consciously whenever he so desired. He discovered that it was necessary to strain in order to do this and knowing the cause of his trouble made it easier for him to relieve it by doing away with the strain.
This doctor went though the World War and when he returned he came to my office and thanked me for what I had done for him. He said that he had not had a single attack of temporary blindness from the stare or strain of amblyopia, because knowing the cause of his trouble he was able to prevent it.
The great mistake that has been made for the last one hundred years or more was in ignoring amblyopia. It was astonishing to find the number of doctors who did not believe that amblyopia was of great importance. Time after time patients with amblyopia were treated in my office with success by relaxation methods. Some doctors stated very strongly that amblyopia was congenital and emphasized the matter so strongly, so continuously that most other doctors hesitated to treat amblyopia at all, but were very glad to turn such cases over to someone else.


Amblyopia

By EMILY A. BATES

AS DR. BATES' article in this issue is on amblyopia, I thought that it would be a good opportunity for me to tell about some interesting cases which I have taken care of.
In 1912 when I first began assisting Dr. Bates in his experimental work in the Physiological Laboratory of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York I had no idea that there was so much to be learned about the cure of imperfect sight without glasses. As I became more acquainted with the Doctor's work, the desire to learn more grew stronger. Each day I helped him. Watching the Doctor in his experiments with animals (these experiments were always performed immediately after the death of the animals) was most interesting and often students in the Physiological Laboratory who were doing their experimental work would stop long enough to watch Dr. Bates doing his work and making new discoveries.
I felt very proud then to stand by his side after our work at the office was finished, taking an hour before clinic time and an hour after the clinic session was over. There were times when our work together seemed almost too strenuous for me and many times I felt as though I could not go on another day. Before I offered my assistance there were doctors who tried to keep on in assisting the Doctor until his experimental work was accomplished, but in due time, one by one, they had to give up, because they could not spare enough time away from their offices and for other reasons.
Dr. Bates has always been a great reader and has studied every book written by prominent eye specialists. He always found time enough to try other ideas and experiments even while he was doing his own work. While other doctors were away for the summer months, enjoying a rest away from their work, Dr. Bates, who did not at that time believe in vacations, would sometimes be the only physician doing any experimental work at the laboratory. Occasionally Professor Lee, who in his heart believed in Dr. Bates' work and respected his ability to do what other doctors failed to accomplish, would come into the room to watch the experimental work going on.
Amblyopia not only occurs in human beings but also in animals. Anyone who doubts this might ask the keeper of the zoo how an animal in captivity acts when he is under a strain. In the early spring, when animals that have been housed for the winter months, because they cannot stand the extreme cold, are first given the fresh air and more space outdoors, they wander around and about in a blind sort of fashion. Some of them toss their bodies against the tall railings which prevent them from escaping and for a while they do not know what it is all about. After a while, when they become accustomed to their new surroundings and different light, their temporary blindness wears away, and if anyone who understands the use of the retinoscope is near he will find that there is nothing wrong with the interiors of the animals' eyes.
Having had the opportunity of being with Doctor Bates during his experimental days, I was able to understand how something could be wrong with the eyesight of school children when apparently there was no organic change in the retina. I made a special study all by myself of the cure of the eyes of school children and this is what I found:
Usually children of the poor have very little or no idea of school work before they enter the school room. When it comes time for the mother to take her child to the public school, usually the mother does not know what is in the heart or the mind of that child. He has been accustomed to a little play each day in the streets and at other times was happy and familiar in the surroundings of the little place called home. Usually children are shy when visitors call; some become irritable for no reason whatever and are sometimes punished for that. The mother does not realize that strain of the mind is produced because the child either likes or dislikes the visitor. House pets such as dogs or cats which are accustomed to the members of the household usually run away and hide when a visitor calls. It doesn't require much to cause mind strain and when there is strain of the mind there is always eyestrain.
When a child is bought into a large school he feels as though he is in another world. The child meets children who seem different from those with whom he has been acquainted. He meets a teacher who tries her best to become acquainted with him and doesn't always succeed. He sees his mother leaving him to the care of those whom he has never met before. All these things have to be overcome, and this is not readily done in every case.
After a while the tests begin. Children soon have to read the writing on the blackboard. When this cannot be accomplished by the pupil it is understood that the child has imperfect sight and needs glasses. Eye tests are made with the aid of the Snellen test card and it is found that the vision is not normal. (Even the sound of the voice of the person who tests the vision has a mental effect on the child.) Then the mother receives a note saying that the child needs to be fitted for glasses.
In some schools this is still going on, but in others it is not. I found many schools using the Bates Method without calling it so. Schools in New Jersey have used the Bates Method successfully for many years, and while it has been stopped by the authorities as a daily routine, there have been a large number of children benefited by the use of the Snellen test card. In the larger cities of the United States as well as in Germany, South Africa, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Spain, the Bates Method is being carried on.
A great deal of eyestrain could be prevented if children were told what to do before they begin their studies. Amblyopia could be prevented by explaining to the child how necessary it is not to stare in order to see better. Blinking irregularly but often is something that is done universally by people who have no trouble with their eyes. Animals in the same way blink their eyes often, although they themselves are not conscious of it, as far as we know. When blinking is done right the eyes move and it is seldom that amblyopia is observed in people who practice this.
In the October issue of the magazine, "Good House-keeping," there is an article entitled "A New Job for the Public Schools," by Elizabeth Frazer. Her illustration of the children studying at their desks shows mental strain as well as eye strain. In the article the following appears: "What is the matter with these children? What causes them to fail in schools? What can be done to help them? Progressive educators are beginning to ask these questions and want to help to prevent failures."
I can tell them how, for I have been with school children a good many years and have helped them along just by improving their eyesight to normal. All those who are unruly should have their sight tested every day with the Snellen test card. I can prove, if I am given a chance with a group of such children, that every one has eyestrain. I can prove that when eyestrain is entirely relieved by resting the eyes, the mentality of such children is improved. Not only does the child benefit by the Bates Method of relieving eyestrain, but the mother is relieved of a great problem and the teacher is able to teach with less mental strain for her. I am ready for an interview at any time and I shall greet with pleasure anyone who is interested enough to let me help in improving the defective eyesight of school children.

Squint
During the nine years of clinic work which was done by Dr. Bates and myself at the Harlem Hospital here in New York City, many such cases as Elizabeth Frazer describes came to us to be fitted for glasses. In my book, "Stories from The Clinic," I wrote about a case of squint or cross eyes. This particular case was a little mulatto boy who first came at the age of four years, accompanied by his grandmother. He wasn't wanted in kindergarten because he was not only unruly but destructive. He was not wanted in his home where a new baby had come and where he was not safe to have around because of his cruelty. His grandmother was the only one who cared to bother with him. When he had fits of extreme nervousness, he would act exactly like a blind person and yet he was not blind. This is amblyopia.
I had to be very patient with this boy in order to do anything with him at all. His right eye turned in toward the nose so far that one could hardly see the iris. One could easily imagine the mental strain that this caused the child. Glasses had been prescribed for him, but with such a nature as he had, how was it possible to prevent the glasses from being broken? This little chap refused to wear them from the start. The family physician did not know what to do for him because physically he seemed all right and he did not know what to do for him mentally. Through some mother who had brought her child to us for treatment and whose child also had squint, this grandmother heard about Dr. Bates and his relaxation treatment for the relief of tension and eyestrain.
When I gradually won the boy over, we had to play a game at pretending. We went into the land of make believe while his eyes were closed. I also had to close my eyes frequently while treating him, because he produced a strain in my eyes as well as in his own. It was the only way I knew to treat him and obtain results. His grandmother watched him closely each time I gave him a treatment and she followed me as well as she could when she treated him at home. When the sight of his right eye improved for the test card, the right eye became straighter and he displayed less nervousness. He attended clinic regularly three days a week for some months and each time he received a treatment he became more and more patient and did as he was told by me.
Each time I tested his sight for the test card I made note of the improvement he made and so did his grandmother. He did not always do as he was told but a decided change for the better was noticed in due time and then he and his grandmother stopped coming to the clinic for a while. I did not hear from them for a year, but when he did return I did not know who he was when he spoke to me. Both eyes were straight and his vision was normal for the test card. His grandmother had brought him to me to let me see the improvement in her little boy and I was surprised to note the difference in his attitude toward her and toward me. She had helped him for an hour every day and had used the test cards as I directed her. He had in the meantime returned home to his mother and was again going to school.

A boy, aged fifteen, was brought to my attention through a patient who was treated and cured by Dr. Bates. This former patient was Mrs. H. D. Messick of Cleveland, Ohio, who has done a great deal of charity work in relieving eye strain in school children among the poorer classes. She heard of this boy whose left eye was almost blind and whose vision for the right eye was 10/30. The best eye specialist in the middle west pronounced the left eye incurable and advised him never to be without glasses for fear of going absolutely blind in the other eye. The eye which was almost blind was examined with the ophthalmoscope and nothing could be found wrong with the retina or optic nerve or any other part of the eye, yet he could not see out of that eye.
This is amblyopia or blindness without any apparent cause. The patient does not know what is wrong; neither does the doctor, yet the patient cannot see. This boy had for many years tried to improve his ability as an artist by drawing pictures of ships, but he always drew them imperfectly because he could not see them perfectly. When this boy, who was well acquainted with the Doctor's cured patient, found out what had been done for her he promised to do anything he was advised to do if he could receive help as she did. If only he would not go blind in the one eye, he said, he wouldn't mind it much having one blind eye, and the great specialist who had pronounced his apparent blindness incurable had no hope whatever for that eye.
With such thoughts in his mind I first began to treat him. When he noticed how quickly the vision improved in the blind eye, he went to work with the Bates Method as no other boy under my supervision has done since. He improved steadily, sending me reports regularly until the vision of the poor eye was normal. This was due to the help and encouragement he received from Mrs. Messick. The teachers in school knew that he had worn glasses and when he returned to school without them, they attempted to persuade him to wear them, but he wouldn't and he said that they were thrilled to notice the improvement not only in his eyesight, but in all the class work that he did under their supervision. He sent me a picture of a ship which he had drawn, after his vision became normal. "It is as perfect as any drawing could be," Dr. Bates exclaimed after he had examined it.
What was done for one boy can be done for other boys who need help as Elizabeth Frazer has explained so well in her article.


Notice

Dr. Bates, as well as the Central Fixation Publishing Company, has been receiving a number of letters recently from people who have been unsuccessfully treated by practitioners who have not taken Dr. Bates' course of instruction and do not understand the Bates Method thoroughly.
Dr. Bates gives a course of instruction to doctors, teachers, nurses, and others who wish to practice his method professionally. At the end of the course the student receives a certificate authorizing him to help others by the Bates Method. This certificate, however, does not authorize the student to instruct others so that they may in turn teach the method. Those wishing further particulars may obtain them by writing direct to Dr. Bates at 18 East 48th Street, New York City.


Questions and Answers

Q - My trouble is cataract. Shall I cover up the good eye while practicing?
A - Practice with both eyes together until your vision is normal. Then, cover the good eye and improve the vision of the poor eye.

Q- Often, when I am trying to see a thing, it will come to me, but my eyes will commence to smart and then I blink and lose it. What shall I do to overcome that??
A - Blinking can be done correctly, and it can be done incorrectly. You strain while you blink. The normal eye blinks easily and frequently. Strain is always accompanied by the stare. By standing and swaying from side to side so that your whole body, head, and eyes move together, the stare is lessened..

Q- What causes redness and smarting sensation of the eye even when plenty of sun treatment has been given? Should one continue with sun treatment under the circumstances??
A - Take the sun treatment frequently for five or ten minutes at a time daily, increasing the length of time until the eyes become accustomed to the sun. The eyes should always be benefited after the sun treatment, and one should always feel relaxed. When done properly, the redness and smarting should soon disappear. If the eyes are not benefited, it is an indication that you strain while taking the treatment. Alternate the sun treatment with palming or closing the eyes to rest them..
Move the head side to side when sunning..

Q - Is resting the eyes by palming a more effective cure for smarting of the eyes than the sun treatment??
A - This depends upon the individual. Some are benefited more by palming, while others receive more benefit from the sun treatment..

Q- Should motor goggles be worn as protection against wind??
A - No protection is needed against the wind if the eyes are used correctly. Blinking, shifting, central fixation, and the imagination of stationary objects to be moving, should be practiced while motoring, and, in fact, all the time. Motor goggles weaken the eyes and make them sensitive to the sunlight..

Q- Is age a factor in the cure of imperfect sight without glasses??
A - Age is not a factor..

Q- In palming should one close the eyes tightly??
A - No, easily and naturally at all times..

Q- When you suggest new methods do you mean to discontinue with the old??
A - Not necessarily; all the methods I recommend have relaxation for their object. It is for the patient to determine which treatment is most beneficial and to continue its practice faithfully. Some patients tire easily when one thing is done continuously. For this reason several are suggested in order to vary the practice..]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=274 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:02:14 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=274

The Memory Swing - Mental Activity - Stories From The Clinic; 115. Presbyopia by Emily A. Bates - Announcement



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

OCTOBER, 1929

The Memory Swing

The memory swing relieves strain and tension as do the long or the short swings which have been described at various times. It is done with the eyes closed while one imagines himself to be looking first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder, while the head is moved from side to side. The eyeballs may be seen through the closed eyelids to move from side to side in the same direction as the head is moved. When done properly, the memory swing is just as efficient as the swing which is practiced with the eyes open, whether it be short or long.

Feel the physical eyes move left and right when imagining moving left and right and when physically moving the head left and right. The eyes move in the same direction the mind imagines moving and the physical body, head moves. The brain works with the eyes. This swing also relaxes, improves movement of the neck. Enjoy relaxation of the mind, eyes, head, neck, shoulders, body.

The memory swing can be shortened by remembering the swing of a small letter, a quarter of an inch or less, when the eyes are closed.

The memory swing has given relief in many cases of imperfect sight from myopia, astigmatism, and inflammations of the outside of the eyeball as well as inflammations of the inside of the eyeball. It is much easier than the swing practiced with the eyes open and secures a greater amount of relaxation or rest than any other swing. It may be practiced incorrectly, just as any swing may be done wrong, and then no benefit will be obtained.


Mental Activity

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IT IS a truth that activities of the mind under favorable conditions accomplish many things. As an example, let us consider the following case. A man, aged 30, employed in a distant city as a helper in a library, was treated about 15 years ago. He called to see me at about seven o'clock in the evening and remained with me for more than two hours. The patient was born with cataracts in both eyes. He also had amblyopia from birth. Some months previous to his visit, the cataract in both eyes had been removed. The vision of the right eye was very poor and not corrected by glasses. The vision of the left eye was worse than that of the right and also was not improved by glasses.
The treatment which was prescribed was to rest both eyes by closing them. His attention was also called to a known letter of the Snellen test card, a letter which he imagined better with his eyes closed than with his eyes open. When a known letter was regarded by central fixation, the vision improved. It did not take longer than half an hour to improve the right eye in this way, at first in flashes and then more continuously later.
At first he was able to flash the letters of the Snellen test card when he had momentary glimpses of the known letter very much improved. It did not take long before, much to my surprise, he was able to read all the letters on the lowest line at 10 feet. The vision of the left eye improved much more slowly, but after continual practice the vision of this eye became normal.
The eye which obtains improved sight by the aid of the memory and imagination very soon obtains improved vision for all the letters. It was demonstrated in this case and in others that the memory and the imagination of a known letter is a cure for myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, cataract, glaucoma, atrophy of the optic nerve, and other diseases of the eye.
With the aid of the retinoscope it has been demonstrated that the memory and the imagination are capable of improving the vision of these cases of refraction until the functional element is relieved. It is interesting to observe that these patients become able to see as well without glasses as they had previously seen with them.
Congenital cataract, traumatic cataract, and simple cataract have all been promptly cured with the aid of the imagination when it became as good with the eyes open as with the eyes closed. When one letter, a part of one letter, a period, a comma, or a semi-colon, is imagined as well with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, there follows almost immediately a temporary cure of imperfect sight. To understand how this can occur, one should demonstrate how imperfect sight is produced by an effort. It is a truth that the memory of imperfect sight has produced myopia, hypermetropia, and the increased tension of the eye in glaucoma. School children acquire myopia by a strain to see better. Some forms of concentration produce an inflammation of the retina similar to the imperfect sight of amblyopia ex anopsia. This must be a truth because it suggests proper treatment for amblyopia; namely, rest of the eyes.

Amblyopia is very frequently associated with imperfect sight, an imperfect field which may be irregular in its outline. For many years amblyopia has been considered by authorities to be incurable, but these cases have been studied in recent years so that now most authorities believe that amblyopia is usually curable. It is a fact that some individuals with amblyopia ex anopsia recover without treatment. It seems reasonable to believe, if a number of patients recover spontaneously, that the treatment suggested to achieve this result would be successful in obtaining a cure. Normal eyes have been observed to acquire amblyopia, which was increased by an effort or a strain to see. By the practice of relaxation methods the amblyopia is usually benefited or cured.

There are diseases of the choroid which for many years have been understood to be incurable. The fact that a strain or effort to see may produce choroiditis suggests that relaxation methods should be practiced in order to obtain a cure. Cases of this type are too often neglected because they have not been sufficiently studied. The proper kind of mental activity benefits and cures functional or organic diseases of the eye: Some patients suffering from choroiditis obtain benefit quickly, while others take a longer time.

A man, aged 25, complained of many disagreeable symptoms. With both eyes open his vision at fifteen feet was one third of the normal. He suffered very much pain. Treatment relieved this pain and made it possible for him to read at the near point. At ten feet he read the bottom line of the test card with his right eye, a vision of 10/10. With the left eye at ten feet, he read the 50 line. In a poor light, his vision for distance and for the near point was much below the normal with either eye. When he covered the closed eyelid of the right eye with the palm of his hand, he saw a field of green which continued to be evident for part of a minute. When the eyelids of the left eye were covered with the palm of his hand, he imagined the whole field to be red, changing to yellow and orange. When he produced those colors in his closed eyelids he complained of headache, dizziness, and considerable pain in both eyes.
Some months previous each eye had started to turn in at different times. A stare, strain, or effort to see better increased the squint of the left eye. When the left eye was covered, an effort to see produced a squint of the right eye, which turned in. An operation, which was a failure, was performed on the left eye by a prominent ophthalmologist. Shortly after the operation the left eye turned out almost continuously.
The patient was nervous. His mind planned very unusual things which lowered the vision of the right eye when he stood six feet from the card. When he regarded the Snellen card at six feet and a half, only half a foot further off, his vision became much worse. When he regarded a letter at seven feet that he remembered or imagined, the vision of the right eye became normal for a few minutes. When the illumination of the Snellen test card was imperfect, his vision became very poor.
At a distance of ten feet, in ordinary daylight, his vision became normal. At twelve feet the vision of the right eye was reduced to one fourth of the normal. Most of the time the vision of the left eye was imperfect at a near distance, five feet or further. He was able to read fine print at ten inches from his eyes. At twelve inches he could remember or imagine diamond type, which he read quite readily, but at the same distance, he was unable to read print which was five times as large as diamond type. Such cases are rare.
After resting his eyes by palming for long periods of time—one hour, two hours, or longer—the vision of the right eye was improved to the normal for a few hours, but the vision of the left eye was improved to 1/20 of the normal for a few minutes only. Under favorable conditions the vision of the left eye was decidedly improved. When the light was quite bright, the vision of the left eye improved, while the vision of the right eye became worse. At twelve inches or farther, he was unable to read any of the print.
It was interesting to study his mind while the left eye was reading the Snellen test card at different distances. There were times when he could straighten the left eye when the Snellen test card was placed at five feet or ten feet. This ability to straighten the left eye was very changeable. With the right eye covered, the left eye read one half of the Snellen test card at five feet. Later the large letters of the Snellen test card were distinguished at 20 feet, while strange to say, his vision at five feet or ten feet was very poor. At about the same time he could read the Snellen test card with normal vision with the left eye at twelve inches.
It was difficult to explain or to find out why it was that there were periods of time when the vision at the middle distance was poor and why the vision at 20 feet was good. Sometimes the vision at the middle distance would be almost entirely absent. It was difficult or impossible for me on many occasions to understand the idiosyncracies of this man's vision. Another important fact was that the patient himself could improve his vision for any distance desired by some activity of his mind which was neither a strain or a relaxation. This patient, like other and similar cases, was bothered by a large blind area which interfered seriously with his sight. There were times when he was able to increase the blind area while there were other occasions when the area lessened its size.
The activity of this man's mind was very uncertain, and neither he nor his friends could prophesy what was going to happen next. He discontinued coming to me before he was entirely cured and I have not heard from him since.

Glaucoma is a very serious, treacherous disease of the eyes. The principal symptoms are hardness of the eyeball and a contracted field with imperfect sight. By prescribing rest or relaxation of the eyes all cases of acute glaucoma have been benefited.
Recently a number of patients were seen suffering from a mild form of glaucoma. Usually the field was contracted on the nasal side, but there were periods of time when the contracted field was on the temporal side. One patient could consciously manipulate the size, form, and location of the blind area of the field. A large letter which would appear about three inches in diameter, when regarded by an eye with normal sight, would seem to some cases of glaucoma to be only an inch or less in diameter. The large letter which was seen by the normal eye to be a dark shade of black would appear to some patients as brown, lavender, yellow, or fiery red when regarded at fifteen feet or farther. At twelve inches the letters of the Snellen test card might have almost any color.
The letters might appear to be single, double, or more numerous. Every other line of letters would appear to consist of a number of letters instead of being seen properly one at a time. The mental strain to accomplish this consciously was not understood. As a matter of common sense, one would expect that if one line of letters was seen double, all the lines of letters should be seen double. Sometimes the letters of one line would be apparently one above the other. Sometimes the double images appeared to be slanting. The ways that the patient mentioned that he was able to have imperfect sight were very numerous. One of the peculiarities of his case was that he was able to see small letters more clearly than large letters. The different ways that he could see imperfectly with the left eye were not duplicated with the right eye.

Another patient, a girl with a very high degree of near-sightedness, had difficulty in finding a way which would produce some improvement in her sight. After spending a good many months in studying the problem and in trying various methods, she became able, with the aid of a rectangular swing, a swing which was accomplished by moving one hand in a rectangular direction, to obtain benefit. A finger of one hand was moved in such a way that she appeared to be drawing a rectangle, three feet by one foot. The patient was very much thrilled to find that the improved vision occurred at the same time that she produced the rectangular swing.
(Original, partial versions of the modern Infinity, Figure Eight Swing. All, original and modern swings are beneficial)
Some patients improved their vision by practicing the vertical swing; others, by practicing the oblique or horizontal swing, obtained an improvement in the sight. The more the facts were investigated, the greater became the evidence that it is a mental strain which lowers the vision and not a local strain of the eye itself. In all cases of imperfect sight a mental strain can always be recognized. When this strain is relaxed, the vision always improves.
In the treatment of imperfect sight by eye education, the results should be obtained very promptly. One soon becomes able to remember many other ordinary objects besides the letters of the Snellen test card. When the memory becomes as good with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, the mental strain disappears and the vision becomes normal. This suggests that by practicing with the Snellen test card at a near point—three, five, or ten feet—the memory will become more nearly normal. Patients with high degrees of myopia have been cured very promptly, perfectly, and continuously by the memory of perfect sight.
It is very important that mental activity be understood, because imperfect sight is not possible without a mental strain. When a patient with very imperfect sight is benefited or cured by relaxation methods he is very much inclined to say that he does not see the letters on the Snellen test card—that he just remembers or imagines them. The mind of the patient with imperfect sight will always imagine things wrong, although the patient may not be conscious of this fact. For example, he may see a large letter E at fifteen feet, and make the statement that it is not a letter E, but that it is a letter O. The patient may argue about that for some time. When he is told that it is a letter E, he says that it can't be a letter E, that it must be something else.
In short, most patients are more apt to miscall large letters than to miscall small letters. Sometimes the letter E is not imagined or seen until the letter is brought a foot or two away. Then when the letter becomes known by regarding it at the near point, it may gradually be taken farther away and still be seen as a letter E. The next day when the E is regarded, it may not be seen, although it is known to be an E. It may be necessary to place the letter E closer to the patient again before it is recognized.
I have repeatedly stated that it is usual for patients to see a known letter better with the eyes closed than with the eyes open. In the treatment of such cases one should realize that the number of ingenious methods employed to make the sight worse are sometimes very remarkable. If the patient knows what is wrong with his eyes, the knowledge is a great help in obtaining a cure. Some patients have been told a number of times that when they know what is the matter with their eyes or their sight that they are more readily cured. By repetition, the vision of most people has been permanently cured.

Staring, squinting, not shifting on a letter and remembering, imagining it unclear causes strain and blur.
Experiencing this teaches the person to avoid it.

There are many ways of securing relaxation, but the best one of all is the simplest. The perfect memory of a house or a chair is a great help, but one obtains still greater assistance by the memory of a very small part of a chair. The smaller the object, the more perfectly can it be remembered, imagined, or seen. After the patient becomes convinced that he is suffering from a mental trouble as well as an eye trouble, progress toward a complete recovery in a very short time is obtained. Patients with a high degree of myopia have been cured by the memory of one half of a large letter, but others have been cured more quickly by the memory of a smaller area. Large letters are not seen, remembered, or imagined as well as small periods.


Presbyopia

By EMILY A. BATES

PRESBYOPIA is middle age or old age sight. When people who are troubled with presbyopia try to read fine print at the near point, or even try to read ordinary type at the reading distance and fail, they usually put on eyeglasses to correct their trouble. If the trouble is slight and the correct glasses are worn only when it is absolutely necessary, there is not much damage done. If the wrong eyeglasses are prescribed there is sure to be trouble ahead. When eye glasses do not fit right or the wrong glasses are worn, the patient usually suffers from headache or he tires sooner than a person with normal sight.
People who have myopia or near-sight sometimes obtain normal vision just by removing their glasses and not wearing them again, Reports of such cases come to us from time to time. Those who have acquired presbyopia, however, and have worn glasses for a considerable length of time do not find it so easy do without glasses, either for reading or doing fine work at close range. Such cases need supervision in order to bring back their sight to normal.

I had a patient over 60 years of age who wore glasses for 25 years for the correction of presbyopia. She was told by an eye specialist who fitted her with glasses that in time she might be able to do without her glasses and if she lived long enough she would have what is called "second sight." Instead of this happening, her vision gradually became worse and her bi-focals had to be changed three times during the 25 years. She gradually became deaf in her left ear and could only hear a loud noise like an automobile horn or a whistle if the sound was near. There was a swelling below her lower lids and her forehead was wrinkled much like that of an older person. When she did not have her glasses on, the wrinkles became more numerous as she tried to see at the near point.
Her vision when first tested was 15/20 with each eye. Resting her eyes by keeping them closed for over a half an hour improved her vision to 15/10. The long swing, counting up to 100 as she swayed from side to side, caused the wrinkles of her forehead to disappear temporarily and her eyes looked more natural than they did when she first came to me. I placed her before a long mirror and asked her to sway backwards and forward with me, as she put her right foot out about a foot farther than the left. I told her as she swayed before the long mirror to look down to the tip of her shoe, and as she swayed backward to look in the mirror at the top of her head. She said that she could feel the strain leaving her, so she kept that up for a considerable length of time, alternately placing the left foot out farther than the right and vice versa.
Occasionally she would make a mistake and not look at the tip of her shoe as she swayed forward and when she swayed backward, she seemed to forget to look at the top of her head. I had to watch her almost constantly to keep her swaying properly so that she would keep up the relaxation that caused her discomfort to become less. She came to me daily for a week and at the end of that time, she noticed that the baggy condition under the lower lids was considerably reduced. She had spent three hours each week at the masseur and had received all sorts of facial massage and treatment to help her get rid of her wrinkles and the baggy condition of her eyelids. Now, in one week's time with daily treatment, spending a little over an hour each day with me, she found that the Bates method was doing something that she had not expected.
When I tested her vision for fine print, she held the little Fundamental card with graduated type at arm's length. She could see the Figure 1 for Sentence No. 1 and the Figure 2 for Sentence No. 2. She could see that there was black print on the rest of the card, but she could not make out words or sentences. Neither could she imagine that the sentences were divided by white spaces. I made her comfortable in an arm chair and told her to keep her eyes closed—palming if she cared to—but at no time was she to open her eyes until I told her to.
The memory and the imagination always help the sight when things are remembered or imagined perfectly. I explained to her that in order to imagine something it would have to be seen first. To imagine something which is explained to her, but which has not been seen, would cause her to have an imperfect imagination.
Memory, Imagination Example – Gardening
This patient traveled a great deal but when she was at home, she attended to a beautiful garden of flowers, which beautified a section of her home overlooking a lovely spot on the Pacific coast. She mentioned an orchid in the bud and how beautiful it seemed to her when it was in full bloom. She mentioned the different flowers which needed her daily attention to help them grow from the seed to the flower in full bloom. In this way, she remembered the seed as she planted it, then the little green speck as it appeared above the dark soil, then later with the warmth of the sunshine and fresh water that she gave the little flower each day, she saw the little plant grow into a living thing lovely to look at. She had a perfect imagination and memory for plants and flowers and as she explained these things to me, her mind became relaxed and when she opened her eyes to read the Fundamental card, which I had placed twelve inches from her eyes instead of arm's length, she read all of Number 8 of the Fundamental card.
She made only one mistake when she first began to read Sentence Number 8 and saw the word "variable" as "vegetable". She knew immediately that she had seen the word wrong, that it must be something in connection with the swing, and that it could not be a "vegetable." I told her to place her finger directly below Sentence Number 8 and told her to shift slowly from the white spaces above sentence Number 8 to the sentence below, directing her all the time to blink as she shifted this short distance. She did this faithfully as I directed her to do and then she read sentence after sentence to Sentence No. 15, which she read without any trouble. She became hysterical as she finished reading this little card and her gratitude was most profound.
To be sure that she would practice properly while she was away from me, I told her to hold the Fundamental card again at arm's length and to look at the sentences without blinking or shifting. Immediately the whole card became blurred and she could not read at all. She asked me not to have her do that again because it gave her pain and discomfort in her eyes. It was necessary for me to have her do this, however, because she would have done this same thing without knowing it. Again I had her close her eyes, using her memory and imagination and before she opened her eyes again, I held the Fundamental card six inches from her eyes instead of twelve inches as we did before. Holding the card in my own hand she did not realize how close it was to her closed eyes. When she opened her eyes and read all the sentences of the Fundamental card, she did not realize that I was holding the card so close to her eyes. We measured the distance to be accurate about it and when she found out how much she had improved, she was quite sure that she understood the method enough to go on by herself.

Thinking that the eyes cannot see at a specific distance blocks vision improvement.
Thinking positive, knowing the eyes can see clear at that distance results in clear vision.

I saw her recently for the first time in about two years and her ability to read at the near point has not changed during that time. I asked her if she had stopped practicing after she found that her vision had become normal again and her answer was "No, indeed, I have been very careful to give my eyes enough time for practice every day since I came to you for treatment." This is another proof that if patients carry on the work by themselves after they no longer receive personal attention, that the vision does not go back to where it was before the Bates method was first practiced.

Another patient, aged 58, first put on glasses at the age of 30 for the relief of headaches. At her first visit she had with her the four pairs of glasses which she had worn from the time she had first started to wear glasses. She gave me her history, explaining that she looked at figures all day long, being a bookkeeper and accountant for a large corporation. She said that the first glasses she wore gave her instant relief from pain until one day about a year later she received a shock which caused her great sorrow. She had lost a member of her family whom she loved dearly and this caused a great deal of depression. Feeling that her glasses needed to be changed, she called on her oculist who gave her another pair. She did not wear them constantly because they did not give her much relief or help in her work. Again she had them changed with better results this time and she got along very nicely with these glasses until shortly before she came to me to be relieved of eye glasses altogether.
When Dr. Bates examined the first pair of glasses she had worn, he said that they were plain window glass. I explained to my patient that apparently the mental effect which the glasses gave her when she put them on was what helped her, and not the glasses themselves. When she received the nervous shock which caused depression and sadness in her life, she undoubtedly strained her eyes, which caused imperfect sight.
The second pair of glasses, not suiting her properly, probably made the condition of her eyes worse. At any rate, when Dr. Bates examined her eyes, he said that she had mixed astigmatism with presbyopia. I am sorry that there are not more eye specialists who find it a mistake to exchange eye glasses for stronger ones for those who came to them for relief of their eye trouble. In this particular case eye glasses did not help and the patient was grateful to her friends who recommended Dr. Bates and his treatment for the relief of eye strain.
With the right eye her test was 15/40, but none of the letters were clear or distinct. Her left eye had normal vision, 15/15, and she saw all the letters clearly. Palming, and mental pictures also helped this patient and she found the long swing most helpful in obtaining relaxation of the mind and body before starting out to her work each day. She appreciated the fact when it was demonstrated to her that when she looked directly at print without shifting an eighth of an inch or less away from the point where she was reading, the strain became worse and the pain and discomfort she had from the stare and strain was increased.

This last sentence actually means: Look directly at the letters when reading them, and keep the eyes moving, let the eyes move around, shifting from part to part on the letters, and from letter to letter, word to word. Staring, eyes immobile, locking the eyes on one part of a letter causes strain and unclear vision.
Modern teachers state that reading through the center of the words activates central fixation, eye movement and clear vision.
The reader can also let the eyes move freely in any direction on/along the letters.

I improved her right eye to 15/15 in less than an hour's time, which, of course was only a temporary improvement. I did not have much trouble in teaching her to read fine print and to see figures by shifting (from part to part on the figure and from figure to figure) and noticing the white (glowing bright white) spaces between lines of type and figures.
She needed only one treatment with instruction for home practice to restore her sight to normal. She corresponded with me regularly several times a month, just sending reports of the progress she made or the difficulty she had in practicing certain things before she started out to business in the morning and before retiring at night. She was told to return for another treatment if she found it necessary, but apparently she did not need it because I did not see her again.
The most important thing for people who have presbyopia or astigmatism or any other trouble which causes imperfect sight is to avoid looking at reading type or at anything, in fact, without shifting or blinking, which is something the normal eye does frequently all day long.


Announcement

Dr. Bates takes pleasure in announcing that Dr. John A. Rath of 111 North West Ave., Jackson, Mich., has recently completed a course of instruction under him and is fully qualified to practice the Bates Method.]]>

The Memory Swing - Mental Activity - Stories From The Clinic; 115. Presbyopia by Emily A. Bates - Announcement



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

OCTOBER, 1929

The Memory Swing

The memory swing relieves strain and tension as do the long or the short swings which have been described at various times. It is done with the eyes closed while one imagines himself to be looking first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder, while the head is moved from side to side. The eyeballs may be seen through the closed eyelids to move from side to side in the same direction as the head is moved. When done properly, the memory swing is just as efficient as the swing which is practiced with the eyes open, whether it be short or long.

Feel the physical eyes move left and right when imagining moving left and right and when physically moving the head left and right. The eyes move in the same direction the mind imagines moving and the physical body, head moves. The brain works with the eyes. This swing also relaxes, improves movement of the neck. Enjoy relaxation of the mind, eyes, head, neck, shoulders, body.

The memory swing can be shortened by remembering the swing of a small letter, a quarter of an inch or less, when the eyes are closed.

The memory swing has given relief in many cases of imperfect sight from myopia, astigmatism, and inflammations of the outside of the eyeball as well as inflammations of the inside of the eyeball. It is much easier than the swing practiced with the eyes open and secures a greater amount of relaxation or rest than any other swing. It may be practiced incorrectly, just as any swing may be done wrong, and then no benefit will be obtained.


Mental Activity

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

IT IS a truth that activities of the mind under favorable conditions accomplish many things. As an example, let us consider the following case. A man, aged 30, employed in a distant city as a helper in a library, was treated about 15 years ago. He called to see me at about seven o'clock in the evening and remained with me for more than two hours. The patient was born with cataracts in both eyes. He also had amblyopia from birth. Some months previous to his visit, the cataract in both eyes had been removed. The vision of the right eye was very poor and not corrected by glasses. The vision of the left eye was worse than that of the right and also was not improved by glasses.
The treatment which was prescribed was to rest both eyes by closing them. His attention was also called to a known letter of the Snellen test card, a letter which he imagined better with his eyes closed than with his eyes open. When a known letter was regarded by central fixation, the vision improved. It did not take longer than half an hour to improve the right eye in this way, at first in flashes and then more continuously later.
At first he was able to flash the letters of the Snellen test card when he had momentary glimpses of the known letter very much improved. It did not take long before, much to my surprise, he was able to read all the letters on the lowest line at 10 feet. The vision of the left eye improved much more slowly, but after continual practice the vision of this eye became normal.
The eye which obtains improved sight by the aid of the memory and imagination very soon obtains improved vision for all the letters. It was demonstrated in this case and in others that the memory and the imagination of a known letter is a cure for myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, cataract, glaucoma, atrophy of the optic nerve, and other diseases of the eye.
With the aid of the retinoscope it has been demonstrated that the memory and the imagination are capable of improving the vision of these cases of refraction until the functional element is relieved. It is interesting to observe that these patients become able to see as well without glasses as they had previously seen with them.
Congenital cataract, traumatic cataract, and simple cataract have all been promptly cured with the aid of the imagination when it became as good with the eyes open as with the eyes closed. When one letter, a part of one letter, a period, a comma, or a semi-colon, is imagined as well with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, there follows almost immediately a temporary cure of imperfect sight. To understand how this can occur, one should demonstrate how imperfect sight is produced by an effort. It is a truth that the memory of imperfect sight has produced myopia, hypermetropia, and the increased tension of the eye in glaucoma. School children acquire myopia by a strain to see better. Some forms of concentration produce an inflammation of the retina similar to the imperfect sight of amblyopia ex anopsia. This must be a truth because it suggests proper treatment for amblyopia; namely, rest of the eyes.

Amblyopia is very frequently associated with imperfect sight, an imperfect field which may be irregular in its outline. For many years amblyopia has been considered by authorities to be incurable, but these cases have been studied in recent years so that now most authorities believe that amblyopia is usually curable. It is a fact that some individuals with amblyopia ex anopsia recover without treatment. It seems reasonable to believe, if a number of patients recover spontaneously, that the treatment suggested to achieve this result would be successful in obtaining a cure. Normal eyes have been observed to acquire amblyopia, which was increased by an effort or a strain to see. By the practice of relaxation methods the amblyopia is usually benefited or cured.

There are diseases of the choroid which for many years have been understood to be incurable. The fact that a strain or effort to see may produce choroiditis suggests that relaxation methods should be practiced in order to obtain a cure. Cases of this type are too often neglected because they have not been sufficiently studied. The proper kind of mental activity benefits and cures functional or organic diseases of the eye: Some patients suffering from choroiditis obtain benefit quickly, while others take a longer time.

A man, aged 25, complained of many disagreeable symptoms. With both eyes open his vision at fifteen feet was one third of the normal. He suffered very much pain. Treatment relieved this pain and made it possible for him to read at the near point. At ten feet he read the bottom line of the test card with his right eye, a vision of 10/10. With the left eye at ten feet, he read the 50 line. In a poor light, his vision for distance and for the near point was much below the normal with either eye. When he covered the closed eyelid of the right eye with the palm of his hand, he saw a field of green which continued to be evident for part of a minute. When the eyelids of the left eye were covered with the palm of his hand, he imagined the whole field to be red, changing to yellow and orange. When he produced those colors in his closed eyelids he complained of headache, dizziness, and considerable pain in both eyes.
Some months previous each eye had started to turn in at different times. A stare, strain, or effort to see better increased the squint of the left eye. When the left eye was covered, an effort to see produced a squint of the right eye, which turned in. An operation, which was a failure, was performed on the left eye by a prominent ophthalmologist. Shortly after the operation the left eye turned out almost continuously.
The patient was nervous. His mind planned very unusual things which lowered the vision of the right eye when he stood six feet from the card. When he regarded the Snellen card at six feet and a half, only half a foot further off, his vision became much worse. When he regarded a letter at seven feet that he remembered or imagined, the vision of the right eye became normal for a few minutes. When the illumination of the Snellen test card was imperfect, his vision became very poor.
At a distance of ten feet, in ordinary daylight, his vision became normal. At twelve feet the vision of the right eye was reduced to one fourth of the normal. Most of the time the vision of the left eye was imperfect at a near distance, five feet or further. He was able to read fine print at ten inches from his eyes. At twelve inches he could remember or imagine diamond type, which he read quite readily, but at the same distance, he was unable to read print which was five times as large as diamond type. Such cases are rare.
After resting his eyes by palming for long periods of time—one hour, two hours, or longer—the vision of the right eye was improved to the normal for a few hours, but the vision of the left eye was improved to 1/20 of the normal for a few minutes only. Under favorable conditions the vision of the left eye was decidedly improved. When the light was quite bright, the vision of the left eye improved, while the vision of the right eye became worse. At twelve inches or farther, he was unable to read any of the print.
It was interesting to study his mind while the left eye was reading the Snellen test card at different distances. There were times when he could straighten the left eye when the Snellen test card was placed at five feet or ten feet. This ability to straighten the left eye was very changeable. With the right eye covered, the left eye read one half of the Snellen test card at five feet. Later the large letters of the Snellen test card were distinguished at 20 feet, while strange to say, his vision at five feet or ten feet was very poor. At about the same time he could read the Snellen test card with normal vision with the left eye at twelve inches.
It was difficult to explain or to find out why it was that there were periods of time when the vision at the middle distance was poor and why the vision at 20 feet was good. Sometimes the vision at the middle distance would be almost entirely absent. It was difficult or impossible for me on many occasions to understand the idiosyncracies of this man's vision. Another important fact was that the patient himself could improve his vision for any distance desired by some activity of his mind which was neither a strain or a relaxation. This patient, like other and similar cases, was bothered by a large blind area which interfered seriously with his sight. There were times when he was able to increase the blind area while there were other occasions when the area lessened its size.
The activity of this man's mind was very uncertain, and neither he nor his friends could prophesy what was going to happen next. He discontinued coming to me before he was entirely cured and I have not heard from him since.

Glaucoma is a very serious, treacherous disease of the eyes. The principal symptoms are hardness of the eyeball and a contracted field with imperfect sight. By prescribing rest or relaxation of the eyes all cases of acute glaucoma have been benefited.
Recently a number of patients were seen suffering from a mild form of glaucoma. Usually the field was contracted on the nasal side, but there were periods of time when the contracted field was on the temporal side. One patient could consciously manipulate the size, form, and location of the blind area of the field. A large letter which would appear about three inches in diameter, when regarded by an eye with normal sight, would seem to some cases of glaucoma to be only an inch or less in diameter. The large letter which was seen by the normal eye to be a dark shade of black would appear to some patients as brown, lavender, yellow, or fiery red when regarded at fifteen feet or farther. At twelve inches the letters of the Snellen test card might have almost any color.
The letters might appear to be single, double, or more numerous. Every other line of letters would appear to consist of a number of letters instead of being seen properly one at a time. The mental strain to accomplish this consciously was not understood. As a matter of common sense, one would expect that if one line of letters was seen double, all the lines of letters should be seen double. Sometimes the letters of one line would be apparently one above the other. Sometimes the double images appeared to be slanting. The ways that the patient mentioned that he was able to have imperfect sight were very numerous. One of the peculiarities of his case was that he was able to see small letters more clearly than large letters. The different ways that he could see imperfectly with the left eye were not duplicated with the right eye.

Another patient, a girl with a very high degree of near-sightedness, had difficulty in finding a way which would produce some improvement in her sight. After spending a good many months in studying the problem and in trying various methods, she became able, with the aid of a rectangular swing, a swing which was accomplished by moving one hand in a rectangular direction, to obtain benefit. A finger of one hand was moved in such a way that she appeared to be drawing a rectangle, three feet by one foot. The patient was very much thrilled to find that the improved vision occurred at the same time that she produced the rectangular swing.
(Original, partial versions of the modern Infinity, Figure Eight Swing. All, original and modern swings are beneficial)
Some patients improved their vision by practicing the vertical swing; others, by practicing the oblique or horizontal swing, obtained an improvement in the sight. The more the facts were investigated, the greater became the evidence that it is a mental strain which lowers the vision and not a local strain of the eye itself. In all cases of imperfect sight a mental strain can always be recognized. When this strain is relaxed, the vision always improves.
In the treatment of imperfect sight by eye education, the results should be obtained very promptly. One soon becomes able to remember many other ordinary objects besides the letters of the Snellen test card. When the memory becomes as good with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, the mental strain disappears and the vision becomes normal. This suggests that by practicing with the Snellen test card at a near point—three, five, or ten feet—the memory will become more nearly normal. Patients with high degrees of myopia have been cured very promptly, perfectly, and continuously by the memory of perfect sight.
It is very important that mental activity be understood, because imperfect sight is not possible without a mental strain. When a patient with very imperfect sight is benefited or cured by relaxation methods he is very much inclined to say that he does not see the letters on the Snellen test card—that he just remembers or imagines them. The mind of the patient with imperfect sight will always imagine things wrong, although the patient may not be conscious of this fact. For example, he may see a large letter E at fifteen feet, and make the statement that it is not a letter E, but that it is a letter O. The patient may argue about that for some time. When he is told that it is a letter E, he says that it can't be a letter E, that it must be something else.
In short, most patients are more apt to miscall large letters than to miscall small letters. Sometimes the letter E is not imagined or seen until the letter is brought a foot or two away. Then when the letter becomes known by regarding it at the near point, it may gradually be taken farther away and still be seen as a letter E. The next day when the E is regarded, it may not be seen, although it is known to be an E. It may be necessary to place the letter E closer to the patient again before it is recognized.
I have repeatedly stated that it is usual for patients to see a known letter better with the eyes closed than with the eyes open. In the treatment of such cases one should realize that the number of ingenious methods employed to make the sight worse are sometimes very remarkable. If the patient knows what is wrong with his eyes, the knowledge is a great help in obtaining a cure. Some patients have been told a number of times that when they know what is the matter with their eyes or their sight that they are more readily cured. By repetition, the vision of most people has been permanently cured.

Staring, squinting, not shifting on a letter and remembering, imagining it unclear causes strain and blur.
Experiencing this teaches the person to avoid it.

There are many ways of securing relaxation, but the best one of all is the simplest. The perfect memory of a house or a chair is a great help, but one obtains still greater assistance by the memory of a very small part of a chair. The smaller the object, the more perfectly can it be remembered, imagined, or seen. After the patient becomes convinced that he is suffering from a mental trouble as well as an eye trouble, progress toward a complete recovery in a very short time is obtained. Patients with a high degree of myopia have been cured by the memory of one half of a large letter, but others have been cured more quickly by the memory of a smaller area. Large letters are not seen, remembered, or imagined as well as small periods.


Presbyopia

By EMILY A. BATES

PRESBYOPIA is middle age or old age sight. When people who are troubled with presbyopia try to read fine print at the near point, or even try to read ordinary type at the reading distance and fail, they usually put on eyeglasses to correct their trouble. If the trouble is slight and the correct glasses are worn only when it is absolutely necessary, there is not much damage done. If the wrong eyeglasses are prescribed there is sure to be trouble ahead. When eye glasses do not fit right or the wrong glasses are worn, the patient usually suffers from headache or he tires sooner than a person with normal sight.
People who have myopia or near-sight sometimes obtain normal vision just by removing their glasses and not wearing them again, Reports of such cases come to us from time to time. Those who have acquired presbyopia, however, and have worn glasses for a considerable length of time do not find it so easy do without glasses, either for reading or doing fine work at close range. Such cases need supervision in order to bring back their sight to normal.

I had a patient over 60 years of age who wore glasses for 25 years for the correction of presbyopia. She was told by an eye specialist who fitted her with glasses that in time she might be able to do without her glasses and if she lived long enough she would have what is called "second sight." Instead of this happening, her vision gradually became worse and her bi-focals had to be changed three times during the 25 years. She gradually became deaf in her left ear and could only hear a loud noise like an automobile horn or a whistle if the sound was near. There was a swelling below her lower lids and her forehead was wrinkled much like that of an older person. When she did not have her glasses on, the wrinkles became more numerous as she tried to see at the near point.
Her vision when first tested was 15/20 with each eye. Resting her eyes by keeping them closed for over a half an hour improved her vision to 15/10. The long swing, counting up to 100 as she swayed from side to side, caused the wrinkles of her forehead to disappear temporarily and her eyes looked more natural than they did when she first came to me. I placed her before a long mirror and asked her to sway backwards and forward with me, as she put her right foot out about a foot farther than the left. I told her as she swayed before the long mirror to look down to the tip of her shoe, and as she swayed backward to look in the mirror at the top of her head. She said that she could feel the strain leaving her, so she kept that up for a considerable length of time, alternately placing the left foot out farther than the right and vice versa.
Occasionally she would make a mistake and not look at the tip of her shoe as she swayed forward and when she swayed backward, she seemed to forget to look at the top of her head. I had to watch her almost constantly to keep her swaying properly so that she would keep up the relaxation that caused her discomfort to become less. She came to me daily for a week and at the end of that time, she noticed that the baggy condition under the lower lids was considerably reduced. She had spent three hours each week at the masseur and had received all sorts of facial massage and treatment to help her get rid of her wrinkles and the baggy condition of her eyelids. Now, in one week's time with daily treatment, spending a little over an hour each day with me, she found that the Bates method was doing something that she had not expected.
When I tested her vision for fine print, she held the little Fundamental card with graduated type at arm's length. She could see the Figure 1 for Sentence No. 1 and the Figure 2 for Sentence No. 2. She could see that there was black print on the rest of the card, but she could not make out words or sentences. Neither could she imagine that the sentences were divided by white spaces. I made her comfortable in an arm chair and told her to keep her eyes closed—palming if she cared to—but at no time was she to open her eyes until I told her to.
The memory and the imagination always help the sight when things are remembered or imagined perfectly. I explained to her that in order to imagine something it would have to be seen first. To imagine something which is explained to her, but which has not been seen, would cause her to have an imperfect imagination.
Memory, Imagination Example – Gardening
This patient traveled a great deal but when she was at home, she attended to a beautiful garden of flowers, which beautified a section of her home overlooking a lovely spot on the Pacific coast. She mentioned an orchid in the bud and how beautiful it seemed to her when it was in full bloom. She mentioned the different flowers which needed her daily attention to help them grow from the seed to the flower in full bloom. In this way, she remembered the seed as she planted it, then the little green speck as it appeared above the dark soil, then later with the warmth of the sunshine and fresh water that she gave the little flower each day, she saw the little plant grow into a living thing lovely to look at. She had a perfect imagination and memory for plants and flowers and as she explained these things to me, her mind became relaxed and when she opened her eyes to read the Fundamental card, which I had placed twelve inches from her eyes instead of arm's length, she read all of Number 8 of the Fundamental card.
She made only one mistake when she first began to read Sentence Number 8 and saw the word "variable" as "vegetable". She knew immediately that she had seen the word wrong, that it must be something in connection with the swing, and that it could not be a "vegetable." I told her to place her finger directly below Sentence Number 8 and told her to shift slowly from the white spaces above sentence Number 8 to the sentence below, directing her all the time to blink as she shifted this short distance. She did this faithfully as I directed her to do and then she read sentence after sentence to Sentence No. 15, which she read without any trouble. She became hysterical as she finished reading this little card and her gratitude was most profound.
To be sure that she would practice properly while she was away from me, I told her to hold the Fundamental card again at arm's length and to look at the sentences without blinking or shifting. Immediately the whole card became blurred and she could not read at all. She asked me not to have her do that again because it gave her pain and discomfort in her eyes. It was necessary for me to have her do this, however, because she would have done this same thing without knowing it. Again I had her close her eyes, using her memory and imagination and before she opened her eyes again, I held the Fundamental card six inches from her eyes instead of twelve inches as we did before. Holding the card in my own hand she did not realize how close it was to her closed eyes. When she opened her eyes and read all the sentences of the Fundamental card, she did not realize that I was holding the card so close to her eyes. We measured the distance to be accurate about it and when she found out how much she had improved, she was quite sure that she understood the method enough to go on by herself.

Thinking that the eyes cannot see at a specific distance blocks vision improvement.
Thinking positive, knowing the eyes can see clear at that distance results in clear vision.

I saw her recently for the first time in about two years and her ability to read at the near point has not changed during that time. I asked her if she had stopped practicing after she found that her vision had become normal again and her answer was "No, indeed, I have been very careful to give my eyes enough time for practice every day since I came to you for treatment." This is another proof that if patients carry on the work by themselves after they no longer receive personal attention, that the vision does not go back to where it was before the Bates method was first practiced.

Another patient, aged 58, first put on glasses at the age of 30 for the relief of headaches. At her first visit she had with her the four pairs of glasses which she had worn from the time she had first started to wear glasses. She gave me her history, explaining that she looked at figures all day long, being a bookkeeper and accountant for a large corporation. She said that the first glasses she wore gave her instant relief from pain until one day about a year later she received a shock which caused her great sorrow. She had lost a member of her family whom she loved dearly and this caused a great deal of depression. Feeling that her glasses needed to be changed, she called on her oculist who gave her another pair. She did not wear them constantly because they did not give her much relief or help in her work. Again she had them changed with better results this time and she got along very nicely with these glasses until shortly before she came to me to be relieved of eye glasses altogether.
When Dr. Bates examined the first pair of glasses she had worn, he said that they were plain window glass. I explained to my patient that apparently the mental effect which the glasses gave her when she put them on was what helped her, and not the glasses themselves. When she received the nervous shock which caused depression and sadness in her life, she undoubtedly strained her eyes, which caused imperfect sight.
The second pair of glasses, not suiting her properly, probably made the condition of her eyes worse. At any rate, when Dr. Bates examined her eyes, he said that she had mixed astigmatism with presbyopia. I am sorry that there are not more eye specialists who find it a mistake to exchange eye glasses for stronger ones for those who came to them for relief of their eye trouble. In this particular case eye glasses did not help and the patient was grateful to her friends who recommended Dr. Bates and his treatment for the relief of eye strain.
With the right eye her test was 15/40, but none of the letters were clear or distinct. Her left eye had normal vision, 15/15, and she saw all the letters clearly. Palming, and mental pictures also helped this patient and she found the long swing most helpful in obtaining relaxation of the mind and body before starting out to her work each day. She appreciated the fact when it was demonstrated to her that when she looked directly at print without shifting an eighth of an inch or less away from the point where she was reading, the strain became worse and the pain and discomfort she had from the stare and strain was increased.

This last sentence actually means: Look directly at the letters when reading them, and keep the eyes moving, let the eyes move around, shifting from part to part on the letters, and from letter to letter, word to word. Staring, eyes immobile, locking the eyes on one part of a letter causes strain and unclear vision.
Modern teachers state that reading through the center of the words activates central fixation, eye movement and clear vision.
The reader can also let the eyes move freely in any direction on/along the letters.

I improved her right eye to 15/15 in less than an hour's time, which, of course was only a temporary improvement. I did not have much trouble in teaching her to read fine print and to see figures by shifting (from part to part on the figure and from figure to figure) and noticing the white (glowing bright white) spaces between lines of type and figures.
She needed only one treatment with instruction for home practice to restore her sight to normal. She corresponded with me regularly several times a month, just sending reports of the progress she made or the difficulty she had in practicing certain things before she started out to business in the morning and before retiring at night. She was told to return for another treatment if she found it necessary, but apparently she did not need it because I did not see her again.
The most important thing for people who have presbyopia or astigmatism or any other trouble which causes imperfect sight is to avoid looking at reading type or at anything, in fact, without shifting or blinking, which is something the normal eye does frequently all day long.


Announcement

Dr. Bates takes pleasure in announcing that Dr. John A. Rath of 111 North West Ave., Jackson, Mich., has recently completed a course of instruction under him and is fully qualified to practice the Bates Method.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=273 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:02:01 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=273

The Colon - Retinitis Pigmentosa - Stories From The Clinic; 114. Discarding Glasses Not Injurious by Emily A. Bates - Questions and Answers



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

SEPTEMBER, 1929

The Colon

While the colon is a valuable punctuation mark, it has a very unusual and better use in helping the memory, imagination, and sight. Medium sized or small letters at the distance are improved promptly by the proper use of the colon. While the eyes are closed or open, the top period should be imagined best while the lower period is more or less blurred and not seen so well. (Central Fixation) In a few moments it is well to shift and imagine the lower period best while the upper period is imagined not so well. Common sense makes it evident that one period cannot be imagined best unless there is some other period or other object which is seen worse. The smallest colon that can be imagined is usually the one that is imagined more readily than a larger colon.
When palming, swinging, et cetera, cannot be practiced sufficiently well to obtain improvement in the eyesight, the memory or imagination of the small colon, one part best, can usually be practiced with benefit. To remember or imagine a colon perfectly requires constant shifting. When the colon is remembered or imagined perfectly, and this cannot be done by any effort or strain, the sight is always improved and the memory and imagination are also improved. It is interesting to note that the smaller the colon, the blacker and better can one remember, imagine, or see one period of it, with benefit to the sight. One may feel that the memory of a very small colon should be more difficult than the memory of a large one, but strange to say it can be demonstrated in most cases that the very small colon is remembered best. If the movement of the colon is absent, the sight is always imperfect. In other words, it requires a stare, strain, and effort to make the colon stop its apparent motion. Shift top, bottom, top, bottom on the two dots of the colon : and see the colon move in the opposite direction that the eyes shift to.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

There are many cases of imperfect sight which are congenital. That is, people are born with different diseases of the eye. Retinitis pigmentosa is usually congenital. The condition is easily recognized in most cases with the aid of the ophthalmoscope. In all cases, the retina is covered, more or less completely, with black areas. These black areas are about 1/30 of an inch in diameter. They are very irregular in size and shape. In severe cases of retinitis pigmentosa, the retina may be covered so thickly by these black specks that the retina cannot be seen.
Most cases give a history of poor sight from birth. At first, only a small number of black spots are visible, but after the child is twelve years of age or older, the number of these spots increases gradually. At the same time that these spots are increasing, there are serious changes taking place in the back part of the eye. The optic nerve becomes atrophied, but the atrophy does not increase sufficiently to produce complete blindness. The middle coat of the eyeball is inflamed and produces floating spots in the vitreous (one of the fluids in the back part of the eye).
All cases of retinitis pigmentosa acquire cataract before they are thirty years of age. There are exceptions to this rule, however. Some patients acquire retinitis pigmentosa after they are fifty years of age or older. One characteristic of retinitis pigmentosa is that the vision is always changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. One very common symptom that is usually present is night blindness. Treatment for the cure of the night blindness helps retinitis pigmentosa. In some cases myopia is present and it is of a kind which is difficult to cure.
It is a prevailing belief that retinitis pigmentosa is incurable and that when it becomes manifest in its early stages, the condition goes on increasing and the blindness becomes more decided. Usually, the blindness does not become permanent. One case of retinitis pigmentosa with myopia was observed. The patient left town and was not seen again for more than six months. She then came into the office to report. Her first words were that her eyes were better.
A physician was calling on me at the same time, and he was asked: "Would you like to see a case of retinitis pigmentosa." He replied that he would.
Before the doctor used the ophthalmoscope, I examined the eye myself. I examined the right eye first and found that the nasal side of the retina was not diseased. There were no black pigment spots anywhere to be seen on the nasal side. Somewhat disturbed, I examined more carefully the temporal side of the retina and again I was disappointed because there were no black spots there. After a long and tedious search for the black spots, I had to confess to my friend that the patient had recovered from the retinitis pigmentosa and accomplished it unconsciously without practicing relaxation methods. The doctor could not resist looking at me incredulously. I am quite sure he thought I was not telling the truth. The atrophy of the optic nerve had also disappeared and with its disappearance circulation of the nerve was restored. The size and appearance of the nerve were normal. The patient became able to read 20/20 without any trouble. It is very interesting to observe in most cases of retinitis pigmentosa how much damage can be done to the retina, while the vision remains good.
Many physicians believe that night blindness cannot be cured. The majority of these cases in my practice have usually recovered and obtained not only normal vision, but they have become able to see better than the average. All patients who were suffering from chronic retinitis pigmentosa had changes in the optic nerve which were very characteristic. In the first place the blood vessels were smaller than in the normal eye and the veins just as small if not smaller than the arteries which emerged from the center of the optic nerve. In most cases the middle coat of the eyeball becomes inflamed and usually much black material is found in the vitreous. There are well marked changes which take place in the crystalline lens. The back part of the lens becomes cloudy and this cloudiness moves forward toward the center of the lens and clouds all parts of it so that the vision is lowered by the opacity of the lens as well as by the more serious changes which occur behind the lens.

A patient sixty years of age came to me for treatment. She said that the doctors told her that she had retinitis pigmentosa and that she could not be cured. Within the last few months her doctor had told her that a cataract had formed. Her vision was zero in the right eye, which had cataract. The vision of the left was about one third of the normal and was not improved by glasses. She had a well marked case of retinitis pigmentosa in which the retina of the left eye was apparently covered almost completely by the pigment spots. In some parts of the retina over an area of more than double the diameter of the optic nerve, the retina could not be seen.
The patient was very anxious to have me do what I could for her sight. She said that her husband was a business man and had occasion to travel all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. He frequently took her with him, and whenever they came to a large town where some prominent ophthalmologist had his office, she would consult him about her eyes.
I found that the back part of the crystalline lens was covered by a faint opacity which was sufficient to lessen her vision. The patient was given a Snellen test card to practice with for the good eye. In twenty-four hours the vision of the right eye had improved from no perception of light to the ability to read some of the large letters of the Snellen test card at five feet. Improvement in the vision of the left eye was manifest. The great improvement in so short a time in the vision of the right eye was unusual.
Treatment for retinitis Pigmentosa and cataract
The treatment which improved the vision of this patient was palming, swinging, and reading very fine print. This patient gave evidence that retinitis pigmentosa is caused by a strain or an effort to see. The fact that retinitis pigmentosa in the eyes of this patient was so promptly relieved, benefited, or cured was evidence that the disease was caused by strain.
The clinical reports of other cases of retinitis pigmentosa confirm the fact that a strain or an effort to see produces retinitis pigmentosa. The efforts which are practiced by the patient can be demonstrated in every case. When the patient makes an effort to improve the vision, it can be demonstrated in every case that the cause of the eye trouble is always due to this effort and the cure of the disease is always obtained by relaxation methods.
I have found that among the methods of relaxation which secure the best results are the memory or the imagination of perfect sight. If the memory or the imagination is imperfect, the disease is not completely relieved or benefited. When one letter of the Snellen test card is seen perfectly, it can be remembered or imagined perfectly. There is no procedure which yields better results in the cure of this eye trouble than the memory of part of a letter, which the patient can demonstrate. It is very interesting to observe that in these cases the memory and imagination are capable of bringing about the absorption or the disappearance of organic conditions. This makes it possible for this treatment to accomplish results readily, quickly, when all other treatment is of no avail.

For example, a girl fifteen years of age had suffered from retinitis pigmentosa from birth. The disease was rapidly progressing and it did not seem that any relief would be obtained by any form of treatment; the patient was simultaneously suffering from progressive myopia. Relaxation treatment, the correct use of her memory, and imagination improved the progressive myopia and much to the delight of the patient, the retinitis pigmentosa improved at the same time and continued to improve until all traces of the disease were absent and she was permanently cured.
It seems to be one of the peculiarities of the disease that it is variable. Oftentimes it gets better for a short time when all of a sudden, overnight perhaps, the disease will return with all its accustomed forms of black pigment spots, atrophy of the optic nerve, diminished circulation, and incipient cataract.
Improved circulation in the eyes cures many vision/eye problems/diseases; Relaxation of mind, body, eyes, eye muscles, neck, eye movement/shifting, central fixation improves circulation in the body, brain, eyes.
Retinitis pigmentosa has been observed in cases of glaucoma, chronic cases which progressed with more or less rapidity until almost total blindness was observed. In other cases, different parts of the choroid would be destroyed, and there would be loss of vision in these areas.
The vision of children ten years of age, suffering from this disease, has been remarkably improved by swinging the child in a circular direction several times daily repeated for many weeks. This promotes relaxation. It is a mistake to dispose of cradles, rocking chairs, and other methods of promoting the swing. The long swing, (described several times in this magazine) is a very efficient method of obtaining relaxation. Many people object that children have not sufficient intelligence to practice the swing successfully. On the contrary children ten years of age or under can practice the long swing as successfully as many adults. It is a treatment that the patient enjoys to a decided extent. Games of all kinds should also be encouraged. It is well to protect the child from adults and others who make the child nervous. Nervousness always causes strain. Laughter and good time are relaxing. The kindergarten is a good place for all children at an early age, because relaxation methods of the best kind are taught there.

Before closing, reference should be made to a girl fourteen years of age who cured herself of retinitis pigmentosa by playing games and engaging in sports that she enjoyed. In the summer time she enjoyed swimming and diving from very great heights; in the winter time she practiced skating, devoting long periods of time to this sport. Besides the relaxation methods which I have described, it is worth the trouble to teach children who have so-called incurable diseases how to enjoy themselves for long periods of time both winter and summer. Their eyes as well as their bodies are kept in motion while playing games or engaging in sports which relieve the stare and strain that cause imperfect sight. It is so much more efficient and better than drugs.


Discarding Glasses Not Injurious

By EMILY A. BATES

THE most difficult thing for a patient to do is to discard glasses immediately. When a patient comes to us, recommended by his physician or oculist, we have no difficulty in this respect, even though he has worn glasses for many years. But when a patient comes for treatment at the suggestion of a friend or someone who has been benefited by the Bates method, there is sometimes a doubt in the patient's mind as to whether it is a mistake or injurious for him to stop wearing his glasses immediately, after having worn them for a long time.
Nineteen years ago I came to Dr. Bates as a patient. Headaches, nausea, and continuous pain in the back of my neck made me irritable and nervous, and sometimes I was not a very agreeable person to have about. A neighbor of my little mother first told me about Dr. Bates and how he had cured her five children of imperfect sight and other ailments.
I felt quite comfortable at times with the glasses I wore and because they helped me to see better I wore them almost constantly. As I explained in a previous article, I had worn glasses a little more than thirteen years, and during that time I had them changed three times. The last glasses I wore did not help me when I first put them on. The oculist informed me that I would have to wear them for a few weeks until I became accustomed to them. They were much stronger glasses than those I had worn previously and for that reason the oculist told me my eyes would adjust themselves to the glasses in time.
This must have been the case because after a while I got along nicely with them for a few hours every day but toward the end of almost every day the nausea and discomfort became a regular occurrence. When I visited Dr. Bates for the first time I did not know that the glasses I was wearing were the cause of my pain and discomfort. In fact I did not altogether believe that Dr. Bates was right in the diagnosis he had made of my case. I put my glasses away as he suggested, but the very next day I was ready to complain about my usual headache and other pain. However I did not have anything to complain about. But I neglected some of my daily duties about my home to practice what the doctor told me to do.
I soon found out that blinking often made me feel easier—that things about the house looked clearer to me when I blinked. I liked that, so I kept it up all day. Dr. Bates noticed during my treatment that I did not breathe regularly and advised me to do so. I made it a practice to blink as I inhaled and exhaled so one thing reminded me to do the other. As I looked into a mirror I noticed as I blinked that my eyes moved slightly, which gave me a sense of relaxation I did not have while wearing my glasses. Dr. Bates explained in his book and in other articles that he has written that when eyestrain is relieved, strain in all parts of the body is also relieved. Dr. Bates advised me to close my eyes to rest them, which always improved my vision for the test card.
The second day I wanted very much to put on my glasses again because I woke up that morning with a terrific headache. I was almost sure that Dr. Bates was wrong about the whole thing. I telephoned to him and argued the matter with him. I was much surprised to have him tell me that I might have strained my eyes during sleep. How absurd this seemed to me, but he was right about this and I will explain how I found it out for myself and how I relieved the strain by doing exactly as he advised me.
I placed my alarm clock on a chair beside my bed and set the alarm to ring two hours after I had fallen asleep. Being a light sleeper I did not wind up the alarm to ring more than a second or two. In this way I did not waken anyone else in my household. If I had a dream during those two hours of sleep, I had a pad and pencil near me to write down what I could remember of my dream. Some of our "Better Eyesight" readers will say that this was a waste of time and sleep and may even laugh at such a procedure during the night. Later on I was glad I did this because I was entirely cured of nightmares, which caused me many times to apologize for waking up members of my family with screams or causing other disturbances which were sometimes a great worry to those near me.
I practiced the long swing for five minutes or longer every night and morning in addition to other things that Dr. Bates advised me to do during the night.
Children are more ready to discard their glasses than are adults and for that reason there are more children cured without glasses than adults, and in a shorter time. Some patients who come to us for treatment have been wearing eye glasses that are very weak in power and yet they say they cannot possibly do without them. Doing without glasses a little longer each day is a good way to begin. If one has been wearing glasses for a long time, it is much easier for the patient to gradually do without them, if he is not under treatment for the removal of glasses.

A man, aged 57, who had astigmatism in both eyes, was afraid to leave off his glasses after the first treatment. He had worn glasses for thirty-six years, having had them changed several times during this period. At the age of 21, he paid his first visit to an oculist who told him that the compound hypermetropic astigmatism which he had would get worse if he did not wear his glasses steadily. He obeyed the oculist and in a year's time he had the glasses changed. The first few years he did not notice much discomfort while wearing the glasses, but later on if he did not remove the glasses occasionally and close his eyes to rest them, he would feel so tired that even at his work he would fall asleep.
He was examined by a good specialist who was recommended by his family physician, thinking that perhaps he might have had an attack of sleeping sickness. After chemical tests were made it was found that all the organs of his body were perfectly normal, and the doctor suggested that perhaps he might be wearing the wrong glasses. Then he became interested in the Bates method and came for treatment. I asked him to read the test card with his glasses on and he read 10/40. Without glasses he could not see anything on the test card clearly at ten feet, so I placed the cards at seven feet. At seven feet he could only read up to the 50 line letters of the test card.
He liked palming very much and kept his eyes closed for a considerable length of time while I was talking to his family physician, who came with the patient to see what could be done for him. I told my patient, while he was palming, that a good memory usually helped, but not to remember anything disagreeable while palming. He liked outdoor sports and was a good golf player, so I told him to imagine the golf ball as he sent it across the field and to imagine that it went into the cup. After he had rested his eyes in this way it was amusing to hear him tell us that he had had a good game of golf while his eyes were closed. Evidently this helped because his vision improved to 7/15, although all the letters on the 15 line were not entirely clear to him. When he strained to see some of the letters they became blurred and distorted and he read them incorrectly. After he had palmed his eyes again for a shorter period, he read all the letters of the 15 line clearly and without any hesitation whatever.
I gave him the Fundamental card to read and told him to hold it at the usual reading distance. He said all the print was blurred and he could not see anything but the word "Fundamentals" at the top of the card after he had closed his eyes for a few seconds. I told him to hold the Fundamental card in his left hand while in his right hand he held the small card with diamond type. I directed him to look first at the white spaces of the small card in his right hand and then turn his head and look at the Fundamental card and not to try to read the letters. While he was doing this I told him to draw the Fundamental card a little farther away, about twelve inches from his eyes. By alternately closing his eyes to rest them, imagining the white spaces between the lines of type, and then looking at the beginning of each sentence, he read down to sentence number 6.
I told him to look directly at the print and see what happened. He immediately closed his eyes and said that the print blurred and that it made him uncomfortable. For almost an hour he practiced looking from the white spaces between the lines of fine print to the white spaces between the lines of larger print of the Fundamental card and before he left the office that day, he read all of the Fundamental card at six inches as well as at twelve inches. He telephoned a few days later and said that he felt no discomfort although he had discarded his glasses. There were times, however, when he did have a strong desire to put them on again. Advice by mail helped and in a year's time his vision became normal.
Having so little fear about removing his glasses after having worn them so many years was proof enough that it could be done. It requires will power and also confidence in the instructor or doctor who is teaching the patient to see without glasses.
It is a mistake for patients to discuss the treatment until they are cured, because friends have a certain amount of influence in the matter, either for right or wrong. While some patients are cured quickly, there are patients who do not do so well and keep practicing sometimes for a year or longer without obtaining a cure. This is because the method has not been practiced properly at home or the advice given by the doctor has not been carried out completely. Some patients need more supervision than others and for that reason it is best not to discuss the treatment with those who do not understand or who are skeptical about it. I have been assisting Dr. Bates long enough to know that glasses can be discarded permanently no matter how long they have been worn.



Questions and Answers

Q—Is diabetic cataract curable?
Answer.—Diabetic cataract is curable when the general disease of diabetes can be relieved by treatment.

Q—After a serious illness several years ago my pupils became very large. Is there anything you can suggest that will help them to contract?
A—Dilated pupils are not usually symptoms of disease of the eye. The sun treatment is beneficial. Sit in the sun with the eyes closed, allowing the sun's rays to shine directly on the closed eyelids, moving the head a short distance from side to side to avoid discomfort from the heat. This should be practiced for a half hour, an hour, or longer.

Q—What causes my vision to become blurred upon sudden confusion or when I have a number of activities coming at once?
A—The fact that your vision becomes blurred at such times is proof of your eccentric fixation. Do not try to see or do several things at once. Practice central fixation, seeing the part regarded best and other parts not so clearly, all day long.

Q—My daughter, aged ten, is practicing your method for the cure of cross-eyes. Would it help to cover her good eye with a shield, which is easy for her and keeps the left eye straight for a certain period of time, besides making it work? It helped her so much when she wore glasses, that I thought it might help her without them in the same way.
A—It is first necessary to improve to normal the vision of both eyes, when used together. Then cover the good eye and practice improving the vision of the poor eye.

Q—When you suggest new methods do you mean to discontinue with the old?
A—Not necessarily. All the methods I recommend have relaxation for their object. It is for the patient to determine which treatment is most beneficial and to continue its practice faithfully. Some patients tire easily when one thing is done continuously. For this reason several methods are suggested in order to vary the practice.

Q—I am told that I am losing my "central vision." Is it possible to regain what I have already lost or to forestall the loss of the remainder?
A—Yes, it is possible by faithful practice of my methods.

Q—What causes my eyes to flash violet sparks and splashes?
A—This is caused by a mental strain.
Learn to relax and improve your memory and imagination. Palming should help you a great deal.

Staring, neck tension, incorrect posture, many hours with the head, neck bent down or pulled forward reading, typing without taking a break causes this symptom and unclear vision, dizziness.
Use correct posture, walk around, look to the distance to prevent tension in the neck, eyes, blur.

Q—It is very hard for me to think in terms of black and white. Is there some other method which is just as beneficial?
A—Yes, letting your mind drift from one pleasant memory to another will accomplish the same results.

Q—In case of illness where one is unable to practice with the Snellen test card or stand up, what method is used?
A—Blink frequently and shift your eyes constantly from one point to another. Turn your head slightly from side to side on the pillow or close your eyes and think of something pleasant, something that you can remember perfectly, and let your mind drift from one pleasant thought to another.

Q—What does "Seeing things moving all day long" mean?
A—Your head and eyes are moving all day long. Notice that stationary objects appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of your head and eyes. When you walk around the room or on the street, observe that the floor or pavement appears to come toward you, while objects on either side of you appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of your body.]]>

The Colon - Retinitis Pigmentosa - Stories From The Clinic; 114. Discarding Glasses Not Injurious by Emily A. Bates - Questions and Answers



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

SEPTEMBER, 1929

The Colon

While the colon is a valuable punctuation mark, it has a very unusual and better use in helping the memory, imagination, and sight. Medium sized or small letters at the distance are improved promptly by the proper use of the colon. While the eyes are closed or open, the top period should be imagined best while the lower period is more or less blurred and not seen so well. (Central Fixation) In a few moments it is well to shift and imagine the lower period best while the upper period is imagined not so well. Common sense makes it evident that one period cannot be imagined best unless there is some other period or other object which is seen worse. The smallest colon that can be imagined is usually the one that is imagined more readily than a larger colon.
When palming, swinging, et cetera, cannot be practiced sufficiently well to obtain improvement in the eyesight, the memory or imagination of the small colon, one part best, can usually be practiced with benefit. To remember or imagine a colon perfectly requires constant shifting. When the colon is remembered or imagined perfectly, and this cannot be done by any effort or strain, the sight is always improved and the memory and imagination are also improved. It is interesting to note that the smaller the colon, the blacker and better can one remember, imagine, or see one period of it, with benefit to the sight. One may feel that the memory of a very small colon should be more difficult than the memory of a large one, but strange to say it can be demonstrated in most cases that the very small colon is remembered best. If the movement of the colon is absent, the sight is always imperfect. In other words, it requires a stare, strain, and effort to make the colon stop its apparent motion. Shift top, bottom, top, bottom on the two dots of the colon : and see the colon move in the opposite direction that the eyes shift to.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

There are many cases of imperfect sight which are congenital. That is, people are born with different diseases of the eye. Retinitis pigmentosa is usually congenital. The condition is easily recognized in most cases with the aid of the ophthalmoscope. In all cases, the retina is covered, more or less completely, with black areas. These black areas are about 1/30 of an inch in diameter. They are very irregular in size and shape. In severe cases of retinitis pigmentosa, the retina may be covered so thickly by these black specks that the retina cannot be seen.
Most cases give a history of poor sight from birth. At first, only a small number of black spots are visible, but after the child is twelve years of age or older, the number of these spots increases gradually. At the same time that these spots are increasing, there are serious changes taking place in the back part of the eye. The optic nerve becomes atrophied, but the atrophy does not increase sufficiently to produce complete blindness. The middle coat of the eyeball is inflamed and produces floating spots in the vitreous (one of the fluids in the back part of the eye).
All cases of retinitis pigmentosa acquire cataract before they are thirty years of age. There are exceptions to this rule, however. Some patients acquire retinitis pigmentosa after they are fifty years of age or older. One characteristic of retinitis pigmentosa is that the vision is always changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. One very common symptom that is usually present is night blindness. Treatment for the cure of the night blindness helps retinitis pigmentosa. In some cases myopia is present and it is of a kind which is difficult to cure.
It is a prevailing belief that retinitis pigmentosa is incurable and that when it becomes manifest in its early stages, the condition goes on increasing and the blindness becomes more decided. Usually, the blindness does not become permanent. One case of retinitis pigmentosa with myopia was observed. The patient left town and was not seen again for more than six months. She then came into the office to report. Her first words were that her eyes were better.
A physician was calling on me at the same time, and he was asked: "Would you like to see a case of retinitis pigmentosa." He replied that he would.
Before the doctor used the ophthalmoscope, I examined the eye myself. I examined the right eye first and found that the nasal side of the retina was not diseased. There were no black pigment spots anywhere to be seen on the nasal side. Somewhat disturbed, I examined more carefully the temporal side of the retina and again I was disappointed because there were no black spots there. After a long and tedious search for the black spots, I had to confess to my friend that the patient had recovered from the retinitis pigmentosa and accomplished it unconsciously without practicing relaxation methods. The doctor could not resist looking at me incredulously. I am quite sure he thought I was not telling the truth. The atrophy of the optic nerve had also disappeared and with its disappearance circulation of the nerve was restored. The size and appearance of the nerve were normal. The patient became able to read 20/20 without any trouble. It is very interesting to observe in most cases of retinitis pigmentosa how much damage can be done to the retina, while the vision remains good.
Many physicians believe that night blindness cannot be cured. The majority of these cases in my practice have usually recovered and obtained not only normal vision, but they have become able to see better than the average. All patients who were suffering from chronic retinitis pigmentosa had changes in the optic nerve which were very characteristic. In the first place the blood vessels were smaller than in the normal eye and the veins just as small if not smaller than the arteries which emerged from the center of the optic nerve. In most cases the middle coat of the eyeball becomes inflamed and usually much black material is found in the vitreous. There are well marked changes which take place in the crystalline lens. The back part of the lens becomes cloudy and this cloudiness moves forward toward the center of the lens and clouds all parts of it so that the vision is lowered by the opacity of the lens as well as by the more serious changes which occur behind the lens.

A patient sixty years of age came to me for treatment. She said that the doctors told her that she had retinitis pigmentosa and that she could not be cured. Within the last few months her doctor had told her that a cataract had formed. Her vision was zero in the right eye, which had cataract. The vision of the left was about one third of the normal and was not improved by glasses. She had a well marked case of retinitis pigmentosa in which the retina of the left eye was apparently covered almost completely by the pigment spots. In some parts of the retina over an area of more than double the diameter of the optic nerve, the retina could not be seen.
The patient was very anxious to have me do what I could for her sight. She said that her husband was a business man and had occasion to travel all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. He frequently took her with him, and whenever they came to a large town where some prominent ophthalmologist had his office, she would consult him about her eyes.
I found that the back part of the crystalline lens was covered by a faint opacity which was sufficient to lessen her vision. The patient was given a Snellen test card to practice with for the good eye. In twenty-four hours the vision of the right eye had improved from no perception of light to the ability to read some of the large letters of the Snellen test card at five feet. Improvement in the vision of the left eye was manifest. The great improvement in so short a time in the vision of the right eye was unusual.
Treatment for retinitis Pigmentosa and cataract
The treatment which improved the vision of this patient was palming, swinging, and reading very fine print. This patient gave evidence that retinitis pigmentosa is caused by a strain or an effort to see. The fact that retinitis pigmentosa in the eyes of this patient was so promptly relieved, benefited, or cured was evidence that the disease was caused by strain.
The clinical reports of other cases of retinitis pigmentosa confirm the fact that a strain or an effort to see produces retinitis pigmentosa. The efforts which are practiced by the patient can be demonstrated in every case. When the patient makes an effort to improve the vision, it can be demonstrated in every case that the cause of the eye trouble is always due to this effort and the cure of the disease is always obtained by relaxation methods.
I have found that among the methods of relaxation which secure the best results are the memory or the imagination of perfect sight. If the memory or the imagination is imperfect, the disease is not completely relieved or benefited. When one letter of the Snellen test card is seen perfectly, it can be remembered or imagined perfectly. There is no procedure which yields better results in the cure of this eye trouble than the memory of part of a letter, which the patient can demonstrate. It is very interesting to observe that in these cases the memory and imagination are capable of bringing about the absorption or the disappearance of organic conditions. This makes it possible for this treatment to accomplish results readily, quickly, when all other treatment is of no avail.

For example, a girl fifteen years of age had suffered from retinitis pigmentosa from birth. The disease was rapidly progressing and it did not seem that any relief would be obtained by any form of treatment; the patient was simultaneously suffering from progressive myopia. Relaxation treatment, the correct use of her memory, and imagination improved the progressive myopia and much to the delight of the patient, the retinitis pigmentosa improved at the same time and continued to improve until all traces of the disease were absent and she was permanently cured.
It seems to be one of the peculiarities of the disease that it is variable. Oftentimes it gets better for a short time when all of a sudden, overnight perhaps, the disease will return with all its accustomed forms of black pigment spots, atrophy of the optic nerve, diminished circulation, and incipient cataract.
Improved circulation in the eyes cures many vision/eye problems/diseases; Relaxation of mind, body, eyes, eye muscles, neck, eye movement/shifting, central fixation improves circulation in the body, brain, eyes.
Retinitis pigmentosa has been observed in cases of glaucoma, chronic cases which progressed with more or less rapidity until almost total blindness was observed. In other cases, different parts of the choroid would be destroyed, and there would be loss of vision in these areas.
The vision of children ten years of age, suffering from this disease, has been remarkably improved by swinging the child in a circular direction several times daily repeated for many weeks. This promotes relaxation. It is a mistake to dispose of cradles, rocking chairs, and other methods of promoting the swing. The long swing, (described several times in this magazine) is a very efficient method of obtaining relaxation. Many people object that children have not sufficient intelligence to practice the swing successfully. On the contrary children ten years of age or under can practice the long swing as successfully as many adults. It is a treatment that the patient enjoys to a decided extent. Games of all kinds should also be encouraged. It is well to protect the child from adults and others who make the child nervous. Nervousness always causes strain. Laughter and good time are relaxing. The kindergarten is a good place for all children at an early age, because relaxation methods of the best kind are taught there.

Before closing, reference should be made to a girl fourteen years of age who cured herself of retinitis pigmentosa by playing games and engaging in sports that she enjoyed. In the summer time she enjoyed swimming and diving from very great heights; in the winter time she practiced skating, devoting long periods of time to this sport. Besides the relaxation methods which I have described, it is worth the trouble to teach children who have so-called incurable diseases how to enjoy themselves for long periods of time both winter and summer. Their eyes as well as their bodies are kept in motion while playing games or engaging in sports which relieve the stare and strain that cause imperfect sight. It is so much more efficient and better than drugs.


Discarding Glasses Not Injurious

By EMILY A. BATES

THE most difficult thing for a patient to do is to discard glasses immediately. When a patient comes to us, recommended by his physician or oculist, we have no difficulty in this respect, even though he has worn glasses for many years. But when a patient comes for treatment at the suggestion of a friend or someone who has been benefited by the Bates method, there is sometimes a doubt in the patient's mind as to whether it is a mistake or injurious for him to stop wearing his glasses immediately, after having worn them for a long time.
Nineteen years ago I came to Dr. Bates as a patient. Headaches, nausea, and continuous pain in the back of my neck made me irritable and nervous, and sometimes I was not a very agreeable person to have about. A neighbor of my little mother first told me about Dr. Bates and how he had cured her five children of imperfect sight and other ailments.
I felt quite comfortable at times with the glasses I wore and because they helped me to see better I wore them almost constantly. As I explained in a previous article, I had worn glasses a little more than thirteen years, and during that time I had them changed three times. The last glasses I wore did not help me when I first put them on. The oculist informed me that I would have to wear them for a few weeks until I became accustomed to them. They were much stronger glasses than those I had worn previously and for that reason the oculist told me my eyes would adjust themselves to the glasses in time.
This must have been the case because after a while I got along nicely with them for a few hours every day but toward the end of almost every day the nausea and discomfort became a regular occurrence. When I visited Dr. Bates for the first time I did not know that the glasses I was wearing were the cause of my pain and discomfort. In fact I did not altogether believe that Dr. Bates was right in the diagnosis he had made of my case. I put my glasses away as he suggested, but the very next day I was ready to complain about my usual headache and other pain. However I did not have anything to complain about. But I neglected some of my daily duties about my home to practice what the doctor told me to do.
I soon found out that blinking often made me feel easier—that things about the house looked clearer to me when I blinked. I liked that, so I kept it up all day. Dr. Bates noticed during my treatment that I did not breathe regularly and advised me to do so. I made it a practice to blink as I inhaled and exhaled so one thing reminded me to do the other. As I looked into a mirror I noticed as I blinked that my eyes moved slightly, which gave me a sense of relaxation I did not have while wearing my glasses. Dr. Bates explained in his book and in other articles that he has written that when eyestrain is relieved, strain in all parts of the body is also relieved. Dr. Bates advised me to close my eyes to rest them, which always improved my vision for the test card.
The second day I wanted very much to put on my glasses again because I woke up that morning with a terrific headache. I was almost sure that Dr. Bates was wrong about the whole thing. I telephoned to him and argued the matter with him. I was much surprised to have him tell me that I might have strained my eyes during sleep. How absurd this seemed to me, but he was right about this and I will explain how I found it out for myself and how I relieved the strain by doing exactly as he advised me.
I placed my alarm clock on a chair beside my bed and set the alarm to ring two hours after I had fallen asleep. Being a light sleeper I did not wind up the alarm to ring more than a second or two. In this way I did not waken anyone else in my household. If I had a dream during those two hours of sleep, I had a pad and pencil near me to write down what I could remember of my dream. Some of our "Better Eyesight" readers will say that this was a waste of time and sleep and may even laugh at such a procedure during the night. Later on I was glad I did this because I was entirely cured of nightmares, which caused me many times to apologize for waking up members of my family with screams or causing other disturbances which were sometimes a great worry to those near me.
I practiced the long swing for five minutes or longer every night and morning in addition to other things that Dr. Bates advised me to do during the night.
Children are more ready to discard their glasses than are adults and for that reason there are more children cured without glasses than adults, and in a shorter time. Some patients who come to us for treatment have been wearing eye glasses that are very weak in power and yet they say they cannot possibly do without them. Doing without glasses a little longer each day is a good way to begin. If one has been wearing glasses for a long time, it is much easier for the patient to gradually do without them, if he is not under treatment for the removal of glasses.

A man, aged 57, who had astigmatism in both eyes, was afraid to leave off his glasses after the first treatment. He had worn glasses for thirty-six years, having had them changed several times during this period. At the age of 21, he paid his first visit to an oculist who told him that the compound hypermetropic astigmatism which he had would get worse if he did not wear his glasses steadily. He obeyed the oculist and in a year's time he had the glasses changed. The first few years he did not notice much discomfort while wearing the glasses, but later on if he did not remove the glasses occasionally and close his eyes to rest them, he would feel so tired that even at his work he would fall asleep.
He was examined by a good specialist who was recommended by his family physician, thinking that perhaps he might have had an attack of sleeping sickness. After chemical tests were made it was found that all the organs of his body were perfectly normal, and the doctor suggested that perhaps he might be wearing the wrong glasses. Then he became interested in the Bates method and came for treatment. I asked him to read the test card with his glasses on and he read 10/40. Without glasses he could not see anything on the test card clearly at ten feet, so I placed the cards at seven feet. At seven feet he could only read up to the 50 line letters of the test card.
He liked palming very much and kept his eyes closed for a considerable length of time while I was talking to his family physician, who came with the patient to see what could be done for him. I told my patient, while he was palming, that a good memory usually helped, but not to remember anything disagreeable while palming. He liked outdoor sports and was a good golf player, so I told him to imagine the golf ball as he sent it across the field and to imagine that it went into the cup. After he had rested his eyes in this way it was amusing to hear him tell us that he had had a good game of golf while his eyes were closed. Evidently this helped because his vision improved to 7/15, although all the letters on the 15 line were not entirely clear to him. When he strained to see some of the letters they became blurred and distorted and he read them incorrectly. After he had palmed his eyes again for a shorter period, he read all the letters of the 15 line clearly and without any hesitation whatever.
I gave him the Fundamental card to read and told him to hold it at the usual reading distance. He said all the print was blurred and he could not see anything but the word "Fundamentals" at the top of the card after he had closed his eyes for a few seconds. I told him to hold the Fundamental card in his left hand while in his right hand he held the small card with diamond type. I directed him to look first at the white spaces of the small card in his right hand and then turn his head and look at the Fundamental card and not to try to read the letters. While he was doing this I told him to draw the Fundamental card a little farther away, about twelve inches from his eyes. By alternately closing his eyes to rest them, imagining the white spaces between the lines of type, and then looking at the beginning of each sentence, he read down to sentence number 6.
I told him to look directly at the print and see what happened. He immediately closed his eyes and said that the print blurred and that it made him uncomfortable. For almost an hour he practiced looking from the white spaces between the lines of fine print to the white spaces between the lines of larger print of the Fundamental card and before he left the office that day, he read all of the Fundamental card at six inches as well as at twelve inches. He telephoned a few days later and said that he felt no discomfort although he had discarded his glasses. There were times, however, when he did have a strong desire to put them on again. Advice by mail helped and in a year's time his vision became normal.
Having so little fear about removing his glasses after having worn them so many years was proof enough that it could be done. It requires will power and also confidence in the instructor or doctor who is teaching the patient to see without glasses.
It is a mistake for patients to discuss the treatment until they are cured, because friends have a certain amount of influence in the matter, either for right or wrong. While some patients are cured quickly, there are patients who do not do so well and keep practicing sometimes for a year or longer without obtaining a cure. This is because the method has not been practiced properly at home or the advice given by the doctor has not been carried out completely. Some patients need more supervision than others and for that reason it is best not to discuss the treatment with those who do not understand or who are skeptical about it. I have been assisting Dr. Bates long enough to know that glasses can be discarded permanently no matter how long they have been worn.



Questions and Answers

Q—Is diabetic cataract curable?
Answer.—Diabetic cataract is curable when the general disease of diabetes can be relieved by treatment.

Q—After a serious illness several years ago my pupils became very large. Is there anything you can suggest that will help them to contract?
A—Dilated pupils are not usually symptoms of disease of the eye. The sun treatment is beneficial. Sit in the sun with the eyes closed, allowing the sun's rays to shine directly on the closed eyelids, moving the head a short distance from side to side to avoid discomfort from the heat. This should be practiced for a half hour, an hour, or longer.

Q—What causes my vision to become blurred upon sudden confusion or when I have a number of activities coming at once?
A—The fact that your vision becomes blurred at such times is proof of your eccentric fixation. Do not try to see or do several things at once. Practice central fixation, seeing the part regarded best and other parts not so clearly, all day long.

Q—My daughter, aged ten, is practicing your method for the cure of cross-eyes. Would it help to cover her good eye with a shield, which is easy for her and keeps the left eye straight for a certain period of time, besides making it work? It helped her so much when she wore glasses, that I thought it might help her without them in the same way.
A—It is first necessary to improve to normal the vision of both eyes, when used together. Then cover the good eye and practice improving the vision of the poor eye.

Q—When you suggest new methods do you mean to discontinue with the old?
A—Not necessarily. All the methods I recommend have relaxation for their object. It is for the patient to determine which treatment is most beneficial and to continue its practice faithfully. Some patients tire easily when one thing is done continuously. For this reason several methods are suggested in order to vary the practice.

Q—I am told that I am losing my "central vision." Is it possible to regain what I have already lost or to forestall the loss of the remainder?
A—Yes, it is possible by faithful practice of my methods.

Q—What causes my eyes to flash violet sparks and splashes?
A—This is caused by a mental strain.
Learn to relax and improve your memory and imagination. Palming should help you a great deal.

Staring, neck tension, incorrect posture, many hours with the head, neck bent down or pulled forward reading, typing without taking a break causes this symptom and unclear vision, dizziness.
Use correct posture, walk around, look to the distance to prevent tension in the neck, eyes, blur.

Q—It is very hard for me to think in terms of black and white. Is there some other method which is just as beneficial?
A—Yes, letting your mind drift from one pleasant memory to another will accomplish the same results.

Q—In case of illness where one is unable to practice with the Snellen test card or stand up, what method is used?
A—Blink frequently and shift your eyes constantly from one point to another. Turn your head slightly from side to side on the pillow or close your eyes and think of something pleasant, something that you can remember perfectly, and let your mind drift from one pleasant thought to another.

Q—What does "Seeing things moving all day long" mean?
A—Your head and eyes are moving all day long. Notice that stationary objects appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of your head and eyes. When you walk around the room or on the street, observe that the floor or pavement appears to come toward you, while objects on either side of you appear to move in the opposite direction to the movement of your body.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=272 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:01:47 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=272

School Number - Comparisons - School Children - Stories From The Clinic; 113. School Children by Emily A. Bates – Case Reports–School Children - Reprints





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

AUGUST, 1929

Comparisons

In practicing with the Snellen test card, when the vision is imperfect, the blackness of the letters is modified and the white spaces inside the letters are also modified. By comparing the blackness of the large letters with the blackness of the smaller ones it can be demonstrated that the larger letters are imperfectly seen.
When one notes the whiteness in the center of a large letter, seen indistinctly, it is usually possible to compare the whiteness seen with the remembered whiteness of something else. By alternately comparing the whiteness in the center of a letter with the memory of a better white, as the snow on the top of a mountain, the whiteness of the letter usually improves. In the same way, comparing the shade of black of a letter with the memory of a darker shade of black of some other object may be also a benefit to the black.
Most persons with myopia are able to read fine print at a near point quite perfectly. They see the blackness and whiteness of the letters much better than they are able to see the blackness of the larger letters on the Snellen test card at 15 or 20 feet. Alternately reading the fine print and regarding the Snellen test card, comparing the black and white of the small letters with the black and white of the large letters, is often times very beneficial. Some cases of myopia have been cured very promptly by this method.
All persons with imperfect sight for reading are benefited by comparing the whiteness of the spaces between the lines with the memory of objects which are whiter. Many persons can remember white snow with the eyes closed whiter than the spaces between the lines. By alternately closing the eyes for a minute or longer, remembering white snow, white starch, white paint, a white cloud in the sky with the sun shining on it, and flashing the white spaces without trying to read, many persons have materially improved their sight and been cured.


School Children

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

Imperfect sight is found in the eyes of most school children of the United States, Canada, France, and other countries. In Germany a great deal has been done to lessen this evil among school children and it is well known that the statistics of imperfect sight in school children in Germany have proved that the numerous methods recommended for the prevention or cure of imperfect sight have been failures. It is estimated that in the city of New York, one tenth or more of the children are wearing glasses. All attempts to benefit the eyes of school children so that they will not need glasses have been suppressed by the Board of Education and the Board of Health. Many principals of large schools have encouraged to the best of their ability the work that can be done to cure or prevent imperfect sight in school children. It is difficult to understand why there should be so much opposition to this work.
In 1912 all school teachers were encouraged in some of the larger schools to recommend and practice any methods which promised prevention or cure. One of the opponents of the prevention of imperfect sight in school children made the statement that it is impossible to cure a negative proposition and therefore a negative proposition cannot be prevented. A positive proposition is one in which a cure can be obtained by treatment. When the methods employed do not cure imperfect sight without glasses, one cannot expect the same methods to prevent imperfect sight. A positive proposition suggests methods that cure; a negative proposition does not suggest successful treatment and does not prevent imperfect sight. Measures that cure also prevent; methods that do not cure cannot be expected to prevent.
In some cities it was believed by many that the cause of imperfect sight in school children was the use of small print in the text books. When schools were permitted to use only large print for the children, eye strain, headaches and other troubles became more numerous than when small print was employed; repeated trials of books in which large print was used always failed to prevent discomfort. Just as many children wore glasses after the use of text books with large print as when the books were printed in small print. Even the school authorities and the Board of Health were finally convinced that large print was more injurious to the eyes of school children than was the small print which had previously been used continuously. Evidently, the cause of imperfect sight in school children was not connected in any way with the size of print used in text books.
It has been generally believed also that the imperfect light of school rooms is the cause of imperfect sight in school children. In some cases there seemed to be too much light, while in other cases it was believed that there was not enough light. I have studied the connection of the amount of light to the cause of imperfect sight. After many years of observation, I became convinced that the amount of light has nothing whatever to do with the cause of myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, or other cases of imperfect sight in school children. Many children with high degrees of myopia and other causes of imperfect sight have been permanently cured by practicing the reading of microscopic type, with changing powers of illumination. It is an error to claim that light has anything to do with the production of imperfect sight. Children with progressive myopia have been benefited or cured by eye education when a poor light or a bright light was used.
Fluorescent lights impair the clarity of vision, health of the eyes.
In Germany and in other parts of Europe, as well as in this country, the problem of the cause of imperfect sight in school children has received a great deal of attention. For example, in the year 1882, the minister of public education in France convoked a committee which investigated very thoroughly the light in school rooms. The committee dwelt especially upon the point that as the most essential light was that which shone directly from the sky upon the scholars, every scholar should be in a position to see a piece of the sky corresponding in size to a window space of at least 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) long, measured from the upper edge of the glass, of the upper window.
There is a large library of books describing the necessity of the proper amount of light, as measured with scientific instruments, each instrument being different in some particular from every other instrument for measuring the light. These studies and the injurious or the beneficial effects of light will now have to be modified, as I have found that the light has nothing to do with the cause of imperfect sight and that any measures adopted to change, lessen, or increase the light are usually a waste of time and effort.
Scientists now know that full spectrum sunlight, entering the room through open windows, skylights, (and if necessary: full spectrum non fluorescent light) improves the health, function of the eyes, brain, body and clarity of vision.
A study had been made in some schools of the desks where the children do their work. Here again much time was spent uselessly in publishing rules for the measurement of the height of the desks.
Dr. Cohn has done an enormous amount of work to determine the cause, prevention, or cure of imperfect sight in school children. He recommended what was considered to be the best form of lighting in schools and also devoted a great deal of time to desks and seats. He advised that the seats and desks be so arranged so that they would give the children the most comfort. He believed that he had made a valuable discovery toward prevention of imperfect sight when he recommended an apparatus which prevented school children from leaning far forward when they were studying or writing.
The apparatus was successful up to a certain point; it prevented the children from leaning far forward; he did not claim that his methods were a cure for all cases. After his method for the prevention of imperfect sight in school children had been in use for some time, the vision of the children was tested. Much to the surprise of the parents of the children, the vision was not benefited. A friend asked Dr. Cohn for his statistics on children who were benefited; he said that no children were benefited and that the method was a failure. He was then asked why he continued to use the method when he knew that the children were not benefited. Cohn's answer was that he did not know what else to do. A number of prominent ophthalmologists were disappointed when he admitted that his system was of no practical use.
Good posture improves the vision but complete freedom of movement, relaxed body, neck, head, eyes must be allowed.
I have proved that any effort or strain to improve the vision always lowers the vision. Straining the eyes to see at long distances always produces near-sightedness. When efforts were made to see at the near point continuously, the eyes became far-sighted. It can be demonstrated that the normal eye with normal sight becomes imperfect by a strain to see. When the eyes are relaxed the vision always becomes normal. One of the best methods for children to practice in order to produce relaxation is that in which the body is swayed from side to side. This prevents strain, because the eyes are kept in motion and the stare is avoided. When the eyes stare, an effort has to be made to prevent the eyes from moving.
It is a rest to the eye to shift from one point to another point. When done easily, without effort, the eyes are rested, the vision improves, and the stare is prevented. Swinging was first used to rest the eyes and it was not expected that the movement of the eyes slowly, continuously, would be followed by any other benefits. It was demonstrated, however, that all children who practiced the method, besides relaxing their eyes also obtained relaxation in all parts of their body.
It is a fact—a truth—that rest improves the sight and relieves or cures many diseases of the eyes. Those children who do not practice the sway correctly are not benefited. The most common mistake that is made is to turn the head to one side and turn the eyes in the opposite direction while swaying. In many cases the strain is so terrific that it is followed by much pain or discomfort, and imperfect sight.
I have found that a great many children strain while they are asleep; this I have discovered by the use of the ophthalmoscope, without necessarily awakening the child. Those children who strain during sleep are often very nervous while awake and suffer from headaches and pain in the eyes and other parts of the body. Practicing the swing properly just before retiring at night fifty to one hundred times is beneficial. Some children will palm until they go to sleep. This produces relaxation which may last through the night and bring relief. This method of prevention may be practiced by young children at the age of four as well as by older children.
The writer wishes to recommend a method for the cure or prevention of imperfect sight in school children which has been used successfully. A Snellen test card is placed permanently on the wall of a class room in a place where it can be read at all times by the children. All the children's eyes were tested at ten feet each day, first with both eyes together and then with each eye separately. All the teachers who practiced the methods reported that every child who used the method regularly was benefited to a greater or lesser degree. Not only was the sight improved but also headaches, pains, and other nervous symptoms were relieved. One of the greatest benefits of the method was that it cured retardation. The mentality of children who had been backward in their studies was improved so that they were able to keep up with the work along with the other children.


School Children

By EMILY A. BATES

THE number of school children who were successfully treated during the past year by Dr. Bates, Miss Hayes, our assistant, and myself, far exceeds that of the year before. Our records show that the Bates method is becoming better known all over the world.
Children with imperfect sight who come to us for treatment and who have never worn glasses, are very easily cured. Some need only one treatment while others need one or two weeks of daily treatment before the sight is brought back to normal. Some cases of high myopia or hypermetropia need personal supervision for even a longer time, especially when eyeglasses have been worn. During the last year I have had quite a number of school children under my care and up to date not one of them has failed me. According to my records and reports by letter, every one of them has had permanent benefit.
June and Donald are brother and sister. A former patient of Dr. Bates met their mother and told her what Dr. Bates had done for her and for her children. Then she came to us. They came on June 14, 1929, and each of them was examined by Dr. Bates. Donald is eleven years old and a manly little chap. He had mixed astigmatism with myopia. Two years ago he put on glasses for the first time, and from the time he put them on, his mother noticed that he acquired the habit of lowering his head to look at anything he wanted to see at close range. While lowering his head, his eyes were looking upward. This caused constant strain. The mother noticed that Donald did not do this when he removed his glasses at night. She also noticed that he was less nervous without his glasses than he was while wearing them. From time to time during the two years in which he wore his glasses, he was taken to different eye specialists, to find out if he was wearing the wrong glasses, which was thought to be the reason why he held his head in an unnatural position. The doctors who examined him told her that he would outgrow this habit in time and that the glasses were quite right for him.
Doctor is wrong! The glasses caused the patient to develop this incorrect vision habit which causes more vision impairment, eye muscle tension, dysfunction, neck tension, pain… See Thomas Quackenbush’s book; ‘Relearning to See’ for description of Incorrect Vision Habits that cause unclear vision and Correct Vision habits (normal eye function) that produce clear vision, healthy eyes.
The vision of both eyes was the same, 15/30 minus, which meant that Donald could only read some of the letters of the 30 line of the test card. Even with the largest letter of the card which is seen by the normal eye at 200 feet, he strained to see. After his eyes were tested with the test card and Dr. Bates had examined him, we proceeded in the usual way of testing his eyes with the various test cards at ten feet. He was eager to see what could really be done for him so that he could get rid of his horrid glasses. I asked him if he enjoyed football, swimming, horseback riding, and baseball. He said there was no need in going any further about what kind of sports he liked most. He said he liked them all, but that his glasses hindered him from participating in such fun for fear of having an accident, which would cause him to lose his sight. When a boy talks like that, it doesn't take very long for him to respond to the treatment and to carry out the instructions necessary to restore his sight to the normal.
I explained to Donald how mental pictures help when the eyes are closed, and that if he could remember something perfectly, while he was resting his eyes, such as a letter of the test card, a rainbow with its many colors, a beautiful sunset, or his cravat, with stripes of colors, which could be remembered while his eyes were closed, or any object which is pleasant to the eyesight, he would no doubt be able to read the test card better when he again opened his eyes.
He followed my suggestion carefully in looking at a letter of the test card then closing his eyes and drawing the outline with his finger while his eyes were closed. I asked him if he could remember the shade of the letter. The letter was black and the background was white. He said that he could remember the letter was a perfect black by first imagining that the background was as white as snow or as white as a white cloud. He said he could feel the movement of his eyes as he outlined the letter with his finger. Donald enjoyed the fun, as he called it, outlining letters while his eyes were closed and then occasionally looking at the card to read a few more letters.
The brain works with the eyes; when shifting on a object in the mind, imagination, drawing a object in the air, the brain continues to activate eye movement.
Draw a letter in the palm of your hand with the other hands finger, eyes closed and feel the eyes move as the finger moves on the hand and the mind visualizes the letter being drawn.
Helen Keller used this method to learn how to speak, communicate.
His sister, who was sitting outside of the room but could hear everything that was said, was a little doubtful about what could be done for her eyes. The mother was in the room watching everything that was going on and taking notes so that she would know how to take care of Donald's treatment at home. Patiently, Donald worked with me, resting his eyes by closing them frequently when I told him to, and outlining the last letter he saw on the test card each time he rested. As the sun was not shining in the room where he was being treated, a thermo-lite was used, which the seemed to like very much. The light and heat helped in the improvement of his vision and also helped him to look at the card, without lowering his head.
As his mother watched the steady improvement in his sight, she could not suppress her enthusiasm and gratitude. Occasionally, she would remark to her boy, "Think of it, Donald, you will not need glasses ever again." Gradually, I placed the test card farther and farther away and in an hour's time, he read 10/15 with each eye. I placed him comfortably in a chair, telling him not to open his eyes, but to take the light treatment until he felt uncomfortable, and then to shut off the light and still keep his eyes closed while I treated his sister, June.
June is nine years of age and had worn glasses for a year or more. She had trouble in keeping her eyes open normally without her glasses and closed them almost entirely in order to see. She preferred to do this rather than to wear her glasses. She also had myopia, about the same degree as her brother. When I placed her before the test card, ten feet away, she strained to see the letters and did not blink as I pointed to the largest letters of the test card. She could read the first three lines by squeezing her eyes together, but the letters looked blurred to her. By closing her eyes often, following the treatment I gave her brother, imagining the white background of the card whiter than it really was and imagining the black letters blacker, outlining letters with her forefinger as she mentioned them, her vision with each eye improved to 10/30. It took about an hour to improve her vision to 10/10, but gradually as she read one line after another, alternately closing her eyes to rest them and receiving the thermolite treatment frequently at short intervals, she became able to read with her eyes open in a normal way. I told her to sit with her eyes closed for a while and to remember familiar objects as I had advised Donald to do.
Then I returned to Donald to give him more help. I placed the test card thirteen feet away and by receiving a little light treatment, at intervals, with the light about ten feet away from him so that the rays was not too strong for his eyes or the heat too great, he became able to read the smallest letters of the test card without any strain or discomfort. The long swing was added to the latter part of his treatment, swaying and looking at a blank wall where there was nothing to see and then to the test card, reading one letter at a time and then swaying again to the blank wall.
Then June followed her brother in the treatment, doing just as well as he did with the reading of the test card letters at 13 feet. This is more than the normal distance.
Both children expressed their gratitude to me for the help that had been given them and then they insisted that Dr. Bates be called away from his work to come to them for his share of praise. They wanted to shake hands with the great man who could do so much good for school children.
I was very tired that morning and did not feel physically fit to look after the work that had to be done. After Donald and his sister June had spent more than two hours with me, I was relieved of all fatigue and discomfort for the rest of the day. I had a good reason to be happy and to feel that something good had been done; because I had helped two children obtain normal sight in one treatment. After the children had left, their mother promised to write to us for further help, if further help was necessary. She was not to communicate with us unnecessarily, if the children retained their normal vision. Up to date, we have not heard from the mother.

Paul was another boy who came for treatment about the same time. His father telephoned before sending his son, telling me that the school authorities had insisted very strongly that he get glasses for Paul, but the father refused to submit to such a thing, until he was sure that nothing else could be done. Paul had never worn glasses and when they were suggested to him, if Dr. Bates could not help him, he wept bitter tears and at times was disobedient, which sometimes called for punishment.
Paul came with a written statement from his mother, saying that at the age of five years, he was taken ill with measles and after that sties appeared at intervals, causing an almost constant inflammation of the eyelids. Because Paul had played with a child who was supposed to have an incurable eye trouble, Paul's mother feared that he had acquired this incurable disease also. His eyelids were itchy most of the time and at the advice of an eye doctor a solution of boric acid was used and a medicine called "mecca" was also applied. Paul found some relief from the use of these applications, but the sties appeared just the same and he noticed that the letters on the blackboard at school became less distinct at such times.
In 1928 he had scarlet fever, and pink eye began three months previous to his visit to me. Paul's vision with each eye was 10/10 but he strained to see as he read the smaller letters of the test card. The sun was shining through the windows in the room where I was treating him. I placed him in the sun with his eyes closed and used the sun glass rapidly on the edge of his eyelids as well as on the upper and lower lids. This was about midday, and the sun was rather hot so I had to use the glass very rapidly in order to avoid any discomfort or burning of the lids. His elder brother who came with him remarked how well the eyelids looked after the sun treatment. This was accomplished in less than an hour's time.
After the sun treatment, I placed the test card at ten feet. He read the smallest letters without any effort or strain. Again I placed him in the sun and taught his elder brother how to use the sun glass while I was occupied with something else. We had to keep Paul busy while he was resting this way, because he was restless and being a perfectly normal healthy boy did not like being quiet. He told me a funny tale and then in turn I told him one and in this way we passed the time away. Finally after another half hour of sun treatment, Paul read all the tests cards with different letters at fifteen feet from his eyes without any trouble whatever.
The irritation of the eyelids had disappeared and the itching had stopped, but Paul was told that this might be only a temporary relief and that he would have to take a good deal of sun treatment before he was finally rid of his trouble. He promised to take all the sun treatment he could possibly get by placing himself in the sun, and raising his head so that the sun could shine on his closed eyelids. He was given a test card to practice with daily and to use to show his mother how far away he could read it while blinking and swaying his body from side to side to avoid the stare.
Paul and his brother promised to notify Dr. Bates if he needed further help, or if he had any further discomfort with his eyes. Two weeks later, his elder brother came to report that apparently Paul was cured in one treatment because no further complaints came from the school about his having to wear glasses nor did the irritation of the eyelids reappear. I am sure that Paul himself takes time enough for the sun treatment whenever there is sun, because he promised me faithfully that he would do so without troubling any member of his family.


Case Reports—School Children

By KATHERINE HAYES

Since it has been my privilege to assist Mrs. Bates in clinic work, I have come in contact with a number of interesting cases, especially among children of school age. I have found that children as a rule respond much more readily to treatment than adults and I believe the reason is because they have a natural aversion to the wearing of glasses and are willing to learn how to improve their vision without them. I think this is especially true of children from ten to fourteen years of age who have some definite reason for wanting to discard their glasses.
About six months ago, a little girl came to the clinic for treatment. I noticed as she came into the room with her mother that she was unusually pretty, but I also noticed that she kept looking down and did not raise her eyes once. While she waited for her turn, her grown up manner was most amusing, not only to me, but to the patients in the room. Every few moments she would take out a hand mirror from her little purse, survey herself critically and then place the mirror back in her purse, quite unaware of the attention she was causing and of the embarrassment of her mother.
When this girl's turn came for treatment, her mother gave me an account of her case. She was eleven years of age and had been wearing glasses off and on for squint for five years. When she was six she had an attack of whooping cough which caused her left eye to turn in. The vision in that eye was also impaired. They had been to several eye doctors, most of whom had advised an operation, but her mother was unwilling to have the child submit to this. After her mother had finished, the little girl came over to me and said in a confidential tone, without raising her eyes: "You know, people say that I would be quite a little beauty if it weren't for my cross eye. I hate glasses because they make me homely and I only wear them once in a while. Someday I want to be an actress on the stage or in the movies and I know they won't take me if I am cross-eyed. Can my eye ever be made straight again?" I told her I thought it could, if she would do what she was instructed to do at home and come regularly to the clinic.
I tested her sight and found that in the right eye it was 15/10 or better than normal, while in the left eye it was 15/50. I showed her how to palm, which she did for fifteen minutes. I then told her to remove her hands from her eyes. For a moment, her eye was straight. I tested her vision again and found that by having her sway and blink as she read the card, her vision improved to 15/30. I told her to practice palming every day as many times as possible for five minutes at a time, to practice the long swing 100 times morning and night, and to remember to blink her eyes frequently.
When she came again, two weeks later, her vision was still 15/30, which indicated that she had been faithful in her practice work. I also noticed that her eye was not quite as crossed as it had been. She came regularly for about four months and the last time she came her vision in the left eye had improved to normal and her eye was perfectly straight. Little Elsie was very happy. I told her that even though her vision was normal and her eye straight she should remember to rest her eyes occasionally, in order to avoid any strain which might lower her vision and cause a return of the squint. I have not seen or heard from her since, but I am sure that her vanity, if nothing else, will encourage her to take good care of her eyes.

About the same time a boy of thirteen came for treatment. He was wearing glasses which he had been using for three years. His dislike of glasses was not prompted by vanity as in little Elsie's case, but was because being a real boy, he liked all sorts of sports and could not engage in any of them because of his "old glasses" as he called them. "Gee," he said, "if I didn't have to wear those things, I'd be happy."
After testing his vision, I found that he had quite a high degree of myopia. His vision was 15/70 with both eyes. Palming seemed to make him restless, so I told him to just close his eyes and sit back comfortably in the chair. After twenty minutes, he was directed to stand up and look out the window, then to start swaying from side to side as he blinked his eyes. After practicing this for five minutes, I again tested his vision, and found that it had improved to 15/40. I told him to leave his glasses off and gave him instructions to follow at home.
When he came again, his vision was not quite 15/50. He said that he had had a bad cold and was not able to practice. I gave him light treatment for about twenty minutes, after which his vision improved to 15/30 minus. I told him to get a great deal of sun treatment at home, letting the sun shine on his closed eyelids as he moved his head slowly from side to side. When he came again, his vision had improved to 15/20 minus. He continued to improve steadily and when he came the last time, which was about a month ago, his vision was normal in both eyes. Needless to say he was a happy boy, and incidently, as he was leaving the office he said that he thought Dr. Bates was the most wonderful man in the whole world, with the exception of his own father.]]>

School Number - Comparisons - School Children - Stories From The Clinic; 113. School Children by Emily A. Bates – Case Reports–School Children - Reprints





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

AUGUST, 1929

Comparisons

In practicing with the Snellen test card, when the vision is imperfect, the blackness of the letters is modified and the white spaces inside the letters are also modified. By comparing the blackness of the large letters with the blackness of the smaller ones it can be demonstrated that the larger letters are imperfectly seen.
When one notes the whiteness in the center of a large letter, seen indistinctly, it is usually possible to compare the whiteness seen with the remembered whiteness of something else. By alternately comparing the whiteness in the center of a letter with the memory of a better white, as the snow on the top of a mountain, the whiteness of the letter usually improves. In the same way, comparing the shade of black of a letter with the memory of a darker shade of black of some other object may be also a benefit to the black.
Most persons with myopia are able to read fine print at a near point quite perfectly. They see the blackness and whiteness of the letters much better than they are able to see the blackness of the larger letters on the Snellen test card at 15 or 20 feet. Alternately reading the fine print and regarding the Snellen test card, comparing the black and white of the small letters with the black and white of the large letters, is often times very beneficial. Some cases of myopia have been cured very promptly by this method.
All persons with imperfect sight for reading are benefited by comparing the whiteness of the spaces between the lines with the memory of objects which are whiter. Many persons can remember white snow with the eyes closed whiter than the spaces between the lines. By alternately closing the eyes for a minute or longer, remembering white snow, white starch, white paint, a white cloud in the sky with the sun shining on it, and flashing the white spaces without trying to read, many persons have materially improved their sight and been cured.


School Children

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

Imperfect sight is found in the eyes of most school children of the United States, Canada, France, and other countries. In Germany a great deal has been done to lessen this evil among school children and it is well known that the statistics of imperfect sight in school children in Germany have proved that the numerous methods recommended for the prevention or cure of imperfect sight have been failures. It is estimated that in the city of New York, one tenth or more of the children are wearing glasses. All attempts to benefit the eyes of school children so that they will not need glasses have been suppressed by the Board of Education and the Board of Health. Many principals of large schools have encouraged to the best of their ability the work that can be done to cure or prevent imperfect sight in school children. It is difficult to understand why there should be so much opposition to this work.
In 1912 all school teachers were encouraged in some of the larger schools to recommend and practice any methods which promised prevention or cure. One of the opponents of the prevention of imperfect sight in school children made the statement that it is impossible to cure a negative proposition and therefore a negative proposition cannot be prevented. A positive proposition is one in which a cure can be obtained by treatment. When the methods employed do not cure imperfect sight without glasses, one cannot expect the same methods to prevent imperfect sight. A positive proposition suggests methods that cure; a negative proposition does not suggest successful treatment and does not prevent imperfect sight. Measures that cure also prevent; methods that do not cure cannot be expected to prevent.
In some cities it was believed by many that the cause of imperfect sight in school children was the use of small print in the text books. When schools were permitted to use only large print for the children, eye strain, headaches and other troubles became more numerous than when small print was employed; repeated trials of books in which large print was used always failed to prevent discomfort. Just as many children wore glasses after the use of text books with large print as when the books were printed in small print. Even the school authorities and the Board of Health were finally convinced that large print was more injurious to the eyes of school children than was the small print which had previously been used continuously. Evidently, the cause of imperfect sight in school children was not connected in any way with the size of print used in text books.
It has been generally believed also that the imperfect light of school rooms is the cause of imperfect sight in school children. In some cases there seemed to be too much light, while in other cases it was believed that there was not enough light. I have studied the connection of the amount of light to the cause of imperfect sight. After many years of observation, I became convinced that the amount of light has nothing whatever to do with the cause of myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, or other cases of imperfect sight in school children. Many children with high degrees of myopia and other causes of imperfect sight have been permanently cured by practicing the reading of microscopic type, with changing powers of illumination. It is an error to claim that light has anything to do with the production of imperfect sight. Children with progressive myopia have been benefited or cured by eye education when a poor light or a bright light was used.
Fluorescent lights impair the clarity of vision, health of the eyes.
In Germany and in other parts of Europe, as well as in this country, the problem of the cause of imperfect sight in school children has received a great deal of attention. For example, in the year 1882, the minister of public education in France convoked a committee which investigated very thoroughly the light in school rooms. The committee dwelt especially upon the point that as the most essential light was that which shone directly from the sky upon the scholars, every scholar should be in a position to see a piece of the sky corresponding in size to a window space of at least 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) long, measured from the upper edge of the glass, of the upper window.
There is a large library of books describing the necessity of the proper amount of light, as measured with scientific instruments, each instrument being different in some particular from every other instrument for measuring the light. These studies and the injurious or the beneficial effects of light will now have to be modified, as I have found that the light has nothing to do with the cause of imperfect sight and that any measures adopted to change, lessen, or increase the light are usually a waste of time and effort.
Scientists now know that full spectrum sunlight, entering the room through open windows, skylights, (and if necessary: full spectrum non fluorescent light) improves the health, function of the eyes, brain, body and clarity of vision.
A study had been made in some schools of the desks where the children do their work. Here again much time was spent uselessly in publishing rules for the measurement of the height of the desks.
Dr. Cohn has done an enormous amount of work to determine the cause, prevention, or cure of imperfect sight in school children. He recommended what was considered to be the best form of lighting in schools and also devoted a great deal of time to desks and seats. He advised that the seats and desks be so arranged so that they would give the children the most comfort. He believed that he had made a valuable discovery toward prevention of imperfect sight when he recommended an apparatus which prevented school children from leaning far forward when they were studying or writing.
The apparatus was successful up to a certain point; it prevented the children from leaning far forward; he did not claim that his methods were a cure for all cases. After his method for the prevention of imperfect sight in school children had been in use for some time, the vision of the children was tested. Much to the surprise of the parents of the children, the vision was not benefited. A friend asked Dr. Cohn for his statistics on children who were benefited; he said that no children were benefited and that the method was a failure. He was then asked why he continued to use the method when he knew that the children were not benefited. Cohn's answer was that he did not know what else to do. A number of prominent ophthalmologists were disappointed when he admitted that his system was of no practical use.
Good posture improves the vision but complete freedom of movement, relaxed body, neck, head, eyes must be allowed.
I have proved that any effort or strain to improve the vision always lowers the vision. Straining the eyes to see at long distances always produces near-sightedness. When efforts were made to see at the near point continuously, the eyes became far-sighted. It can be demonstrated that the normal eye with normal sight becomes imperfect by a strain to see. When the eyes are relaxed the vision always becomes normal. One of the best methods for children to practice in order to produce relaxation is that in which the body is swayed from side to side. This prevents strain, because the eyes are kept in motion and the stare is avoided. When the eyes stare, an effort has to be made to prevent the eyes from moving.
It is a rest to the eye to shift from one point to another point. When done easily, without effort, the eyes are rested, the vision improves, and the stare is prevented. Swinging was first used to rest the eyes and it was not expected that the movement of the eyes slowly, continuously, would be followed by any other benefits. It was demonstrated, however, that all children who practiced the method, besides relaxing their eyes also obtained relaxation in all parts of their body.
It is a fact—a truth—that rest improves the sight and relieves or cures many diseases of the eyes. Those children who do not practice the sway correctly are not benefited. The most common mistake that is made is to turn the head to one side and turn the eyes in the opposite direction while swaying. In many cases the strain is so terrific that it is followed by much pain or discomfort, and imperfect sight.
I have found that a great many children strain while they are asleep; this I have discovered by the use of the ophthalmoscope, without necessarily awakening the child. Those children who strain during sleep are often very nervous while awake and suffer from headaches and pain in the eyes and other parts of the body. Practicing the swing properly just before retiring at night fifty to one hundred times is beneficial. Some children will palm until they go to sleep. This produces relaxation which may last through the night and bring relief. This method of prevention may be practiced by young children at the age of four as well as by older children.
The writer wishes to recommend a method for the cure or prevention of imperfect sight in school children which has been used successfully. A Snellen test card is placed permanently on the wall of a class room in a place where it can be read at all times by the children. All the children's eyes were tested at ten feet each day, first with both eyes together and then with each eye separately. All the teachers who practiced the methods reported that every child who used the method regularly was benefited to a greater or lesser degree. Not only was the sight improved but also headaches, pains, and other nervous symptoms were relieved. One of the greatest benefits of the method was that it cured retardation. The mentality of children who had been backward in their studies was improved so that they were able to keep up with the work along with the other children.


School Children

By EMILY A. BATES

THE number of school children who were successfully treated during the past year by Dr. Bates, Miss Hayes, our assistant, and myself, far exceeds that of the year before. Our records show that the Bates method is becoming better known all over the world.
Children with imperfect sight who come to us for treatment and who have never worn glasses, are very easily cured. Some need only one treatment while others need one or two weeks of daily treatment before the sight is brought back to normal. Some cases of high myopia or hypermetropia need personal supervision for even a longer time, especially when eyeglasses have been worn. During the last year I have had quite a number of school children under my care and up to date not one of them has failed me. According to my records and reports by letter, every one of them has had permanent benefit.
June and Donald are brother and sister. A former patient of Dr. Bates met their mother and told her what Dr. Bates had done for her and for her children. Then she came to us. They came on June 14, 1929, and each of them was examined by Dr. Bates. Donald is eleven years old and a manly little chap. He had mixed astigmatism with myopia. Two years ago he put on glasses for the first time, and from the time he put them on, his mother noticed that he acquired the habit of lowering his head to look at anything he wanted to see at close range. While lowering his head, his eyes were looking upward. This caused constant strain. The mother noticed that Donald did not do this when he removed his glasses at night. She also noticed that he was less nervous without his glasses than he was while wearing them. From time to time during the two years in which he wore his glasses, he was taken to different eye specialists, to find out if he was wearing the wrong glasses, which was thought to be the reason why he held his head in an unnatural position. The doctors who examined him told her that he would outgrow this habit in time and that the glasses were quite right for him.
Doctor is wrong! The glasses caused the patient to develop this incorrect vision habit which causes more vision impairment, eye muscle tension, dysfunction, neck tension, pain… See Thomas Quackenbush’s book; ‘Relearning to See’ for description of Incorrect Vision Habits that cause unclear vision and Correct Vision habits (normal eye function) that produce clear vision, healthy eyes.
The vision of both eyes was the same, 15/30 minus, which meant that Donald could only read some of the letters of the 30 line of the test card. Even with the largest letter of the card which is seen by the normal eye at 200 feet, he strained to see. After his eyes were tested with the test card and Dr. Bates had examined him, we proceeded in the usual way of testing his eyes with the various test cards at ten feet. He was eager to see what could really be done for him so that he could get rid of his horrid glasses. I asked him if he enjoyed football, swimming, horseback riding, and baseball. He said there was no need in going any further about what kind of sports he liked most. He said he liked them all, but that his glasses hindered him from participating in such fun for fear of having an accident, which would cause him to lose his sight. When a boy talks like that, it doesn't take very long for him to respond to the treatment and to carry out the instructions necessary to restore his sight to the normal.
I explained to Donald how mental pictures help when the eyes are closed, and that if he could remember something perfectly, while he was resting his eyes, such as a letter of the test card, a rainbow with its many colors, a beautiful sunset, or his cravat, with stripes of colors, which could be remembered while his eyes were closed, or any object which is pleasant to the eyesight, he would no doubt be able to read the test card better when he again opened his eyes.
He followed my suggestion carefully in looking at a letter of the test card then closing his eyes and drawing the outline with his finger while his eyes were closed. I asked him if he could remember the shade of the letter. The letter was black and the background was white. He said that he could remember the letter was a perfect black by first imagining that the background was as white as snow or as white as a white cloud. He said he could feel the movement of his eyes as he outlined the letter with his finger. Donald enjoyed the fun, as he called it, outlining letters while his eyes were closed and then occasionally looking at the card to read a few more letters.
The brain works with the eyes; when shifting on a object in the mind, imagination, drawing a object in the air, the brain continues to activate eye movement.
Draw a letter in the palm of your hand with the other hands finger, eyes closed and feel the eyes move as the finger moves on the hand and the mind visualizes the letter being drawn.
Helen Keller used this method to learn how to speak, communicate.
His sister, who was sitting outside of the room but could hear everything that was said, was a little doubtful about what could be done for her eyes. The mother was in the room watching everything that was going on and taking notes so that she would know how to take care of Donald's treatment at home. Patiently, Donald worked with me, resting his eyes by closing them frequently when I told him to, and outlining the last letter he saw on the test card each time he rested. As the sun was not shining in the room where he was being treated, a thermo-lite was used, which the seemed to like very much. The light and heat helped in the improvement of his vision and also helped him to look at the card, without lowering his head.
As his mother watched the steady improvement in his sight, she could not suppress her enthusiasm and gratitude. Occasionally, she would remark to her boy, "Think of it, Donald, you will not need glasses ever again." Gradually, I placed the test card farther and farther away and in an hour's time, he read 10/15 with each eye. I placed him comfortably in a chair, telling him not to open his eyes, but to take the light treatment until he felt uncomfortable, and then to shut off the light and still keep his eyes closed while I treated his sister, June.
June is nine years of age and had worn glasses for a year or more. She had trouble in keeping her eyes open normally without her glasses and closed them almost entirely in order to see. She preferred to do this rather than to wear her glasses. She also had myopia, about the same degree as her brother. When I placed her before the test card, ten feet away, she strained to see the letters and did not blink as I pointed to the largest letters of the test card. She could read the first three lines by squeezing her eyes together, but the letters looked blurred to her. By closing her eyes often, following the treatment I gave her brother, imagining the white background of the card whiter than it really was and imagining the black letters blacker, outlining letters with her forefinger as she mentioned them, her vision with each eye improved to 10/30. It took about an hour to improve her vision to 10/10, but gradually as she read one line after another, alternately closing her eyes to rest them and receiving the thermolite treatment frequently at short intervals, she became able to read with her eyes open in a normal way. I told her to sit with her eyes closed for a while and to remember familiar objects as I had advised Donald to do.
Then I returned to Donald to give him more help. I placed the test card thirteen feet away and by receiving a little light treatment, at intervals, with the light about ten feet away from him so that the rays was not too strong for his eyes or the heat too great, he became able to read the smallest letters of the test card without any strain or discomfort. The long swing was added to the latter part of his treatment, swaying and looking at a blank wall where there was nothing to see and then to the test card, reading one letter at a time and then swaying again to the blank wall.
Then June followed her brother in the treatment, doing just as well as he did with the reading of the test card letters at 13 feet. This is more than the normal distance.
Both children expressed their gratitude to me for the help that had been given them and then they insisted that Dr. Bates be called away from his work to come to them for his share of praise. They wanted to shake hands with the great man who could do so much good for school children.
I was very tired that morning and did not feel physically fit to look after the work that had to be done. After Donald and his sister June had spent more than two hours with me, I was relieved of all fatigue and discomfort for the rest of the day. I had a good reason to be happy and to feel that something good had been done; because I had helped two children obtain normal sight in one treatment. After the children had left, their mother promised to write to us for further help, if further help was necessary. She was not to communicate with us unnecessarily, if the children retained their normal vision. Up to date, we have not heard from the mother.

Paul was another boy who came for treatment about the same time. His father telephoned before sending his son, telling me that the school authorities had insisted very strongly that he get glasses for Paul, but the father refused to submit to such a thing, until he was sure that nothing else could be done. Paul had never worn glasses and when they were suggested to him, if Dr. Bates could not help him, he wept bitter tears and at times was disobedient, which sometimes called for punishment.
Paul came with a written statement from his mother, saying that at the age of five years, he was taken ill with measles and after that sties appeared at intervals, causing an almost constant inflammation of the eyelids. Because Paul had played with a child who was supposed to have an incurable eye trouble, Paul's mother feared that he had acquired this incurable disease also. His eyelids were itchy most of the time and at the advice of an eye doctor a solution of boric acid was used and a medicine called "mecca" was also applied. Paul found some relief from the use of these applications, but the sties appeared just the same and he noticed that the letters on the blackboard at school became less distinct at such times.
In 1928 he had scarlet fever, and pink eye began three months previous to his visit to me. Paul's vision with each eye was 10/10 but he strained to see as he read the smaller letters of the test card. The sun was shining through the windows in the room where I was treating him. I placed him in the sun with his eyes closed and used the sun glass rapidly on the edge of his eyelids as well as on the upper and lower lids. This was about midday, and the sun was rather hot so I had to use the glass very rapidly in order to avoid any discomfort or burning of the lids. His elder brother who came with him remarked how well the eyelids looked after the sun treatment. This was accomplished in less than an hour's time.
After the sun treatment, I placed the test card at ten feet. He read the smallest letters without any effort or strain. Again I placed him in the sun and taught his elder brother how to use the sun glass while I was occupied with something else. We had to keep Paul busy while he was resting this way, because he was restless and being a perfectly normal healthy boy did not like being quiet. He told me a funny tale and then in turn I told him one and in this way we passed the time away. Finally after another half hour of sun treatment, Paul read all the tests cards with different letters at fifteen feet from his eyes without any trouble whatever.
The irritation of the eyelids had disappeared and the itching had stopped, but Paul was told that this might be only a temporary relief and that he would have to take a good deal of sun treatment before he was finally rid of his trouble. He promised to take all the sun treatment he could possibly get by placing himself in the sun, and raising his head so that the sun could shine on his closed eyelids. He was given a test card to practice with daily and to use to show his mother how far away he could read it while blinking and swaying his body from side to side to avoid the stare.
Paul and his brother promised to notify Dr. Bates if he needed further help, or if he had any further discomfort with his eyes. Two weeks later, his elder brother came to report that apparently Paul was cured in one treatment because no further complaints came from the school about his having to wear glasses nor did the irritation of the eyelids reappear. I am sure that Paul himself takes time enough for the sun treatment whenever there is sun, because he promised me faithfully that he would do so without troubling any member of his family.


Case Reports—School Children

By KATHERINE HAYES

Since it has been my privilege to assist Mrs. Bates in clinic work, I have come in contact with a number of interesting cases, especially among children of school age. I have found that children as a rule respond much more readily to treatment than adults and I believe the reason is because they have a natural aversion to the wearing of glasses and are willing to learn how to improve their vision without them. I think this is especially true of children from ten to fourteen years of age who have some definite reason for wanting to discard their glasses.
About six months ago, a little girl came to the clinic for treatment. I noticed as she came into the room with her mother that she was unusually pretty, but I also noticed that she kept looking down and did not raise her eyes once. While she waited for her turn, her grown up manner was most amusing, not only to me, but to the patients in the room. Every few moments she would take out a hand mirror from her little purse, survey herself critically and then place the mirror back in her purse, quite unaware of the attention she was causing and of the embarrassment of her mother.
When this girl's turn came for treatment, her mother gave me an account of her case. She was eleven years of age and had been wearing glasses off and on for squint for five years. When she was six she had an attack of whooping cough which caused her left eye to turn in. The vision in that eye was also impaired. They had been to several eye doctors, most of whom had advised an operation, but her mother was unwilling to have the child submit to this. After her mother had finished, the little girl came over to me and said in a confidential tone, without raising her eyes: "You know, people say that I would be quite a little beauty if it weren't for my cross eye. I hate glasses because they make me homely and I only wear them once in a while. Someday I want to be an actress on the stage or in the movies and I know they won't take me if I am cross-eyed. Can my eye ever be made straight again?" I told her I thought it could, if she would do what she was instructed to do at home and come regularly to the clinic.
I tested her sight and found that in the right eye it was 15/10 or better than normal, while in the left eye it was 15/50. I showed her how to palm, which she did for fifteen minutes. I then told her to remove her hands from her eyes. For a moment, her eye was straight. I tested her vision again and found that by having her sway and blink as she read the card, her vision improved to 15/30. I told her to practice palming every day as many times as possible for five minutes at a time, to practice the long swing 100 times morning and night, and to remember to blink her eyes frequently.
When she came again, two weeks later, her vision was still 15/30, which indicated that she had been faithful in her practice work. I also noticed that her eye was not quite as crossed as it had been. She came regularly for about four months and the last time she came her vision in the left eye had improved to normal and her eye was perfectly straight. Little Elsie was very happy. I told her that even though her vision was normal and her eye straight she should remember to rest her eyes occasionally, in order to avoid any strain which might lower her vision and cause a return of the squint. I have not seen or heard from her since, but I am sure that her vanity, if nothing else, will encourage her to take good care of her eyes.

About the same time a boy of thirteen came for treatment. He was wearing glasses which he had been using for three years. His dislike of glasses was not prompted by vanity as in little Elsie's case, but was because being a real boy, he liked all sorts of sports and could not engage in any of them because of his "old glasses" as he called them. "Gee," he said, "if I didn't have to wear those things, I'd be happy."
After testing his vision, I found that he had quite a high degree of myopia. His vision was 15/70 with both eyes. Palming seemed to make him restless, so I told him to just close his eyes and sit back comfortably in the chair. After twenty minutes, he was directed to stand up and look out the window, then to start swaying from side to side as he blinked his eyes. After practicing this for five minutes, I again tested his vision, and found that it had improved to 15/40. I told him to leave his glasses off and gave him instructions to follow at home.
When he came again, his vision was not quite 15/50. He said that he had had a bad cold and was not able to practice. I gave him light treatment for about twenty minutes, after which his vision improved to 15/30 minus. I told him to get a great deal of sun treatment at home, letting the sun shine on his closed eyelids as he moved his head slowly from side to side. When he came again, his vision had improved to 15/20 minus. He continued to improve steadily and when he came the last time, which was about a month ago, his vision was normal in both eyes. Needless to say he was a happy boy, and incidently, as he was leaving the office he said that he thought Dr. Bates was the most wonderful man in the whole world, with the exception of his own father.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=271 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:01:34 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=271

Mental Pictures - Throw Away Your Glasses – Concentration, Treatment, Prevention of Myopia in School Children – The Use of the Sun Glass




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

JULY, 1929

Mental Pictures

With imperfect sight, a mental picture of one known letter of the Snellen test card is seldom or never remembered, imagined, or seen perfectly when regarded with the eyes open. By closing the eyes, the same mental picture may be imagined more perfectly. By alternately imagining the known letter as well as possible with the eyes open and the remembering it better with the eyes closed, the imagination improves the vision and unknown letters are seen with the eyes open.
The improvement of the vision is due to a lessening of the organic changes in the eye. When the imperfect sight is caused by opacities of the cornea, a mental picture imagined clearly lessens or cures the disease of the cornea. A large number of cases of cataract in which the lens is more or less opaque have been benefited or cured by the imagination of mental pictures. Nearly all organic changes in the eyeball which lower the vision have been improved to some extent in a few minutes; by devoting a sufficient amount of time, all organic changes in the eyeball, no matter what the cause may be, are benefited or cured by a perfect imagination of a letter, a tree, a flower, or anything which is remembered perfectly.
I do not know of any method of obtaining relaxation or perfect sight which is as efficient and certain as the imagination of mental pictures. It should be emphasized that a good or perfect imagination of mental pictures has in all cases brought about a measure of improvement which is convincing that the imagination is capable of relieving organic changes in the eye more quickly, more thoroughly, more permanently, than any other method.


Throw Away Your Glasses

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

(Editor's Note: The following is a reprint from an article which appeared in Hearst's International, September, 1923, which is being republished in Better Eyesight at the suggestion of some of our readers.)

MORE than thirty years ago, not knowing any better and being guided by the practice of other eye doctors, I recommended patients with imperfect sight to throw away their eyes and see with their glasses. Since that time I have made some valuable discoveries which have enabled me to cure people without glasses. The slogan now is: "Throw away your glasses and see with your eyes."
We are rapidly becoming a four-eyed nation. The enthusiasm of the eye doctors is putting glasses on many people who do not need them. Just as soon as we go to the doctor and complain about our eyes or some nervous trouble with our minds and our heads, the stomach or something else, the doctor prescribes glasses. Fifty years ago the number of persons wearing glasses was very much less than it is now. Human nature is such that when one person gets glasses we believe everybody else should do as we do and wear glasses. When prominent people set the fashion the rank and file feel that they must do the same. It is a matter of record in this country with a population of one hundred and ten million or more, that all persons over forty years of age, according to the old theories, should wear glasses.
Some eye specialists have gone so far as to say that all children attending school should wear glasses either to relieve imperfect sight or to prevent their eyes from failing. This matter was considered by the Board of Education of the City of New York in 1912 and much pressure was brought bear to have it done. I was the only physician that went before the Board of Education and recommended the method of treatment which had cured and prevented imperfect sight in school children without the use of glasses.
The craze for glasses has even included nursing babies. It is all wrong, and the evidence has been accumulating through the years that imperfect sight is curable without glasses. Most of us should have an interest in the welfare of every child and get busy and investigate the facts. The medical profession has neglected its duty. They have done noble work in the study and prevention of yellow fever and other conditions, but when it comes to the eyes the doctors can only recommend glasses. My investigations have demonstrated many facts of great practical importance.
In the first place all children under twelve years of age with imperfect sight can be cured without glasses. This is a challenge. If there is one child who cannot be cured by my treatment I am wrong about the whole thing. There is no exception and when a proposition has no exception we call it a truth.
They can be cured not only by me but by their parents, by their teachers, by anybody who has normal sight, but they cannot be cured by people who have imperfect sight. The teachers in the public schools have succeeded by practicing my suggestions with the children, reading the Snellen test card with each eye as well as they can every day, devoting in most cases only a few minutes daily. Those children whose sight is already normal only need to read with normal sight, one minute or less, every day to prevent eye-strain and imperfect sight.
One day I visited a classroom and I said to the teacher: "Can you pick out the children who have imperfect sight?" She selected a number of children that she thought had imperfect sight. In every case her selection was made because of the way the children used their eyes. Some of them squinted, some of them strained in other ways.
I tested the sight of these children and found it imperfect. Then I suggested to the teacher that she ask the children to use their eyes without strain, without making any efforts to see. I said, "You will find how well they can see when they use their eyes easily, without effort".
Much to her surprise they all read the card with normal vision. Some of these children were wearing glasses. When they removed their glasses at first their sight was imperfect but after resting their eyes by closing them for five minutes or longer their vision became very much improved. In one classroom the teacher found that all her children had imperfect sight; but by showing them how to rest their eyes, by avoiding the strain, and by closing them, the vision of all of them was improved and all obtained perfect sight except one. I learned that this one also obtained perfect sight a few weeks later. It is impossible to cure those children while they are wearing glasses.
In all my enthusiasm I felt that it was not proper for me to interfere with children who were under the care of a physician while wearing the glasses he prescribed. Of course I could not be blamed if the children lost their glasses and got well without them.
It should be emphasized that teachers wearing glasses have a larger percentage of pupils with imperfect sight than have the teachers whose sight is normal and who do not wear glasses. Why is this? The facts are that children, being naturally great imitators, not only consciously or unconsciously practice the strained look of the eyes of the teachers with imperfect sight, but also the strain of all the nerves of the body. For the benefit of the school children no teacher wearing glasses or who has imperfect sight should have charge of children in any public or private school.
Parents wearing glasses are under a nervous strain almost continuously. It can be demonstrated in all cases that the children's eyes tend to strain and that the sight becomes imperfect because most children, if not all, imitate consciously or unconsciously the nervous strain of their parents. The future of our country is in the hands of the children and I believe that we should all make any sacrifice which can be made for their welfare.
It was demonstrated that all persons I tested wearing glasses were curable without glasses. I have demonstrated this fact, that the eyes of all near-sighted persons become normal while looking at a distant blank wall without trying to see. The same is true in all other cases, in far-sightedness, in astigmatism; there are no exceptions.
It can always be demonstrated that when the normal eye with normal sight makes an effort to see at the distance the eye becomes near-sighted; again, no exceptions. When the normal eye strains to see at the near point the eye tends to become and does become less near-sighted and produces a measure of far-sightedness.
The strain in astigmatism can always be demonstrated. One can by will produce in the normal eye any kind of imperfect sight by the necessary strain. The normal eye is always at rest and nothing is done in order to see. If anything is done it is always wrong and always produces imperfect sight. This suggests treatment and prevention. Treatment can only succeed when perfect rest is obtained.
Every physician wearing glasses, like every child, every man, every woman, has to strain to make his eyes fit the glasses. In every case this fact can be demonstrated. Surely the leaders in this movement for the benefit of the eyes of the school children can be or ought to be the medical profession, and I feel that we are lax in our duty when we neglect to study these methods and practice these methods which cure imperfect sight without the aid of glasses.
Imperfect sight is usually contagious. Actors on the stage do not feel the need of glasses. Fancy some operatic star going through a performance wearing strong glasses. The strain would spoil the music.

Sunlight



Many people are afraid of the light. They protect their eyes with dark glasses when they go to the seashore, they use umbrellas, sunshades; in tropical countries special kinds of hats are popular, hats which are supposed to prevent the bad effects of the sun. Bookkeepers and people who work by artificial light wear contrivances of all kinds to shade their eyes from the artificial light. Is sunlight injurious? It is not. Of course after remaining in a dark room and suddenly going out into the bright sunlight one feels the change, and if one is at all nervous the effect of the light on the eyes is magnified—exaggerated. Some people believe it injures the eyes to read in the bright sunlight with the sun shining on the page. They complain that the light dazzles their eyes.
I know a farmer who for fifteen years had never been able to do a stroke of work out in the sun. He complained that the light blinded him and so he remained in a dark room most of the time and was not as happy as he might have been. He had a large family and in their sympathy they believed as he did and all the time cautioned him to protect his eyes. If someone opened the door suddenly and let in the daylight there was a great rush to close the door and protect the gentleman from the light.
He came to me with his eyes well wrapped up and protected from any light striking his eyes. I darkened the room and had him look down, and when he looked far down I lifted the upper lid and focused a strong light on the white part of his eye—first the artificial light and then the strong light of the sun.
The effect was miraculous. He smiled and walked around the room, looked out the window, put on his hat and walked down the street and came back feeling first rate. Ever afterwards he enjoyed the light instead of suffering from it. All he needed was a little encouragement. Focusing the strong light in his eyes with the aid of the burning glass and doing it right caused him no pain or discomfort whatever.

I know a white man who lives in Borneo, an island in the tropics. This man goes around without a hat. He told me that the natives did not wear hats and had no discomfort from the sun and what was good enough for the natives was good enough for him, and it certainly worked. He has lived there forty years or more and the sun does not do him any harm. Did he ever suffer sunstroke? No. Did anybody else ever suffer sunstroke in Borneo? There is no record. Out in the Canadian northwest in the summer time the sun is very strong and the crops mature in a few months. They raise fine wheat there. Do you hear of anybody being sunstruck working in the wheat fields?
In New York City the papers publish records of sunstroke from time to time during the hot weather. I have been called to attend such cases. Quite a number of people living in tenement houses have been ill during the very hot weather and I am quite sure that many years ago I believed that I was treating cases of sunstroke. It is very queer but many of these cases never saw the sun and most of them had a breath that we in the days of prohibition might envy.
I do not believe any baseball player or any tennis player in spite of his strenuous exercise on bright sunshiny days has ever suffered from any bad effect of the sun. Most tennis players do not even wear a cap to protect their eyes from the sun and you have to have good eyesight to play a good game of tennis. The light of the sun often shines directly into their eyes when they serve the ball and the experts are able to drive the ball quite accurately in spite of the sun.
Many years ago I listened to the older and the wiser men who treat the eye and they complained that something ought to be done to prevent children playing out in the sun without any hats on. We are more liberal now and treat tuberculosis in children by exposing not only the head and eyes but their whole bodies naked to the sun and I understand it is a very successful treatment. Miners who seldom see the sun always have disease of their eyes. All people who wear dark glasses and avoid the bright sunlight always have trouble with their eyes.
I had a patient once who spent two years in a hospital here in New York many years ago, occupied a dark room and had her eyes bandaged with a black cloth so that not a ray of light could possibly enter her eyes, and at the end of her treatment left the hospital worse than she was before. I cured her by having her practice looking at the sun. At first when she did it she was temporarily blinded. She said that she had no perception of light whatever, but in a few hours she recovered and her eyes felt better.
I undertook to caution her by suggesting that she do it gradually not to get too much of the sun at once, to wait until she became more accustomed to it; but she paid no attention to what I said and went ahead and blinded her eyes again and kept it up every day, with very rapid improvement in her sight, until it was not more than a week or so before she could look straight at the sun without suffering any inconvenience whatsoever. Her vision which had been one-tenth of the normal with glasses became normal without glasses after the sun treatment.
Some scientists in Boston experimented on the eyes of rabbits. They focused the strong light of the sun directly into the eyes and then examined the retina with a microscope and much to their surprise found nothing wrong. They tried strong electric arc lights and found that the retina was not injured. They used every known light on the eyes of these animals and in no case was the light ever an injury.
About ten years ago the Scientific American published a series of articles on the effect of light on the eyes and published that some of the rays were injurious. I tested the facts and found that the man who had written the article had neglected to report the exceptions.
Recently an acquaintance of mine told me that he had seen in the last three months seventy-four cases of disease of the eyes from exposure to strong light from the electric arc. I told the gentleman that he had had an unusual experience, but in my heart I knew he was not telling the truth.

Concentration



For many years it had been drummed into my mind by my teachers when I first when to school and later by my professors in college, that in order to accomplish things and to make a success of life, one should practice concentration. Recently in New York I received an advertisement from a man who delivers popular lectures, an invitation to attend the lecture with the title "Concentration the Key-note to Success." About the same time one of my patients suffered very much from imperfect sight. The patient bought a book of 500 pages on concentration. He bought the book to improve his memory and sight.
For many years from time to time patients from the faculties of Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and other colleges come to me for treatment of their eyes. They all say that not only are they unable to use their eyes for any length of time but that they are also ill in a great many other ways, physically, mentally, with their nerves all shot to pieces. They complain that they have lost the power to concentrate.
By investigating the facts I find that invariably they have been teaching concentration. It does me a great deal of good personally to get square with them because these are the people who cause so much imperfect sight. It can be shown that all persons with imperfect sight are trying to concentrate. I have repeatedly published and described the evidence which proves conclusively that concentration of the eyes is impossible.
Trying to do the impossible is a strain, an awful strain and the worst strain that the eyes can experience. So many people have a theory that concentration is a help and if we could all concentrate we would all be much better off. The trouble is that concentration is a theory and not fact. If you try to concentrate your mind on a part of a large letter of the Snellen test card at ten feet or twenty feet it can be demonstrated that the effort fails and the vision becomes imperfect.
The same is true of the memory and of the imagination. The dictionary says concentration is an effort to keep your mind fixed on a point. I have tested a great many people and not one of them was ever able to accomplish it for any length of time, and the result is always bad for the eyes, the memory, the imagination, the nerves of the body generally. If the professors of concentration were wise they would avoid trying to practice it. It is only in that way that they can avoid trouble.

Treatment

If you have imperfect sight and desire to obtain normal vision without glasses, I suggest that you keep in mind a few facts. In the first place the normal eye does not have normal sight all the time, so if you have relapses in the beginning do not be discouraged.
It is normal for the clarity of vision to fluctuate: clear, less clear, back to clear. Avoid eyeglasses. The vision will return to normal on its own.
First test your sight with a Snellen test card with each eye at twenty feet, then close your eyes and rest them. Cover them with one or both hands in such a way as to shut out all the light and do this for at least an hour, then open your eyes for a moment and again test your sight with both eyes at the same time.
Your vision should be temporarily improved if you have rested your eyes. If you vision is not improved it means that you have been remembering or imagining things imperfectly and under a strain. With the eyes closed and covered at rest, with your mind at rest, you should not see anything at all—all should be black. If you see colors—red, green, blue, or flashes of light—you are not resting your eyes, mind but you are straining them.
Some people when they close their eyes let their minds drift and think of things which are pleasant to remember, things which come into their minds without their volition and which are remembered quickly, easily and perfectly. Some patients have great difficulty in improving their sight by closing their eyes and trying to rest them. If you fail, get someone with perfect sight to demonstrate that resting the eyes is a help and who can show you how to do it.
When persons with normal eyes have normal sight they suffer no pain, discomfort, headaches or fatigue. When a person with imperfect sight closes the eyes and rests them successfully the eye becomes normal for the time being. When such a person looks at the distance and remembers some letter, some color or some object perfectly the eyes are normal and the vision is perfect. This is a very remarkable fact; it has been tested in thousands of cases and one can always demonstrate that it is true.
One of the quickest and most satisfactory ways of improving the sight is a perfect imagination. The normal eye at twenty feet imagines it sees a small letter of the same size as it does at one foot. The eye with imperfect sight on the contrary usually sees a letter at twenty feet larger than it really is.
The normal eye imagines the white of a Snellen test card at twenty feet, ten feet, as white as it is at one foot. The eye with imperfect sight sees the whiteness of the card less white or a shade of gray.
The white centers of the letters are imagined by the normal eye to be whiter than other parts of the card, while the eye with imperfect sight imagines the white centers of the letters to be less white than the margin of the card. Persons with imperfect sight have been cured very quickly by demonstrating these facts to them and encouraging them to imagine the letters in the same way as the normal eye imagines them.
When reading small print in a newspaper or in a book the normal eye is able to imagine the white spaces between the lines whiter than they really are. The whiter the spaces are imagined the blacker the letters appear and the more distinct do they become.
Persons with imperfect sight do not imagine the white spaces between the lines of fine print that they are endeavoring to read, to be as white as the margin of the page.

The above sentence may be a misprint or not perfectly clear.
When sight is imperfect, the person might imagine the white spaces between sentences to be as white as the margin of the page or a gray blur which is less white than the margin.
Persons with perfect sight imagine, see the white spaces between sentences perfectly clear, and as a glowing, bright, white , brighter, whiter than the margin of the page, whiter than areas of the page away from the black print.
Also, the edge of the outer area of the page, the papers edge does show a thin white, bright glowing line.

Persons with imperfect sight do not become able to read fine print until they become able to imagine the white spaces between the lines of letters to be whiter than they really are. (Whiter than areas of the white page that are farther away from the black print)
When people with normal vision have normal sight they are always able to see one letter best or one part of a letter better than all the rest. It is impossible to see a whole letter at one time perfectly. One has to imagine different parts best. Persons with imperfect sight, when they regard a line of letters that they do not read, discover that they do not see best one part of the line of letters, but rather they see most of the line a pale gray with no separation between the letters.
By Central Fixation is meant the ability to see best where you are looking. When one sees a small letter clearly or perfectly it can be demonstrated that while the whole letter is seen at one time, one sees or imagines one part best at a time. The normal eye when it has normal vision is seeing an illusion and sees one letter best of a line or one part of one letter best at a time.

The eyes shift from part to part on the letter, seeing one small part at a time best, clearest in the center of the visual field. The center of the visual field moves with the eyes from part to part. The eyes can shift so quickly, that the whole letter, all parts appear equally clear at the same moment. The center of the visual field is clearest due to the fact that the macula and fovea centralis in the center of the retina produces the clearest vision in the center of the visual field. The part of the object the eyes are looking at is placed in the center, clearest area of the visual field. Moving the head/face, body with the eyes, same direction, improves central fixation and shifting.

We do not see illusions, they are imagined. Central fixation is a truth to which there are no exceptions and yet it is all imagination. The more perfect the imagination, the more perfect the sight, the more perfect is central fixation.
It is interesting to realize that the truth about vision in all its manifestations, does not obey the laws of physiology, the laws of optics, the laws of mathematics, and to try to explain in some plausible way, why or how all these things are so, is a waste of time, because I do not believe anybody can explain the various manifestations of the imagination.
Most people have an imagination that is good enough to cure them if they would only use it. What we see is only what we think we see or what we imagine we see. When we imagine correctly we see correctly, when we imagine imperfectly we see imperfect. People with imperfect sight have difficulty in imagining that they see perfectly at twenty feet the same letter that they do at one foot or less.
It can be demonstrated that when one remembers a letter perfectly one cannot at the same time remember some other letter imperfectly. The same is true of the imagination and of the vision. This fact is of the greatest importance in the treatment of imperfect sight without glasses. If one can remember perfectly a mental picture of some letter at all times, in all places, the imagination and vision for all letters regarded are also perfect.
One can improve the memory by alternately remembering a letter with the eyes closed for part of a minute or longer and then opening the eyes and remembering the same letter for a fraction of a second. Unfortunately it is true that many people with imperfect sight are unable to remember or imagine mental pictures perfectly. The treatment of these cases is complicated.
One patient when he looked at a white pillow saw it without any difficulty. He thought he saw it all at once. When he closed his eyes he could not remember a mental picture of the pillow.
With his eyes open I called his attention to the fact that he did not see the whole pillow equally white at the same time but that his eyes shifted from one corner that he saw best to another corner or to another part of the pillow and that he successively imagined one small part of the pillow best. With his eyes open he could not see two corners of the pillow best at the same time. He had to see it by central fixation, one part best, in order to see it perfectly. I suggested that when he closed his eyes he remember the pillow in the same way, one corner at a time or one small area best at a time.
He immediately for the first time in his life obtained a mental picture of the pillow. Afterwards he became able to remember or imagine a mental picture of the pillow with his eyes closed by practicing the same methods. He became able to imagine mental pictures of one letter at a time. Always he found that he could not remember the whole letter at once. The strain was evident and made it impossible. By alternately remembering a mental picture of a letter with his eyes closed and remembering the same picture with his eyes open for a short fraction of a second he became able to remember the mental picture of a letter when looking at a blank wall where there was nothing to see, just as well as he could with his eyes closed.
It required many hours of practice before he could remember the letter perfectly when looking anywhere near the Snellen test card, because he could not remember one letter perfectly and imagine one letter on the Snellen test card imperfectly without losing the mental picture. In other words he could not imagine one thing perfectly and something else imperfectly at the same time.
After a patient has become able under favorable conditions to imagine mental pictures as well with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, his cure can be obtained in a reasonable length of time. One patient, for example, could not see the largest letter on the Snellen test card at more than three feet but by practicing the memory of the mental picture of a letter, alternately with his eyes closed and with his eyes open, he was permanently cured in a few weeks.
In the beginning even with the strong glasses the vision that he obtained was one-tenth of the normal, but with the help of the mental pictures he became able to read without glasses at twenty feet a line marked ten on the Snellen test card. School children who have never worn glasses, under twelve years of age, can easily be cured by their teachers in two weeks or less.
It is very important that all patients who desire to be cured of imperfect sight should discard their glasses and never put them on again for any emergencies. It is not well to use opera glasses. Going without glasses has at least one benefit: it acts as an incentive to the patient to practice the right methods in order to obtain all the sight that seems possible.
All magnifying glass for distant or close: magnifying glass lens for reading, seeing small objects, microscopes, binoculars (this includes close and distant eyeglass lenses), cause vision impairment.


PREVENTION OF MYOPIA IN SCHOOL CHILDREN

About fifteen years ago I introduced my method for the prevention of myopia in school children in a number of the schools in the City of New York. In one year I studied the records of twenty thousand children who had been tested before and after the treatment. To prove a negative proposition, to prove that something does not occur because something else is done, is a difficult or impossible proposition. When I recommended my treatment for the school children I claimed that every child who used the method properly would see better and that no matter how poor the sight might be or how long the sight had been imperfect the vision would be improved always.
I made the statement that if there were one exception my method was only a working hypothesis at best or a theory, and that I was wrong about everything I said. Since all the children who used the method had their sight improved it is evident that imperfect sight from myopia was prevented in those children at that time.
I have published from time to time reports on results of my method for the prevention of myopia in school children. These reports are on file in the New York Academy of Medicine and can be consulted by anybody.
In 1912 I read a paper on this subject before the New York County Medical Association in which I made the statement that every child with normal eyes and normal sight who strains to see at the distance becomes temporarily or more continuously near-sighted. There are no exceptions.
If one competent ophthalmologist can prove that I am wrong about one case, I am wrong about all the statements I have made about myopia. This experiment can be performed in the doctor's office or at his clinic and the facts determined with the aid of a retinoscope, an instrument used for measuring the amount of near-sightedness which may be present in the eye.
There were present at this meeting a large number of prominent eye doctors of the City of New York. They knew that I was going to make this statement and issue this challenge because I sent a copy of my paper to these gentlemen two weeks before I read it. It would have been very easy for any of them to have tested the matter and determined whether I was right or wrong, but when the Chairman of the Society called on them to discuss my paper they declined to say anything about it or to publicly deny it.
I have the records of many persons who threw away their glasses and now have perfect sight with normal eyes.
They did it.
Everybody can do it.
YOU can do it.

The Use Of The Sun Glass

In using the sun glass, it is well to accustom the eyes of the patient to the strong light by having him sit in the sun with his eyes closed, and at the same time he should slowly move his head from side to side, in order to avoid discomfort from the heat. Enough light shines through the eyelid to cause some people a great deal of discomfort at first, but after a few hours' exposure in this way, they become able to gradually open their eyes to some extent without squeezing the lids. When this stage is reached, one can focus, with the aid of the sun glass, the light on the closed eyelids, which at first is very disagreeable. When the patient becomes able to open the eyes, he is directed to look as far down as possible, and in this way the pupil is protected by the lower lid. Then by gently lifting the upper lid, only the white part of the eye is exposed, while the sun's rays strike directly upon this part of the eyeball. The sun glass may then be used on the white part of the eye. Care should be taken to move the glass from side to side quickly. The length of time devoted to focusing the light on the white part of the eye is never longer than a few seconds. After such a treatment the patient almost immediately becomes able to open his eyes widely in the light.
Plain sunning without the sunglass is equally beneficial in most cases. Also, shining direct sunlight (no sunglass) onto the sclera, white part of the eye is healthy. Sunglass is used only by a experienced ophthalmologist and only in a case of near or complete blindness when plain sunning without the glass does not improve the sight.]]>

Mental Pictures - Throw Away Your Glasses – Concentration, Treatment, Prevention of Myopia in School Children – The Use of the Sun Glass




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

JULY, 1929

Mental Pictures

With imperfect sight, a mental picture of one known letter of the Snellen test card is seldom or never remembered, imagined, or seen perfectly when regarded with the eyes open. By closing the eyes, the same mental picture may be imagined more perfectly. By alternately imagining the known letter as well as possible with the eyes open and the remembering it better with the eyes closed, the imagination improves the vision and unknown letters are seen with the eyes open.
The improvement of the vision is due to a lessening of the organic changes in the eye. When the imperfect sight is caused by opacities of the cornea, a mental picture imagined clearly lessens or cures the disease of the cornea. A large number of cases of cataract in which the lens is more or less opaque have been benefited or cured by the imagination of mental pictures. Nearly all organic changes in the eyeball which lower the vision have been improved to some extent in a few minutes; by devoting a sufficient amount of time, all organic changes in the eyeball, no matter what the cause may be, are benefited or cured by a perfect imagination of a letter, a tree, a flower, or anything which is remembered perfectly.
I do not know of any method of obtaining relaxation or perfect sight which is as efficient and certain as the imagination of mental pictures. It should be emphasized that a good or perfect imagination of mental pictures has in all cases brought about a measure of improvement which is convincing that the imagination is capable of relieving organic changes in the eye more quickly, more thoroughly, more permanently, than any other method.


Throw Away Your Glasses

By W. H. BATES, M.D.

(Editor's Note: The following is a reprint from an article which appeared in Hearst's International, September, 1923, which is being republished in Better Eyesight at the suggestion of some of our readers.)

MORE than thirty years ago, not knowing any better and being guided by the practice of other eye doctors, I recommended patients with imperfect sight to throw away their eyes and see with their glasses. Since that time I have made some valuable discoveries which have enabled me to cure people without glasses. The slogan now is: "Throw away your glasses and see with your eyes."
We are rapidly becoming a four-eyed nation. The enthusiasm of the eye doctors is putting glasses on many people who do not need them. Just as soon as we go to the doctor and complain about our eyes or some nervous trouble with our minds and our heads, the stomach or something else, the doctor prescribes glasses. Fifty years ago the number of persons wearing glasses was very much less than it is now. Human nature is such that when one person gets glasses we believe everybody else should do as we do and wear glasses. When prominent people set the fashion the rank and file feel that they must do the same. It is a matter of record in this country with a population of one hundred and ten million or more, that all persons over forty years of age, according to the old theories, should wear glasses.
Some eye specialists have gone so far as to say that all children attending school should wear glasses either to relieve imperfect sight or to prevent their eyes from failing. This matter was considered by the Board of Education of the City of New York in 1912 and much pressure was brought bear to have it done. I was the only physician that went before the Board of Education and recommended the method of treatment which had cured and prevented imperfect sight in school children without the use of glasses.
The craze for glasses has even included nursing babies. It is all wrong, and the evidence has been accumulating through the years that imperfect sight is curable without glasses. Most of us should have an interest in the welfare of every child and get busy and investigate the facts. The medical profession has neglected its duty. They have done noble work in the study and prevention of yellow fever and other conditions, but when it comes to the eyes the doctors can only recommend glasses. My investigations have demonstrated many facts of great practical importance.
In the first place all children under twelve years of age with imperfect sight can be cured without glasses. This is a challenge. If there is one child who cannot be cured by my treatment I am wrong about the whole thing. There is no exception and when a proposition has no exception we call it a truth.
They can be cured not only by me but by their parents, by their teachers, by anybody who has normal sight, but they cannot be cured by people who have imperfect sight. The teachers in the public schools have succeeded by practicing my suggestions with the children, reading the Snellen test card with each eye as well as they can every day, devoting in most cases only a few minutes daily. Those children whose sight is already normal only need to read with normal sight, one minute or less, every day to prevent eye-strain and imperfect sight.
One day I visited a classroom and I said to the teacher: "Can you pick out the children who have imperfect sight?" She selected a number of children that she thought had imperfect sight. In every case her selection was made because of the way the children used their eyes. Some of them squinted, some of them strained in other ways.
I tested the sight of these children and found it imperfect. Then I suggested to the teacher that she ask the children to use their eyes without strain, without making any efforts to see. I said, "You will find how well they can see when they use their eyes easily, without effort".
Much to her surprise they all read the card with normal vision. Some of these children were wearing glasses. When they removed their glasses at first their sight was imperfect but after resting their eyes by closing them for five minutes or longer their vision became very much improved. In one classroom the teacher found that all her children had imperfect sight; but by showing them how to rest their eyes, by avoiding the strain, and by closing them, the vision of all of them was improved and all obtained perfect sight except one. I learned that this one also obtained perfect sight a few weeks later. It is impossible to cure those children while they are wearing glasses.
In all my enthusiasm I felt that it was not proper for me to interfere with children who were under the care of a physician while wearing the glasses he prescribed. Of course I could not be blamed if the children lost their glasses and got well without them.
It should be emphasized that teachers wearing glasses have a larger percentage of pupils with imperfect sight than have the teachers whose sight is normal and who do not wear glasses. Why is this? The facts are that children, being naturally great imitators, not only consciously or unconsciously practice the strained look of the eyes of the teachers with imperfect sight, but also the strain of all the nerves of the body. For the benefit of the school children no teacher wearing glasses or who has imperfect sight should have charge of children in any public or private school.
Parents wearing glasses are under a nervous strain almost continuously. It can be demonstrated in all cases that the children's eyes tend to strain and that the sight becomes imperfect because most children, if not all, imitate consciously or unconsciously the nervous strain of their parents. The future of our country is in the hands of the children and I believe that we should all make any sacrifice which can be made for their welfare.
It was demonstrated that all persons I tested wearing glasses were curable without glasses. I have demonstrated this fact, that the eyes of all near-sighted persons become normal while looking at a distant blank wall without trying to see. The same is true in all other cases, in far-sightedness, in astigmatism; there are no exceptions.
It can always be demonstrated that when the normal eye with normal sight makes an effort to see at the distance the eye becomes near-sighted; again, no exceptions. When the normal eye strains to see at the near point the eye tends to become and does become less near-sighted and produces a measure of far-sightedness.
The strain in astigmatism can always be demonstrated. One can by will produce in the normal eye any kind of imperfect sight by the necessary strain. The normal eye is always at rest and nothing is done in order to see. If anything is done it is always wrong and always produces imperfect sight. This suggests treatment and prevention. Treatment can only succeed when perfect rest is obtained.
Every physician wearing glasses, like every child, every man, every woman, has to strain to make his eyes fit the glasses. In every case this fact can be demonstrated. Surely the leaders in this movement for the benefit of the eyes of the school children can be or ought to be the medical profession, and I feel that we are lax in our duty when we neglect to study these methods and practice these methods which cure imperfect sight without the aid of glasses.
Imperfect sight is usually contagious. Actors on the stage do not feel the need of glasses. Fancy some operatic star going through a performance wearing strong glasses. The strain would spoil the music.

Sunlight



Many people are afraid of the light. They protect their eyes with dark glasses when they go to the seashore, they use umbrellas, sunshades; in tropical countries special kinds of hats are popular, hats which are supposed to prevent the bad effects of the sun. Bookkeepers and people who work by artificial light wear contrivances of all kinds to shade their eyes from the artificial light. Is sunlight injurious? It is not. Of course after remaining in a dark room and suddenly going out into the bright sunlight one feels the change, and if one is at all nervous the effect of the light on the eyes is magnified—exaggerated. Some people believe it injures the eyes to read in the bright sunlight with the sun shining on the page. They complain that the light dazzles their eyes.
I know a farmer who for fifteen years had never been able to do a stroke of work out in the sun. He complained that the light blinded him and so he remained in a dark room most of the time and was not as happy as he might have been. He had a large family and in their sympathy they believed as he did and all the time cautioned him to protect his eyes. If someone opened the door suddenly and let in the daylight there was a great rush to close the door and protect the gentleman from the light.
He came to me with his eyes well wrapped up and protected from any light striking his eyes. I darkened the room and had him look down, and when he looked far down I lifted the upper lid and focused a strong light on the white part of his eye—first the artificial light and then the strong light of the sun.
The effect was miraculous. He smiled and walked around the room, looked out the window, put on his hat and walked down the street and came back feeling first rate. Ever afterwards he enjoyed the light instead of suffering from it. All he needed was a little encouragement. Focusing the strong light in his eyes with the aid of the burning glass and doing it right caused him no pain or discomfort whatever.

I know a white man who lives in Borneo, an island in the tropics. This man goes around without a hat. He told me that the natives did not wear hats and had no discomfort from the sun and what was good enough for the natives was good enough for him, and it certainly worked. He has lived there forty years or more and the sun does not do him any harm. Did he ever suffer sunstroke? No. Did anybody else ever suffer sunstroke in Borneo? There is no record. Out in the Canadian northwest in the summer time the sun is very strong and the crops mature in a few months. They raise fine wheat there. Do you hear of anybody being sunstruck working in the wheat fields?
In New York City the papers publish records of sunstroke from time to time during the hot weather. I have been called to attend such cases. Quite a number of people living in tenement houses have been ill during the very hot weather and I am quite sure that many years ago I believed that I was treating cases of sunstroke. It is very queer but many of these cases never saw the sun and most of them had a breath that we in the days of prohibition might envy.
I do not believe any baseball player or any tennis player in spite of his strenuous exercise on bright sunshiny days has ever suffered from any bad effect of the sun. Most tennis players do not even wear a cap to protect their eyes from the sun and you have to have good eyesight to play a good game of tennis. The light of the sun often shines directly into their eyes when they serve the ball and the experts are able to drive the ball quite accurately in spite of the sun.
Many years ago I listened to the older and the wiser men who treat the eye and they complained that something ought to be done to prevent children playing out in the sun without any hats on. We are more liberal now and treat tuberculosis in children by exposing not only the head and eyes but their whole bodies naked to the sun and I understand it is a very successful treatment. Miners who seldom see the sun always have disease of their eyes. All people who wear dark glasses and avoid the bright sunlight always have trouble with their eyes.
I had a patient once who spent two years in a hospital here in New York many years ago, occupied a dark room and had her eyes bandaged with a black cloth so that not a ray of light could possibly enter her eyes, and at the end of her treatment left the hospital worse than she was before. I cured her by having her practice looking at the sun. At first when she did it she was temporarily blinded. She said that she had no perception of light whatever, but in a few hours she recovered and her eyes felt better.
I undertook to caution her by suggesting that she do it gradually not to get too much of the sun at once, to wait until she became more accustomed to it; but she paid no attention to what I said and went ahead and blinded her eyes again and kept it up every day, with very rapid improvement in her sight, until it was not more than a week or so before she could look straight at the sun without suffering any inconvenience whatsoever. Her vision which had been one-tenth of the normal with glasses became normal without glasses after the sun treatment.
Some scientists in Boston experimented on the eyes of rabbits. They focused the strong light of the sun directly into the eyes and then examined the retina with a microscope and much to their surprise found nothing wrong. They tried strong electric arc lights and found that the retina was not injured. They used every known light on the eyes of these animals and in no case was the light ever an injury.
About ten years ago the Scientific American published a series of articles on the effect of light on the eyes and published that some of the rays were injurious. I tested the facts and found that the man who had written the article had neglected to report the exceptions.
Recently an acquaintance of mine told me that he had seen in the last three months seventy-four cases of disease of the eyes from exposure to strong light from the electric arc. I told the gentleman that he had had an unusual experience, but in my heart I knew he was not telling the truth.

Concentration



For many years it had been drummed into my mind by my teachers when I first when to school and later by my professors in college, that in order to accomplish things and to make a success of life, one should practice concentration. Recently in New York I received an advertisement from a man who delivers popular lectures, an invitation to attend the lecture with the title "Concentration the Key-note to Success." About the same time one of my patients suffered very much from imperfect sight. The patient bought a book of 500 pages on concentration. He bought the book to improve his memory and sight.
For many years from time to time patients from the faculties of Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and other colleges come to me for treatment of their eyes. They all say that not only are they unable to use their eyes for any length of time but that they are also ill in a great many other ways, physically, mentally, with their nerves all shot to pieces. They complain that they have lost the power to concentrate.
By investigating the facts I find that invariably they have been teaching concentration. It does me a great deal of good personally to get square with them because these are the people who cause so much imperfect sight. It can be shown that all persons with imperfect sight are trying to concentrate. I have repeatedly published and described the evidence which proves conclusively that concentration of the eyes is impossible.
Trying to do the impossible is a strain, an awful strain and the worst strain that the eyes can experience. So many people have a theory that concentration is a help and if we could all concentrate we would all be much better off. The trouble is that concentration is a theory and not fact. If you try to concentrate your mind on a part of a large letter of the Snellen test card at ten feet or twenty feet it can be demonstrated that the effort fails and the vision becomes imperfect.
The same is true of the memory and of the imagination. The dictionary says concentration is an effort to keep your mind fixed on a point. I have tested a great many people and not one of them was ever able to accomplish it for any length of time, and the result is always bad for the eyes, the memory, the imagination, the nerves of the body generally. If the professors of concentration were wise they would avoid trying to practice it. It is only in that way that they can avoid trouble.

Treatment

If you have imperfect sight and desire to obtain normal vision without glasses, I suggest that you keep in mind a few facts. In the first place the normal eye does not have normal sight all the time, so if you have relapses in the beginning do not be discouraged.
It is normal for the clarity of vision to fluctuate: clear, less clear, back to clear. Avoid eyeglasses. The vision will return to normal on its own.
First test your sight with a Snellen test card with each eye at twenty feet, then close your eyes and rest them. Cover them with one or both hands in such a way as to shut out all the light and do this for at least an hour, then open your eyes for a moment and again test your sight with both eyes at the same time.
Your vision should be temporarily improved if you have rested your eyes. If you vision is not improved it means that you have been remembering or imagining things imperfectly and under a strain. With the eyes closed and covered at rest, with your mind at rest, you should not see anything at all—all should be black. If you see colors—red, green, blue, or flashes of light—you are not resting your eyes, mind but you are straining them.
Some people when they close their eyes let their minds drift and think of things which are pleasant to remember, things which come into their minds without their volition and which are remembered quickly, easily and perfectly. Some patients have great difficulty in improving their sight by closing their eyes and trying to rest them. If you fail, get someone with perfect sight to demonstrate that resting the eyes is a help and who can show you how to do it.
When persons with normal eyes have normal sight they suffer no pain, discomfort, headaches or fatigue. When a person with imperfect sight closes the eyes and rests them successfully the eye becomes normal for the time being. When such a person looks at the distance and remembers some letter, some color or some object perfectly the eyes are normal and the vision is perfect. This is a very remarkable fact; it has been tested in thousands of cases and one can always demonstrate that it is true.
One of the quickest and most satisfactory ways of improving the sight is a perfect imagination. The normal eye at twenty feet imagines it sees a small letter of the same size as it does at one foot. The eye with imperfect sight on the contrary usually sees a letter at twenty feet larger than it really is.
The normal eye imagines the white of a Snellen test card at twenty feet, ten feet, as white as it is at one foot. The eye with imperfect sight sees the whiteness of the card less white or a shade of gray.
The white centers of the letters are imagined by the normal eye to be whiter than other parts of the card, while the eye with imperfect sight imagines the white centers of the letters to be less white than the margin of the card. Persons with imperfect sight have been cured very quickly by demonstrating these facts to them and encouraging them to imagine the letters in the same way as the normal eye imagines them.
When reading small print in a newspaper or in a book the normal eye is able to imagine the white spaces between the lines whiter than they really are. The whiter the spaces are imagined the blacker the letters appear and the more distinct do they become.
Persons with imperfect sight do not imagine the white spaces between the lines of fine print that they are endeavoring to read, to be as white as the margin of the page.

The above sentence may be a misprint or not perfectly clear.
When sight is imperfect, the person might imagine the white spaces between sentences to be as white as the margin of the page or a gray blur which is less white than the margin.
Persons with perfect sight imagine, see the white spaces between sentences perfectly clear, and as a glowing, bright, white , brighter, whiter than the margin of the page, whiter than areas of the page away from the black print.
Also, the edge of the outer area of the page, the papers edge does show a thin white, bright glowing line.

Persons with imperfect sight do not become able to read fine print until they become able to imagine the white spaces between the lines of letters to be whiter than they really are. (Whiter than areas of the white page that are farther away from the black print)
When people with normal vision have normal sight they are always able to see one letter best or one part of a letter better than all the rest. It is impossible to see a whole letter at one time perfectly. One has to imagine different parts best. Persons with imperfect sight, when they regard a line of letters that they do not read, discover that they do not see best one part of the line of letters, but rather they see most of the line a pale gray with no separation between the letters.
By Central Fixation is meant the ability to see best where you are looking. When one sees a small letter clearly or perfectly it can be demonstrated that while the whole letter is seen at one time, one sees or imagines one part best at a time. The normal eye when it has normal vision is seeing an illusion and sees one letter best of a line or one part of one letter best at a time.

The eyes shift from part to part on the letter, seeing one small part at a time best, clearest in the center of the visual field. The center of the visual field moves with the eyes from part to part. The eyes can shift so quickly, that the whole letter, all parts appear equally clear at the same moment. The center of the visual field is clearest due to the fact that the macula and fovea centralis in the center of the retina produces the clearest vision in the center of the visual field. The part of the object the eyes are looking at is placed in the center, clearest area of the visual field. Moving the head/face, body with the eyes, same direction, improves central fixation and shifting.

We do not see illusions, they are imagined. Central fixation is a truth to which there are no exceptions and yet it is all imagination. The more perfect the imagination, the more perfect the sight, the more perfect is central fixation.
It is interesting to realize that the truth about vision in all its manifestations, does not obey the laws of physiology, the laws of optics, the laws of mathematics, and to try to explain in some plausible way, why or how all these things are so, is a waste of time, because I do not believe anybody can explain the various manifestations of the imagination.
Most people have an imagination that is good enough to cure them if they would only use it. What we see is only what we think we see or what we imagine we see. When we imagine correctly we see correctly, when we imagine imperfectly we see imperfect. People with imperfect sight have difficulty in imagining that they see perfectly at twenty feet the same letter that they do at one foot or less.
It can be demonstrated that when one remembers a letter perfectly one cannot at the same time remember some other letter imperfectly. The same is true of the imagination and of the vision. This fact is of the greatest importance in the treatment of imperfect sight without glasses. If one can remember perfectly a mental picture of some letter at all times, in all places, the imagination and vision for all letters regarded are also perfect.
One can improve the memory by alternately remembering a letter with the eyes closed for part of a minute or longer and then opening the eyes and remembering the same letter for a fraction of a second. Unfortunately it is true that many people with imperfect sight are unable to remember or imagine mental pictures perfectly. The treatment of these cases is complicated.
One patient when he looked at a white pillow saw it without any difficulty. He thought he saw it all at once. When he closed his eyes he could not remember a mental picture of the pillow.
With his eyes open I called his attention to the fact that he did not see the whole pillow equally white at the same time but that his eyes shifted from one corner that he saw best to another corner or to another part of the pillow and that he successively imagined one small part of the pillow best. With his eyes open he could not see two corners of the pillow best at the same time. He had to see it by central fixation, one part best, in order to see it perfectly. I suggested that when he closed his eyes he remember the pillow in the same way, one corner at a time or one small area best at a time.
He immediately for the first time in his life obtained a mental picture of the pillow. Afterwards he became able to remember or imagine a mental picture of the pillow with his eyes closed by practicing the same methods. He became able to imagine mental pictures of one letter at a time. Always he found that he could not remember the whole letter at once. The strain was evident and made it impossible. By alternately remembering a mental picture of a letter with his eyes closed and remembering the same picture with his eyes open for a short fraction of a second he became able to remember the mental picture of a letter when looking at a blank wall where there was nothing to see, just as well as he could with his eyes closed.
It required many hours of practice before he could remember the letter perfectly when looking anywhere near the Snellen test card, because he could not remember one letter perfectly and imagine one letter on the Snellen test card imperfectly without losing the mental picture. In other words he could not imagine one thing perfectly and something else imperfectly at the same time.
After a patient has become able under favorable conditions to imagine mental pictures as well with the eyes open as with the eyes closed, his cure can be obtained in a reasonable length of time. One patient, for example, could not see the largest letter on the Snellen test card at more than three feet but by practicing the memory of the mental picture of a letter, alternately with his eyes closed and with his eyes open, he was permanently cured in a few weeks.
In the beginning even with the strong glasses the vision that he obtained was one-tenth of the normal, but with the help of the mental pictures he became able to read without glasses at twenty feet a line marked ten on the Snellen test card. School children who have never worn glasses, under twelve years of age, can easily be cured by their teachers in two weeks or less.
It is very important that all patients who desire to be cured of imperfect sight should discard their glasses and never put them on again for any emergencies. It is not well to use opera glasses. Going without glasses has at least one benefit: it acts as an incentive to the patient to practice the right methods in order to obtain all the sight that seems possible.
All magnifying glass for distant or close: magnifying glass lens for reading, seeing small objects, microscopes, binoculars (this includes close and distant eyeglass lenses), cause vision impairment.


PREVENTION OF MYOPIA IN SCHOOL CHILDREN

About fifteen years ago I introduced my method for the prevention of myopia in school children in a number of the schools in the City of New York. In one year I studied the records of twenty thousand children who had been tested before and after the treatment. To prove a negative proposition, to prove that something does not occur because something else is done, is a difficult or impossible proposition. When I recommended my treatment for the school children I claimed that every child who used the method properly would see better and that no matter how poor the sight might be or how long the sight had been imperfect the vision would be improved always.
I made the statement that if there were one exception my method was only a working hypothesis at best or a theory, and that I was wrong about everything I said. Since all the children who used the method had their sight improved it is evident that imperfect sight from myopia was prevented in those children at that time.
I have published from time to time reports on results of my method for the prevention of myopia in school children. These reports are on file in the New York Academy of Medicine and can be consulted by anybody.
In 1912 I read a paper on this subject before the New York County Medical Association in which I made the statement that every child with normal eyes and normal sight who strains to see at the distance becomes temporarily or more continuously near-sighted. There are no exceptions.
If one competent ophthalmologist can prove that I am wrong about one case, I am wrong about all the statements I have made about myopia. This experiment can be performed in the doctor's office or at his clinic and the facts determined with the aid of a retinoscope, an instrument used for measuring the amount of near-sightedness which may be present in the eye.
There were present at this meeting a large number of prominent eye doctors of the City of New York. They knew that I was going to make this statement and issue this challenge because I sent a copy of my paper to these gentlemen two weeks before I read it. It would have been very easy for any of them to have tested the matter and determined whether I was right or wrong, but when the Chairman of the Society called on them to discuss my paper they declined to say anything about it or to publicly deny it.
I have the records of many persons who threw away their glasses and now have perfect sight with normal eyes.
They did it.
Everybody can do it.
YOU can do it.

The Use Of The Sun Glass

In using the sun glass, it is well to accustom the eyes of the patient to the strong light by having him sit in the sun with his eyes closed, and at the same time he should slowly move his head from side to side, in order to avoid discomfort from the heat. Enough light shines through the eyelid to cause some people a great deal of discomfort at first, but after a few hours' exposure in this way, they become able to gradually open their eyes to some extent without squeezing the lids. When this stage is reached, one can focus, with the aid of the sun glass, the light on the closed eyelids, which at first is very disagreeable. When the patient becomes able to open the eyes, he is directed to look as far down as possible, and in this way the pupil is protected by the lower lid. Then by gently lifting the upper lid, only the white part of the eye is exposed, while the sun's rays strike directly upon this part of the eyeball. The sun glass may then be used on the white part of the eye. Care should be taken to move the glass from side to side quickly. The length of time devoted to focusing the light on the white part of the eye is never longer than a few seconds. After such a treatment the patient almost immediately becomes able to open his eyes widely in the light.
Plain sunning without the sunglass is equally beneficial in most cases. Also, shining direct sunlight (no sunglass) onto the sclera, white part of the eye is healthy. Sunglass is used only by a experienced ophthalmologist and only in a case of near or complete blindness when plain sunning without the glass does not improve the sight.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=270 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:01:21 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=270

Go to the Movies – Cataract – (Sinbad The Sailor, Goats) - Stories From The Clinic; 112. Itching of the Eyelids by Emily A. Bates (Parasites in Boys Eyes) – Questions and Answers



BETTER EYESIGHT

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

JUNE, 1929

Go To The Movies

(Editor’s Note. - Recently a great many letters have come from patients and others asking if the movies were injurious to the eyes. For the benefit of these inquirers we are reprinting an article which appeared in this magazine in October, 1920.)

Cinematograph pictures are commonly supposed to be very injurious to the eyes, and it is a fact that they often cause much discomfort and lowering of vision. They can, however, be made a means of improving the sight. When they hurt the eyes it is because the subject strains to see them. If this tendency to strain can be overcome, the vision is always improved, and if the practice of viewing the pictures is continued long enough, nearsight, astigmatism and other troubles are cured.
If your sight is imperfect, therefore, you will find it an advantage to go to the movies frequently and learn to look at the pictures without strain. If they hurt your eyes, look away to the dark for a while, then look at a corner of the picture; look away again, and then look a little nearer to the center: and so on. In this way you may soon become able to look directly at the picture without discomfort. If this does not help, try palming for five minutes or longer. Dodge the pain, in short, and prevent the eyestrain by constant shifting, or by palming.

Shift on objects; object to object, part to part, small point to small point. Shift on/see fine details clear. Blink, breathe abdominally and relax. Trace objects and parts of objects with the Imaginary Nosefeather. Bring an eye patch to the movies; Practice shifting, tracing, central fixation on the objects, parts of objects, people on the screen with both eyes, then with one eye at a time, then both eyes together again.
Then just relax, forget about the eyes and enjoy the movie.
Practice this shifting, tracing, central fixation… both eyes, one eye at a time, both eyes together again, on any objects in your environment; close and distant.
If one eye needs more vision improvement, practice a while longer with that eye. Often correcting less clear vision in one eye; clarity of vision, eyes movement for shifting, central fixation, switching close and far - convergence, divergence, accommodation, un-accommodation is all that is needed to bring the vision in both eyes to 20/20 and clearer. This is basic ‘Behavioral Optometry applied with the Bates Method’ and is often not emphasized enough in many vision improvement courses.
When switching close and far on objects is taught, Optometrists would forget to teach the person to also shift on the object the eyes are looking at. Shifting and central fixation on the objects must be done when switching, looking at close and far objects.


Cataract

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

Sinbad the Sailor Story, How Goats Perform Their Own Cataract Operation

Sinbad the sailor told many stories of his voyages which have pleased some adults and many children. I wish to maintain that some of his experiences were true while many were not. On one of his voyages, when sailing in the tropics, a violent storm struck the ship and he was wrecked on the shores of an island in the Pacific Ocean. As usual, most of the sailors were drowned but Sinbad lived to return home and tell of the wonders he had seen.
It was related by him that the island was frequented by goats who were blind for a variable length of time. After a few days or weeks many of them recovered their sight, being cured in some way by a thorn bush which had large thorns. Sinbad watched them closely and discovered that each goat pushed each blind eye directly onto one of these thorns. After a few efforts the goat became able to see. How was it accomplished?
The cause of the blindness was the presence of an opaque body behind the pupil. This opaque body is a cataract. There are numerous operations for the cure of cataract but all are planned to move it to one side, above or below the optic axis so that the pupil appears perfectly clear and permits good sight. Eye doctors during the period when Sinbad flourished had no other cure for cataract except an operation such as the goat performed on his own eyes. It was done so easily, so quickly, and in most cases so successfully that many quacks or irregular practitioners who did not understand it failed to remove the cataract properly and the sight was not improved.
Sinbad wrote a very clear account of how the goats got rid of their cataracts. He told how a goat would, in his blindness, move his head and eyes about different parts of the thorn bush until he was able to push one of the thorns into his center of sight and push the opaque cataract out of the way.
Sinbad wrote a great deal about the failures. He described how in many of the goats which operated upon itself, foul matter would form and destroy one or both eyes. But when the goat did things right, the eyes healed without any bad symptoms whatever. Sinbad’s operation for the cure of cataract was described so long ago that there are still many doctors who claim that as they had never heard of Sinbad’s operation there never was such a person as Sinbad.
Modern physicians believe that the thorn is not the best instrument to use to remove the cataract in elderly people. Various and numerous operations have been recommended and practiced with good results.
An opacity of the crystalline lens which is sufficiently opaque to interfere with the vision is called a cataract. There are two kinds of cataract - hard and soft. The hard cataract occurs usually in adults. An operation for its removal is usually advised for an improvement in the sight. When the operation is done properly, the vision is usually permanently improved. After the operation is completed without accidents, strong glasses are prescribed, which increase the vision. Two pairs of strong glasses are used by the patient. One pair is to improve distant vision, while a second pair with much stronger glasses may be necessary for reading, sewing, or other close work. The Bates Method can improve vision without glasses after cataract operation and can reverse cataract and prevent the need for surgery.
Soft cataract occurs usually in children or in adults at the age of 45 or younger. One operation is called “needling,” in which a needle or very sharp knife penetrates a small part of the lens. A slight opacity of the lens may be seen for several days or longer, which usually causes no discomfort. It is customary to wait a few days or longer until the opacity made by the operation has disappeared. The operation is then repeated as before. By alternating in this way, the opacity of the lens becomes less after each needling until the cataract has disappeared altogether. The patient uses two pairs of glasses just the same as after the operation for the removal of a hard cataract.
Who were the earliest physicians? Who were the best doctors to cure the blindness of cataract? Barbers at an early date always bled their patients to cure any disease. Their motto was to bleed the patient until he was cured.
If the first bleeding failed it was considered good practice to bleed him some more. George Washington met his death at the hands of the barbers from too much bleeding. In the treatment of cataract in modern times we do things which are not always considered to be proper. At one of the best eye hospitals in this country patients suffering from severe pain and loss of sight have been bled from the temples and elsewhere and lost much blood that I considered unnecessary. While bleeding has apparently in some cases been a general benefit, this method of treatment is seldom indicated in a large number of patients.
Cataract occurs in a small percentage of persons with imperfect sight. One and the same method of treatment for all cases of cataract is not advised. It has been demonstrated and frequently published in this magazine that the cause of the opacity in the lens is a strain, a stare, an effort to see. When the strain is removed by relaxation methods, the cataract disappears and good or perfect sight is obtained without an operation of any kind. This being true, the removal of the cataract by some sort of an operation is the same as it would be to amputate the foot to cure rheumatism of the big toe.
People with cataract in one or both eyes may suffer from rheumatism, diabetes, bladder trouble, or other serious diseases which make it impossible for them to travel on land or water. Headache is sometimes continuous and of great severity. These patients may become bedridden and unable to walk without distress. The heart is often inflamed to such an extent that the slightest exertion brings on severe symptoms.
Some years ago a very intelligent Spaniard called to see me in reference to treatment of his wife who was a very sick woman and had been bedridden for many years. Her vision was very poor. She was unable to count her fingers when held in front of her face at a distance of two feet or more. The husband was told that it would be better for his wife to be cured of cataract while she was at home as the trip to New York would probably cause her so much discomfort that it would be very difficult to cure or improve her cataract by treatment. I told him that it would be possible for him to learn relaxation methods and have his wife practice them under his supervision. The fact that he himself had good sight would enable him to treat her more successfully than someone who had poor sight. He accepted my suggestion and told me that he would faithfully carry out any treatment which I might suggest.
The first thing I had him do was to:
+Read the Snellen test card at fifteen feet with each eye separately.
+Then he was directed to stand with his feet about one foot apart and to sway from side to side, while facing the Snellen test card. He learned how to do this very quickly. His attention was called to the fact that when the Snellen test card appeared to move in the opposite direction to the movement of his head, eyes and body, that the white card appeared whiter than it really was. The black letters also appeared much blacker and more distinct than when he did not practice the sway.
+He was then told to close his eyes and by opening and shutting them alternately, his vision improved.
+With his eyes closed he was able to imagine a small letter just as black as a large one and to imagine it better with his eyes closed than with his eyes open. When he imagined a small letter at the beginning of a line of letters perfectly black or as black as the larger letters, his vision improved to better than the average sight.
I examined his eyes with the retinoscope and found that the memory of imperfect sight caused the area of the pupil to appear blurred. When he strained or made an effort to improve his sight, the area of the pupil became very cloudy, the eyeballs became hard and the vision worse - a condition similar to that which occurs in cataract. This man was told that with his good sight he could at will increase the hardness of his good eyeballs more readily and lower his vision more readily than his wife who had cataract.
It is a truth that persons with normal eyes can produce imperfect sight at will to a greater degree than when the sight is imperfect from cataract. A large number of patients with cataract have been examined with the retinoscope at the same time that a strain is made to improve the sight. In all cases without exception the cataract became worse by an effort to see and the vision was still further lowered. Many persons with normal eyes were also examined at the same time. An effort to see better lowered the vision to a greater extent than occurred with the patients suffering from cataract.
It should be emphasized that a stare or strain is the principal cause of cataract. The retinoscope demonstrates that when an effort is made the cataract becomes worse. When the patient remembered or imagined letters or other objects the cloudiness and imperfect sight disappeared. An important point is the readiness with which an eye with good sight is able to produce imperfect sight while one with imperfect sight has great difficulty in straining sufficiently to increase it.
The husband was very much pleased because it seemed to him that there would be more difficulty in teaching his wife how to increase her cataract than to lessen or cure it. In due time I received a very grateful letter from him; he was much pleased to inform me that his wife had cured her cataract by my methods and after the cataract was cured, she became able to leave her bed. (She had been bedridden because of fear of walking about because of her poor eyesight.) The method was a benefit not only to her eyes but to her general health as well.

Man 106 Years Old - Vision Cured of Cataract by Bates Method

We have received many letters of inquiry from patients who have cataract who ask the questions: Can people eighty years of age be benefited? Which are the best methods of helping cataract? These questions were answered by the results of treatment in a man who was 106 years old. He came to the clinic with cataract so far advanced in each eye that he was unable, even with strong glasses, to read ordinary type. He was treated by rest of his eyes with the aid of shifting, swinging, memory, and imagination. After the first visit, he became able to read large print without glasses. His vision rapidly improved so that after some weeks of treatment, the cataract had disappeared and his vision for distance became normal. It was interesting to watch his cataract disappear while he was forming mental pictures of the white spaces between the lines of black letters.
Many patients with cataract who knew about this old man asked me how it was that he was cured in so short a time while many younger patients were not cured so quickly. The word obedience suggests that the reason this patient obtained so prompt and permanent a cure was because of his ability to obtain perfect relaxation of his eyes and mind as well as all the nerves of his body. For example, when he was told to close his eyes and keep them closed until told to open them, he did this thoroughly and well. Too many of my cataract patients do not practice central fixation as obediently as did my elderly patient.
So many people with cataract, when they close their eyes, feel that they are doing what they were told and cannot understand why they obtain so little benefit. Closing the eyes is not always followed by relaxation and rest. In short, there are many patients with cataract who strain their eyes more when they are closed than they do when they regard letters and objects with their eyes open. These patients are directed to practice the universal swing, the long swing, the variable swing and other methods of obtaining relaxation. One of the best methods of lessening cataract is to encourage the patient to regard a blank wall of one color. When the eyes are examined at the same time, it is usually found that the cataract has become less because the eye is not straining to see any one particular object.
Some cases of cataract acquire the ability to read without glasses very fine print held a few inches from the face. When such patients are recommended to read the fine print many hours daily, the cataract becomes less and the vision improves. The practice of regarding fine print or other small objects is one of the best methods of curing cataract.

Itching Of The Eyelids

& Presbyopia

By Emily A. Bates

Itching of the eyelids is sometimes a difficult thing to relieve. When a patient is troubled that way, Dr. Bates usually prescribes a salve and eyewash or eye drops to relieve the condition. Usually, such applications help, but there are times when a patient is troubled for a long period without much or any relief.
A middle-aged woman came to me in a highly nervous state and told me that she had been to several doctors, but they could only give her temporary relief. The doctors had given her exactly the same prescription that Dr. Bates usually prescribes for such a condition. Before coming to me as a last resort, she tried wearing dark glasses, thinking that she would find relief that way. Wearing the dark glasses indoors only aggravated her trouble, but while she was in the sunshine she felt relief most of the time.
She was a business woman and managed a summer hotel which kept her indoors most of the day. She was called upon at times to do some bookkeeping and after she had worn the dark glasses for a while, she discovered that she could no longer see at the near point. The last doctor whom she had called upon diagnosed her case as presbyopia, but he did not say what had caused it. He told her that at her age she had to expect a change in the condition of her eyes. He advised her to wear the glasses he prescribed for her only when it was absolutely necessary, and if that would not help to come and see me.
I had benefited the wife of this doctor and I am greatly disappointed that I did not have an opportunity to meet him before I left the West where I was taking care of patients. I tested the patient’s vision for the distance and she read 15/15 with much effort and squinting of her eyes. She squinted her eyes most of the time in order to see without discomfort. I gave her the Fundamental card to read. The type on this card starts with larger than ordinary reading type and ends with diamond type, which is much finer than ordinary type. She held this card at arm’s length and then drew back her head as far as she could in order to read the diamond type on the card. She could not understand how I could bring back her sight to the normal by our method of eye training. Before she came to me she believed that proper glasses would eventually relieve her of all her trouble, but that she would have to wear glasses at all times as long as she lived.
After a doctor friend of mine had examined her eyes, and diagnosed her case as presbyopia caused by strain, he asked me to examine her eyes with his retinoscope and verify his statement. The itching and burning of her eyelids had nothing to do with her sight. Sun treatment sometimes instantly relieves itching of the eyelids and also does more sometimes than medicine applied to the eyes. I placed my patient in the sun and while her eyes were closed I focused the strong light of the sun on her closed eyelids with the aid of the sun glass. This was done so quickly that the patient did not realize what I was doing.
Immediately after I used the sun glass I placed my hand before her closed eyelids to shade her eyes from the sun. Then I placed myself between my patient and the direct rays of the sunlight and asked her to open her eyes. She began to blink in a natural way as she looked at me and remarked how differently everything looked about her. She sighed with a sense of relief and asked me to do it again.
The second time I applied the sun glass she could stand the strong rays of the sun for about a minute and then I again placed myself between the sunlight and my patient’s eyes. Again I told her to open her eyes and look at me, but this time I held the Fundamental card before her, about twelve inches from her eyes. She read Number 3 or the third sentence on the card and then her eyelids began to itch again. The sun treatment was repeated for an hour, while she alternately read the Fundamental card and she read two more sentences, without noticing that she was gradually reading smaller type.
The patient was pleased with her first treatment and came daily for a week and each time her vision improved for the near point and the itching and burning of the eyelids became less.
We seldom advise patients about the amount of water that they drink, or the kind of food that they eat, but this patient had brought up the subject herself. My experience for many years with clinic patients has taught me much about the mistakes people make in eating the wrong food and not drinking sufficient water. I feel quite sure that my patient’s assistance and intelligence about eating unseasoned foods and drinking a large quantity of water every day helped to cure the irritation and discomfort of her eyes.
I did not cure this patient in a week’s time but at the end of one week’s treatment, after I had seen her for the last time, the presbyopia was entirely cured and she read microscopic type in bright sunlight as well as she could read ordinary type at six inches from her eyes. When reading microscopic type, she had to have a strong, artificial light, or place herself directly in the sunlight in order to read it. By looking at the white spaces of the diamond type, which is a little larger than microscopic type, she became able to see the white spaces between the lines of microscopic type and in this way, she was able to read it.
Like most people who have trouble with their eyes, she seldom blinked, which she thought was an affliction instead of a natural thing to do. While I did not like the discomfort that staring caused me, I purposely stared or blinked less frequently than I ordinarily do, as she stood before me. It helped her to understand how necessary it was to blink often and to do it continuously, in order to form the unconscious habit of blinking, when she no longer had trouble with her eyes. She noticed that when I blinked my eyes that the eyes moved slightly and when she began to practice this, she said that the burning of her eyes and itching became less. She made a mask from a large linen handkerchief and only exposed her eyes when she placed herself in the sun. She would sit in the sunshine for an hour at a time each day while her eyes troubled her. At the end of seven days, giving her daily treatment, her trouble disappeared entirely.
On the seventh day, I returned the dark glasses which she had placed in my possession, so that she would not be tempted at any time to wear them while under treatment. I asked her to put them on while she was sitting in the sun and tell me how she felt with them on. She said it seemed as though the world had become dark, without any sunlight. While she was talking to me, the discomfort she felt while the glasses were on was such that she threw them off quickly and said she did not want to use them again.

There comes to my mind a clinic case which I would like to report now. A woman who seemed fairly well dressed brought her little boy to the clinic and as he appeared before me, I noticed how shabbily he was dressed. His hair looked as though it had not been combed for many days and from the appearance of his little hands it seemed to me that soap was almost an unknown thing to him. The poor little fellow was about eight years of age or perhaps younger.
While I was giving my attention to some of the children who were having their eyes tested with the test cards, he came close to me and watched every move I made. His mother was holding his hand and as he moved closer to me, she drew him away, none too gently. A thought passed through my mind instantly that surely this was not his mother. He looked so shabby and dirty and she looked just the opposite. Dr. Bates placed him in the little dark room where all the patients had their eyes examined and after he had finished examining the little fellow’s eyes, he called my attention to the condition of his eyelids, which I had not noticed before.
His eyesight was normal. There was nothing wrong with the retina, but the cornea and sclera or the white parts of his eyes were much inflamed. The eyelids of both eyes were much mattered. Dr. Bates asked him what his greatest trouble was and he said his eyes itched all the time and even at night the itching prevented him from sleeping. Dr. Bates questioned the little boy’s mother and asked her how long he had had this trouble. She said she had noticed him rubbing his eyes for a few weeks or longer, but did not pay any attention to it until his school teachers sent him home to be examined by the Doctor.
We placed him in a good light and as the Doctor focused his magnifying glass on the eyelids, he drew back suddenly and asked me not to touch the boy’s eyes. On a slip of paper, the Doctor wrote the word “parasites.” The mother became enraged when the Doctor diagnosed the case as such. My heart went out to the little fellow. I did want to take him away from a mother who cared so little for her child. Dr. Bates advised the mother not to have anyone else use his towel or wash cloth and he directed her further to use an eye wash he prescribed and a salve to be applied afterward and to come regularly every clinic day until he was rid of his trouble.
Apparently the directions for his treatment at home meant time and attention which she did not care to give for the little fellow. Before we realized what had happened, the mother had left the clinic and we did not see her or her little boy again. We reported this case to someone in authority at the clinic who was to send a social worker to the home of the little boy. What became of the case we could never find out, but for the sake of any child who may be afflicted or become afflicted as this little boy was, I decided to tell about this case, so that mothers of public school children who might possibly read this article will know what to do to help their children.

If the mother cannot afford to visit a physician at his office, she can always find a competent one at any eye clinic and receive treatment with permanent benefit. Sometimes through no fault of the mother or child, a thing like this happens and it seems out of nowhere that this contagious thing strikes even the cleanest and well cared for children. The itching in this condition is terrific. If the trouble is noticed and looked after in time, it can be easily cured by treatment. As Dr. Bates explained this condition to me, he said that he did not believe that he nor any doctor can tell where such things originate. We do know, however, that cleanliness helps to eliminate the trouble.


Questions And Answers

Q - After palming for ten minutes or longer, my eyes are rested, but I feel sleepy.
A - The palming is not perfect. Try imagining stationary objects to be moving when you palm.

Q - Are memory and imagination the same? When we remember an object do we have to visualize it?
A – A perfect memory cannot be obtained unless you are able to imagine that you see or visualize what you remember.

Q - Please give me a simple demonstration or example of the swing. I cannot see objects moving when I know they are stationary.
A - When you ride in a railroad train which is traveling fast, and look out that window, you may see the telegraph poles and other objects moving in the opposite direction.

Q - My little son, four years old, becomes fidgety while palming. Do you prescribe something else equally beneficial?
A - Your little son may become able to palm for a few minutes at a time. Swaying from side to side usually helps.

Q - How can one overcome the stare if it is unconscious?
A - Blink consciously, whenever possible, especially when reading. Never look at an object for more than a few seconds at a time. Shift your gaze.

Q - (a) My eyes are swollen and disfigured in the morning. (b) Although I have eight and nine hours' sleep, it does not rest me.
A - (a) The swelling of your eyes or eyelids in the morning is due to eyestrain when you are asleep.
Read chapter in my book on this subject. (b) You may be restless and sleep very poorly and strain your eyes terribly, although apparently you may be asleep for a long time.

Q - When palming and remembering black, is it advisable to keep the image stationary and to keep the same image, or is it just as good to shift from one object to another?
A - When palming and remembering black, one should imagine everything remembered to be moving and not stationary. It is necessary to shift from one image or from one object to another.

Q - What is most helpful when one is very nearsighted and finds it almost impossible to see without glasses?
A - Practice palming as frequently as possible every day. Keeping the eyes closed whenever convenient for five minutes ten times a day is also helpful.]]>

Go to the Movies – Cataract – (Sinbad The Sailor, Goats) - Stories From The Clinic; 112. Itching of the Eyelids by Emily A. Bates (Parasites in Boys Eyes) – Questions and Answers



BETTER EYESIGHT

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

JUNE, 1929

Go To The Movies

(Editor’s Note. - Recently a great many letters have come from patients and others asking if the movies were injurious to the eyes. For the benefit of these inquirers we are reprinting an article which appeared in this magazine in October, 1920.)

Cinematograph pictures are commonly supposed to be very injurious to the eyes, and it is a fact that they often cause much discomfort and lowering of vision. They can, however, be made a means of improving the sight. When they hurt the eyes it is because the subject strains to see them. If this tendency to strain can be overcome, the vision is always improved, and if the practice of viewing the pictures is continued long enough, nearsight, astigmatism and other troubles are cured.
If your sight is imperfect, therefore, you will find it an advantage to go to the movies frequently and learn to look at the pictures without strain. If they hurt your eyes, look away to the dark for a while, then look at a corner of the picture; look away again, and then look a little nearer to the center: and so on. In this way you may soon become able to look directly at the picture without discomfort. If this does not help, try palming for five minutes or longer. Dodge the pain, in short, and prevent the eyestrain by constant shifting, or by palming.

Shift on objects; object to object, part to part, small point to small point. Shift on/see fine details clear. Blink, breathe abdominally and relax. Trace objects and parts of objects with the Imaginary Nosefeather. Bring an eye patch to the movies; Practice shifting, tracing, central fixation on the objects, parts of objects, people on the screen with both eyes, then with one eye at a time, then both eyes together again.
Then just relax, forget about the eyes and enjoy the movie.
Practice this shifting, tracing, central fixation… both eyes, one eye at a time, both eyes together again, on any objects in your environment; close and distant.
If one eye needs more vision improvement, practice a while longer with that eye. Often correcting less clear vision in one eye; clarity of vision, eyes movement for shifting, central fixation, switching close and far - convergence, divergence, accommodation, un-accommodation is all that is needed to bring the vision in both eyes to 20/20 and clearer. This is basic ‘Behavioral Optometry applied with the Bates Method’ and is often not emphasized enough in many vision improvement courses.
When switching close and far on objects is taught, Optometrists would forget to teach the person to also shift on the object the eyes are looking at. Shifting and central fixation on the objects must be done when switching, looking at close and far objects.


Cataract

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

Sinbad the Sailor Story, How Goats Perform Their Own Cataract Operation

Sinbad the sailor told many stories of his voyages which have pleased some adults and many children. I wish to maintain that some of his experiences were true while many were not. On one of his voyages, when sailing in the tropics, a violent storm struck the ship and he was wrecked on the shores of an island in the Pacific Ocean. As usual, most of the sailors were drowned but Sinbad lived to return home and tell of the wonders he had seen.
It was related by him that the island was frequented by goats who were blind for a variable length of time. After a few days or weeks many of them recovered their sight, being cured in some way by a thorn bush which had large thorns. Sinbad watched them closely and discovered that each goat pushed each blind eye directly onto one of these thorns. After a few efforts the goat became able to see. How was it accomplished?
The cause of the blindness was the presence of an opaque body behind the pupil. This opaque body is a cataract. There are numerous operations for the cure of cataract but all are planned to move it to one side, above or below the optic axis so that the pupil appears perfectly clear and permits good sight. Eye doctors during the period when Sinbad flourished had no other cure for cataract except an operation such as the goat performed on his own eyes. It was done so easily, so quickly, and in most cases so successfully that many quacks or irregular practitioners who did not understand it failed to remove the cataract properly and the sight was not improved.
Sinbad wrote a very clear account of how the goats got rid of their cataracts. He told how a goat would, in his blindness, move his head and eyes about different parts of the thorn bush until he was able to push one of the thorns into his center of sight and push the opaque cataract out of the way.
Sinbad wrote a great deal about the failures. He described how in many of the goats which operated upon itself, foul matter would form and destroy one or both eyes. But when the goat did things right, the eyes healed without any bad symptoms whatever. Sinbad’s operation for the cure of cataract was described so long ago that there are still many doctors who claim that as they had never heard of Sinbad’s operation there never was such a person as Sinbad.
Modern physicians believe that the thorn is not the best instrument to use to remove the cataract in elderly people. Various and numerous operations have been recommended and practiced with good results.
An opacity of the crystalline lens which is sufficiently opaque to interfere with the vision is called a cataract. There are two kinds of cataract - hard and soft. The hard cataract occurs usually in adults. An operation for its removal is usually advised for an improvement in the sight. When the operation is done properly, the vision is usually permanently improved. After the operation is completed without accidents, strong glasses are prescribed, which increase the vision. Two pairs of strong glasses are used by the patient. One pair is to improve distant vision, while a second pair with much stronger glasses may be necessary for reading, sewing, or other close work. The Bates Method can improve vision without glasses after cataract operation and can reverse cataract and prevent the need for surgery.
Soft cataract occurs usually in children or in adults at the age of 45 or younger. One operation is called “needling,” in which a needle or very sharp knife penetrates a small part of the lens. A slight opacity of the lens may be seen for several days or longer, which usually causes no discomfort. It is customary to wait a few days or longer until the opacity made by the operation has disappeared. The operation is then repeated as before. By alternating in this way, the opacity of the lens becomes less after each needling until the cataract has disappeared altogether. The patient uses two pairs of glasses just the same as after the operation for the removal of a hard cataract.
Who were the earliest physicians? Who were the best doctors to cure the blindness of cataract? Barbers at an early date always bled their patients to cure any disease. Their motto was to bleed the patient until he was cured.
If the first bleeding failed it was considered good practice to bleed him some more. George Washington met his death at the hands of the barbers from too much bleeding. In the treatment of cataract in modern times we do things which are not always considered to be proper. At one of the best eye hospitals in this country patients suffering from severe pain and loss of sight have been bled from the temples and elsewhere and lost much blood that I considered unnecessary. While bleeding has apparently in some cases been a general benefit, this method of treatment is seldom indicated in a large number of patients.
Cataract occurs in a small percentage of persons with imperfect sight. One and the same method of treatment for all cases of cataract is not advised. It has been demonstrated and frequently published in this magazine that the cause of the opacity in the lens is a strain, a stare, an effort to see. When the strain is removed by relaxation methods, the cataract disappears and good or perfect sight is obtained without an operation of any kind. This being true, the removal of the cataract by some sort of an operation is the same as it would be to amputate the foot to cure rheumatism of the big toe.
People with cataract in one or both eyes may suffer from rheumatism, diabetes, bladder trouble, or other serious diseases which make it impossible for them to travel on land or water. Headache is sometimes continuous and of great severity. These patients may become bedridden and unable to walk without distress. The heart is often inflamed to such an extent that the slightest exertion brings on severe symptoms.
Some years ago a very intelligent Spaniard called to see me in reference to treatment of his wife who was a very sick woman and had been bedridden for many years. Her vision was very poor. She was unable to count her fingers when held in front of her face at a distance of two feet or more. The husband was told that it would be better for his wife to be cured of cataract while she was at home as the trip to New York would probably cause her so much discomfort that it would be very difficult to cure or improve her cataract by treatment. I told him that it would be possible for him to learn relaxation methods and have his wife practice them under his supervision. The fact that he himself had good sight would enable him to treat her more successfully than someone who had poor sight. He accepted my suggestion and told me that he would faithfully carry out any treatment which I might suggest.
The first thing I had him do was to:
+Read the Snellen test card at fifteen feet with each eye separately.
+Then he was directed to stand with his feet about one foot apart and to sway from side to side, while facing the Snellen test card. He learned how to do this very quickly. His attention was called to the fact that when the Snellen test card appeared to move in the opposite direction to the movement of his head, eyes and body, that the white card appeared whiter than it really was. The black letters also appeared much blacker and more distinct than when he did not practice the sway.
+He was then told to close his eyes and by opening and shutting them alternately, his vision improved.
+With his eyes closed he was able to imagine a small letter just as black as a large one and to imagine it better with his eyes closed than with his eyes open. When he imagined a small letter at the beginning of a line of letters perfectly black or as black as the larger letters, his vision improved to better than the average sight.
I examined his eyes with the retinoscope and found that the memory of imperfect sight caused the area of the pupil to appear blurred. When he strained or made an effort to improve his sight, the area of the pupil became very cloudy, the eyeballs became hard and the vision worse - a condition similar to that which occurs in cataract. This man was told that with his good sight he could at will increase the hardness of his good eyeballs more readily and lower his vision more readily than his wife who had cataract.
It is a truth that persons with normal eyes can produce imperfect sight at will to a greater degree than when the sight is imperfect from cataract. A large number of patients with cataract have been examined with the retinoscope at the same time that a strain is made to improve the sight. In all cases without exception the cataract became worse by an effort to see and the vision was still further lowered. Many persons with normal eyes were also examined at the same time. An effort to see better lowered the vision to a greater extent than occurred with the patients suffering from cataract.
It should be emphasized that a stare or strain is the principal cause of cataract. The retinoscope demonstrates that when an effort is made the cataract becomes worse. When the patient remembered or imagined letters or other objects the cloudiness and imperfect sight disappeared. An important point is the readiness with which an eye with good sight is able to produce imperfect sight while one with imperfect sight has great difficulty in straining sufficiently to increase it.
The husband was very much pleased because it seemed to him that there would be more difficulty in teaching his wife how to increase her cataract than to lessen or cure it. In due time I received a very grateful letter from him; he was much pleased to inform me that his wife had cured her cataract by my methods and after the cataract was cured, she became able to leave her bed. (She had been bedridden because of fear of walking about because of her poor eyesight.) The method was a benefit not only to her eyes but to her general health as well.

Man 106 Years Old - Vision Cured of Cataract by Bates Method

We have received many letters of inquiry from patients who have cataract who ask the questions: Can people eighty years of age be benefited? Which are the best methods of helping cataract? These questions were answered by the results of treatment in a man who was 106 years old. He came to the clinic with cataract so far advanced in each eye that he was unable, even with strong glasses, to read ordinary type. He was treated by rest of his eyes with the aid of shifting, swinging, memory, and imagination. After the first visit, he became able to read large print without glasses. His vision rapidly improved so that after some weeks of treatment, the cataract had disappeared and his vision for distance became normal. It was interesting to watch his cataract disappear while he was forming mental pictures of the white spaces between the lines of black letters.
Many patients with cataract who knew about this old man asked me how it was that he was cured in so short a time while many younger patients were not cured so quickly. The word obedience suggests that the reason this patient obtained so prompt and permanent a cure was because of his ability to obtain perfect relaxation of his eyes and mind as well as all the nerves of his body. For example, when he was told to close his eyes and keep them closed until told to open them, he did this thoroughly and well. Too many of my cataract patients do not practice central fixation as obediently as did my elderly patient.
So many people with cataract, when they close their eyes, feel that they are doing what they were told and cannot understand why they obtain so little benefit. Closing the eyes is not always followed by relaxation and rest. In short, there are many patients with cataract who strain their eyes more when they are closed than they do when they regard letters and objects with their eyes open. These patients are directed to practice the universal swing, the long swing, the variable swing and other methods of obtaining relaxation. One of the best methods of lessening cataract is to encourage the patient to regard a blank wall of one color. When the eyes are examined at the same time, it is usually found that the cataract has become less because the eye is not straining to see any one particular object.
Some cases of cataract acquire the ability to read without glasses very fine print held a few inches from the face. When such patients are recommended to read the fine print many hours daily, the cataract becomes less and the vision improves. The practice of regarding fine print or other small objects is one of the best methods of curing cataract.

Itching Of The Eyelids

& Presbyopia

By Emily A. Bates

Itching of the eyelids is sometimes a difficult thing to relieve. When a patient is troubled that way, Dr. Bates usually prescribes a salve and eyewash or eye drops to relieve the condition. Usually, such applications help, but there are times when a patient is troubled for a long period without much or any relief.
A middle-aged woman came to me in a highly nervous state and told me that she had been to several doctors, but they could only give her temporary relief. The doctors had given her exactly the same prescription that Dr. Bates usually prescribes for such a condition. Before coming to me as a last resort, she tried wearing dark glasses, thinking that she would find relief that way. Wearing the dark glasses indoors only aggravated her trouble, but while she was in the sunshine she felt relief most of the time.
She was a business woman and managed a summer hotel which kept her indoors most of the day. She was called upon at times to do some bookkeeping and after she had worn the dark glasses for a while, she discovered that she could no longer see at the near point. The last doctor whom she had called upon diagnosed her case as presbyopia, but he did not say what had caused it. He told her that at her age she had to expect a change in the condition of her eyes. He advised her to wear the glasses he prescribed for her only when it was absolutely necessary, and if that would not help to come and see me.
I had benefited the wife of this doctor and I am greatly disappointed that I did not have an opportunity to meet him before I left the West where I was taking care of patients. I tested the patient’s vision for the distance and she read 15/15 with much effort and squinting of her eyes. She squinted her eyes most of the time in order to see without discomfort. I gave her the Fundamental card to read. The type on this card starts with larger than ordinary reading type and ends with diamond type, which is much finer than ordinary type. She held this card at arm’s length and then drew back her head as far as she could in order to read the diamond type on the card. She could not understand how I could bring back her sight to the normal by our method of eye training. Before she came to me she believed that proper glasses would eventually relieve her of all her trouble, but that she would have to wear glasses at all times as long as she lived.
After a doctor friend of mine had examined her eyes, and diagnosed her case as presbyopia caused by strain, he asked me to examine her eyes with his retinoscope and verify his statement. The itching and burning of her eyelids had nothing to do with her sight. Sun treatment sometimes instantly relieves itching of the eyelids and also does more sometimes than medicine applied to the eyes. I placed my patient in the sun and while her eyes were closed I focused the strong light of the sun on her closed eyelids with the aid of the sun glass. This was done so quickly that the patient did not realize what I was doing.
Immediately after I used the sun glass I placed my hand before her closed eyelids to shade her eyes from the sun. Then I placed myself between my patient and the direct rays of the sunlight and asked her to open her eyes. She began to blink in a natural way as she looked at me and remarked how differently everything looked about her. She sighed with a sense of relief and asked me to do it again.
The second time I applied the sun glass she could stand the strong rays of the sun for about a minute and then I again placed myself between the sunlight and my patient’s eyes. Again I told her to open her eyes and look at me, but this time I held the Fundamental card before her, about twelve inches from her eyes. She read Number 3 or the third sentence on the card and then her eyelids began to itch again. The sun treatment was repeated for an hour, while she alternately read the Fundamental card and she read two more sentences, without noticing that she was gradually reading smaller type.
The patient was pleased with her first treatment and came daily for a week and each time her vision improved for the near point and the itching and burning of the eyelids became less.
We seldom advise patients about the amount of water that they drink, or the kind of food that they eat, but this patient had brought up the subject herself. My experience for many years with clinic patients has taught me much about the mistakes people make in eating the wrong food and not drinking sufficient water. I feel quite sure that my patient’s assistance and intelligence about eating unseasoned foods and drinking a large quantity of water every day helped to cure the irritation and discomfort of her eyes.
I did not cure this patient in a week’s time but at the end of one week’s treatment, after I had seen her for the last time, the presbyopia was entirely cured and she read microscopic type in bright sunlight as well as she could read ordinary type at six inches from her eyes. When reading microscopic type, she had to have a strong, artificial light, or place herself directly in the sunlight in order to read it. By looking at the white spaces of the diamond type, which is a little larger than microscopic type, she became able to see the white spaces between the lines of microscopic type and in this way, she was able to read it.
Like most people who have trouble with their eyes, she seldom blinked, which she thought was an affliction instead of a natural thing to do. While I did not like the discomfort that staring caused me, I purposely stared or blinked less frequently than I ordinarily do, as she stood before me. It helped her to understand how necessary it was to blink often and to do it continuously, in order to form the unconscious habit of blinking, when she no longer had trouble with her eyes. She noticed that when I blinked my eyes that the eyes moved slightly and when she began to practice this, she said that the burning of her eyes and itching became less. She made a mask from a large linen handkerchief and only exposed her eyes when she placed herself in the sun. She would sit in the sunshine for an hour at a time each day while her eyes troubled her. At the end of seven days, giving her daily treatment, her trouble disappeared entirely.
On the seventh day, I returned the dark glasses which she had placed in my possession, so that she would not be tempted at any time to wear them while under treatment. I asked her to put them on while she was sitting in the sun and tell me how she felt with them on. She said it seemed as though the world had become dark, without any sunlight. While she was talking to me, the discomfort she felt while the glasses were on was such that she threw them off quickly and said she did not want to use them again.

There comes to my mind a clinic case which I would like to report now. A woman who seemed fairly well dressed brought her little boy to the clinic and as he appeared before me, I noticed how shabbily he was dressed. His hair looked as though it had not been combed for many days and from the appearance of his little hands it seemed to me that soap was almost an unknown thing to him. The poor little fellow was about eight years of age or perhaps younger.
While I was giving my attention to some of the children who were having their eyes tested with the test cards, he came close to me and watched every move I made. His mother was holding his hand and as he moved closer to me, she drew him away, none too gently. A thought passed through my mind instantly that surely this was not his mother. He looked so shabby and dirty and she looked just the opposite. Dr. Bates placed him in the little dark room where all the patients had their eyes examined and after he had finished examining the little fellow’s eyes, he called my attention to the condition of his eyelids, which I had not noticed before.
His eyesight was normal. There was nothing wrong with the retina, but the cornea and sclera or the white parts of his eyes were much inflamed. The eyelids of both eyes were much mattered. Dr. Bates asked him what his greatest trouble was and he said his eyes itched all the time and even at night the itching prevented him from sleeping. Dr. Bates questioned the little boy’s mother and asked her how long he had had this trouble. She said she had noticed him rubbing his eyes for a few weeks or longer, but did not pay any attention to it until his school teachers sent him home to be examined by the Doctor.
We placed him in a good light and as the Doctor focused his magnifying glass on the eyelids, he drew back suddenly and asked me not to touch the boy’s eyes. On a slip of paper, the Doctor wrote the word “parasites.” The mother became enraged when the Doctor diagnosed the case as such. My heart went out to the little fellow. I did want to take him away from a mother who cared so little for her child. Dr. Bates advised the mother not to have anyone else use his towel or wash cloth and he directed her further to use an eye wash he prescribed and a salve to be applied afterward and to come regularly every clinic day until he was rid of his trouble.
Apparently the directions for his treatment at home meant time and attention which she did not care to give for the little fellow. Before we realized what had happened, the mother had left the clinic and we did not see her or her little boy again. We reported this case to someone in authority at the clinic who was to send a social worker to the home of the little boy. What became of the case we could never find out, but for the sake of any child who may be afflicted or become afflicted as this little boy was, I decided to tell about this case, so that mothers of public school children who might possibly read this article will know what to do to help their children.

If the mother cannot afford to visit a physician at his office, she can always find a competent one at any eye clinic and receive treatment with permanent benefit. Sometimes through no fault of the mother or child, a thing like this happens and it seems out of nowhere that this contagious thing strikes even the cleanest and well cared for children. The itching in this condition is terrific. If the trouble is noticed and looked after in time, it can be easily cured by treatment. As Dr. Bates explained this condition to me, he said that he did not believe that he nor any doctor can tell where such things originate. We do know, however, that cleanliness helps to eliminate the trouble.


Questions And Answers

Q - After palming for ten minutes or longer, my eyes are rested, but I feel sleepy.
A - The palming is not perfect. Try imagining stationary objects to be moving when you palm.

Q - Are memory and imagination the same? When we remember an object do we have to visualize it?
A – A perfect memory cannot be obtained unless you are able to imagine that you see or visualize what you remember.

Q - Please give me a simple demonstration or example of the swing. I cannot see objects moving when I know they are stationary.
A - When you ride in a railroad train which is traveling fast, and look out that window, you may see the telegraph poles and other objects moving in the opposite direction.

Q - My little son, four years old, becomes fidgety while palming. Do you prescribe something else equally beneficial?
A - Your little son may become able to palm for a few minutes at a time. Swaying from side to side usually helps.

Q - How can one overcome the stare if it is unconscious?
A - Blink consciously, whenever possible, especially when reading. Never look at an object for more than a few seconds at a time. Shift your gaze.

Q - (a) My eyes are swollen and disfigured in the morning. (b) Although I have eight and nine hours' sleep, it does not rest me.
A - (a) The swelling of your eyes or eyelids in the morning is due to eyestrain when you are asleep.
Read chapter in my book on this subject. (b) You may be restless and sleep very poorly and strain your eyes terribly, although apparently you may be asleep for a long time.

Q - When palming and remembering black, is it advisable to keep the image stationary and to keep the same image, or is it just as good to shift from one object to another?
A - When palming and remembering black, one should imagine everything remembered to be moving and not stationary. It is necessary to shift from one image or from one object to another.

Q - What is most helpful when one is very nearsighted and finds it almost impossible to see without glasses?
A - Practice palming as frequently as possible every day. Keeping the eyes closed whenever convenient for five minutes ten times a day is also helpful.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=269 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:01:09 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=269

Shifting – Treatment – Case Reports - Stories From The Clinic; 111. Eye Injuries by Emily A. Bates



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

MAY, 1929

Shifting

When the normal eye has normal sight it is at rest and when it is at rest it is always moving or shifting. Shifting may be done consciously with improvement in the vision, or it may be done unconsciously with impaired vision.

Shifting can be practiced correctly and incorrectly.

+A wrong way to shift is to turn the head to the right while the eyes are turned to the left, or to turn the head to the left while the eyes are turned to the right.

+Correct way = Eyes, head/face, body move together, synchronized, at the same time, in the same direction.

To improve imperfect sight by shifting, it is well to move the head and eyes so far away that the first letter or object imagined is too far away to be seen at all clearly. Shifting from small letters to large letters alternately may be a greater benefit than shifting from one small letter to another small letter. Quite frequently the vision is decidedly improved by shifting continuously from one side of a small letter to the other side, while the letter is imagined to be moving in the opposite direction. When the shifting is slow, short, and easy, the best results in the improvement in the vision are obtained.
The eye also moves quick, very fast (Saccadic) and this occurs automatically. Any attempt to stop the shifting always lowers the vision. The letter or other object which appeared to move is usually shifting a short distance – one half or one quarter of an inch. It is not possible to imagine any particular letter or other object stationary for a longer time than one minute.
Strain, blur begins when the eyes have not moved after a fraction of a second to one second.
While the patient is seated, benefit can be obtained from shifting, but even more benefit can be obtained when the shifting is practiced while the patient is standing and moving the head and shoulders, in fact the whole body, a very short distance from side to side. (The Sway, Rock) Shifting the whole body makes it easier to shift a short distance and may explain why this method is best.

It is easy to see letters on a eyechart clear when shifting easily on the letters while doing the sway a short distance left and right.
Blink, sway, relax.

Treatment

By W. H. Bates, M.D.


Vision is largely associated with the activity of the mind. The memory, imagination, must be nearly perfect for the vision to be nearly perfect. When the memory is imperfect, the imagination and sight are always imperfect. There are no exceptions.

In MYOPIA, or short sight, (unclear distant vision) the eyeball is elongated. Myopia can be produced by a stare, concentration, or an effort to see distant objects. When all objects are regarded with an effort to see more than two parts perfectly at the same time, myopia is always produced. (Shift from part to part, seeing one part at a time perfect, clearest produces clear vision) To do the wrong thing, a strain or effort is made. The greater the strain, the more imperfect becomes the vision. To do the wrong thing requires much trouble, hard work, and a useless effort. The production of myopia is not easy. Rather it is difficult. This truth, when demonstrated by the patient, is important. It demonstrates the cause of myopia and when the cause of myopia is known, treatment can usually be suggested which helps in the cure.
The production of improved or perfect sight is easy. Rest or the absence of strain is helpful in obtaining normal vision.
When the sight is normal, the eye is at rest. Any effort to improve the sight is wrong, always fails, and the vision soon becomes less. Perfect sight is easy and is not benefited by strong efforts to improve the sight. Myopia is cured by the efforts which are not made, rather than by strong efforts to see. Most people with myopia are not conscious of the stare, strain, or effort. Persons with normal sight are often able successfully to demonstrate the existence of strain in myopia and to suggest successful methods of treatment for the prevention of strain.
One method of treatment has been practiced consciously, continuously, and successfully, namely: “Make the sight worse by a strong effort to stare.” The imperfect sight of myopia does not come easily by staring. When it does come the patient feels a manifest strain in his head and all his nerves. By alternately producing the stare consciously and unconsciously he realizes the harm it can produce. He becomes acquainted with the stare. By practice, he becomes able to produce it to any extent and at all times.
Imperfect sight is difficult and normal or improved sight is easy and enables most people with myopia to obtain a cure in a very short time. It should be known that high degrees of myopia are not always easy to produce. It is a truth that quick cures of myopia can only be obtained by persons who have the ability to make the myopia worse.
Some statistics on the production of myopia in school children and others show that 10 percent of the population are myopic, 80 percent have imperfect sight from other causes, and 10 percent have normal sight. Some statistics state that 50 percent of the population of China and about the same percentage in Japan have acquired myopia by improper use of their eyes. What is improper use of the eyes, and what is known of the cause of myopia in these countries? They are a book-reading people to such a slight extent that we need not consider the use of books in the daily life of the Chinese. No one can say that the Chinese have acquired imperfect sight from reading. The characters of the books that they do possess are very large compared to our print and that used in other countries. Many writers have stated that fine print is a strain on the eyesight, and is the cause of myopia; the Chinese use very large print and there is no nation in the world that has so much myopia! Large print instead of being a rest to the eyes is a great strain.
Some years ago, a prominent ophthalmologist of Cleveland was told to introduce in the public schools books printed in very large type. After a short time, the teachers complained to the authorities that the large print hurt the eyes of the children and increased the production of myopia and made so much trouble that they requested that the new books be discarded and books with finer print be used again. This is offered as evidence that myopia does not result from the reading of fine print. Fine print, instead of being the cause of nearsightedness, is the best preventative that one can use. One should not stare at the letters of fine print, but rather, he should take a break and look at the white spaces between the lines, look to other objects, then, when the eyes are relaxed, look back to the fine print. Blink, relax, shift on/along the words or through the center of the words as the sentences are read. Look at the white spaces or distant objects to rest the eyes, then back to the print. In this way the print is seen without strain.
The Snellen test card can be used in various ways to improve the vision. The best distance of the card from the patient is variable. Some patients with a high degree of myopia will improve more when the card is read at a short distance, five feet or less. Other patients prefer to have the test card at a greater distance from their eyes and they improve their vision more when they practice with the card at a long distance off - twenty-five, thirty, or, forty feet. The optimum distance of the card from the patient is the distance at which the best results are obtained. To imagine the card to be moving, when held in front of the patient, who at the same time sways from side to side, is usually beneficial. After a little practice, when the patient sways from side to side, the card may be imagined to be moving about four to six inches from side to side. If the card seems to sway a very short distance or not at all, it usually means that the patient is staring, straining, or trying to see.
One should avoid looking directly at the Snellen test card, because then the movement of the card becomes uncertain or disappears altogether. A long movement of the card from side to side can be shortened with an improvement in the vision. When the patient stands with the feet about one foot apart and sways from side to side, without looking directly at the card, the letters may be seen to move in the same or in the opposite direction.
The correct result is for the letters to move opposite – ‘oppositional movement’. If a object is in front of the card, closer to you, the card, letters appear to move with, in the same direction as the eyes, head, body. The shorter the sway, the shorter the oppositional movement.
Sometimes practice with the card will be followed by double or multiple vision, due to the fact that the patient stares, strains, and makes an effort to see the letters. For example, one patient saw one line of letters multiplied two or three times. This would not have occurred if the patient had imagined the card moving slightly from side to side, and had not tried to see the letters. Palming, when practiced successfully, has relieved many cases of double vision. Some letters, objects appear double, triple as the blur and any underlying astigmatism is removed and the brain, eye muscles relax, left and right brain hemispheres work together, correct with eyes, eye muscles.
Some patients, when they palm, see flashes of light and all the colors of the spectrum, without at any time seeing black. It is strange to hear patients complain of the numerous objects they remember or imagine when they palm. Thinking of pleasant things has helped some people to palm more successfully. The memory of imperfect sight is a strain and should not be practiced when palming. The length of time that patients can palm with benefit is widely variable. Some patients have gone to sleep while palming and when they awakened in the morning they were still palming, with their hand covering their eyes, with the result that their vision was very much improved. Others obtain more benefit from palming for short periods of time at frequent intervals.

The Thin White Line

If one can imagine a thin white line below letters of the test card or beneath a line of fine print it is very helpful. This thin white line is only imagined, it is not seen, because the line is not really there. It is valuable in the treatment and cure of presbyopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism and many cases of myopia. It is well to imagine it in the right way. The wrong way is to try to imagine the thin white line and the black letters at the same time. This is a strain which always blurs the black letters and prevents the thin white line from being imagined. It is actually seen, it appears and is a beneficial illusion.
Many patients complain that they have difficulty in imagining the thin white line. To overcome this, one should imagine it just below some word or collection of words which are known. The line is then readily imagined and it can be imagined extending from one side of the page to the other, and wherever it becomes manifest the vision is always improved. One can read rapidly, clearly, and without discomfort, when he is conscious of the thin white line, but to fix the black letters and expect to read them is a mistake which very few teachers or students have observed. The fact that one cannot read properly when looking at the black letters should be more widely known. Much time has been lost in the class room by teachers trying to force the children to look directly at the blackness of the black letters. When black letters are regarded and seen best, much pain, discomfort, or imperfect sight is experienced: If staring, squinting, effort, diffusion to see the letters clear is used.
One cannot be sure when imagining the thin white line that the eyes are directed toward it. When one plans to look at the thin white line and while trying to read something feels discomfort or pain, it means that the eyes are not directed on the thin white line as the reader may imagine.

Bates writing about the white spaces, thin white line is a bit confusing. Modern teachers state; to see a letter, object clear; look directly at it. I believe Bates means for the person to be able to see the thin white line by looking directly at it, shifting back and forth from the letters to the white line, to the letters again… To shift to the black letters, look directly at them, move the eyes (visual attention) on the letters to read, see them clear. No staring at the white line/spaces, no staring at the letters. Let the eyes shift, move, blink, relax.
Modern teachers have removed many of Bates paragraphs concerning the white spaces and thin white line.
They are left in this book so the reader can obtain Dr. Bates original work.
In other issues of Better Eyesight Magazine Dr. Bates gives these modern directions.
The blue print on this website is by Clark Night to explain Modern versions of the methods.
Just remember; when you want to see the thin white line or white spaces; look directly at them. ‘Central Fixation.’ Shift on them.
If you want to see/read the black letters; look directly at the black letters. ‘Central fixation.’ Shift, move the eyes along the sentence.
The white spaces and line will also appear in the peripheral field when reading the black print in the center of the visual field and when shifting from sentence to sentence, spaces to words, words to spaces.
The white line, white glow also appears around blue, green and other colored letters and on other colored paper/backgrounds.
See the white glow on the blue sky above mountains, trees. Shift back and forth on the mountains, trees and sky and see the glow flash. The glow can also be seen around a person, especially the head. It can be different colors. Scientists, religions state a aura, energy field can appear.

It is well for each patient to test his ability to concentrate, stare at on one point of a large letter or of a small letter. In less than a minute the patient suffers fatigue, pain, imperfect sight. When concentration causes trouble, common sense would suggest that the concentration be avoided. Shift from point to point for clear vision.
Most cases of imperfect sight are cured by relaxation - relaxation of the mind, relaxation of the nerves of the head and of all other parts of the body. The importance of the control of relaxation is very great, because most diseases of the eyes are caused by the stare or strain and cannot be cured until the stare or strain is relieved.

Case Reports

A girl, twelve years of age, was brought to the office by her mother who complained that her daughter was suffering from a high degree of progressive myopia, and that her glasses had to be changed quite frequently because of this fact. She said that she did not want to buy any more glasses because each pair had to be changed after a few months. When I tested her glasses, I found that she was wearing Concave 12 D.S. After she had been under treatment for some time, her mother said that the girl did not see the Snellen test card, but that she committed it to memory. To satisfy the mother and to obtain some facts, I showed the daughter a strange card. Although it was placed more than fifteen feet away, she read every letter correctly, much to the surprise of the mother.
When the daughter was asked how she did it, all she said was ''Starch.'' The mother asked her why she answered so queerly. Then I told the mother that I had trained the girl to improve her sight by the use of a perfect imagination or memory. When she remembered or imagined things perfectly she always had perfect sight. She must have remembered the starch perfectly white in order to become able by the memory of starch to see the letters on the strange card perfectly. The mother then said to me: "I wish you would speak to her about the way she goes downstairs; she runs down three steps at a time and I am very much afraid that she will stumble and hurt herself.'' I spoke to the girl about this and she told me that while she was going downstairs, three steps at a time, she remembered a piece of white starch. The memory of the starch gave her a perfect balance so that she was always certain of the steps that she took. The memory of starch or a white handkerchief freshly laundered has helped other people to improve their vision immediately.
A man, aged 51, had worn glasses for hypermetropia and for reading for 20 years. Without glasses his vision at fifteen feet was 15/200. He was told to imagine a thin white line between the white spaces of the Fundamental card. In about five minutes the patient became able to remember or imagine a thin white line when regarding the white spaces between the lines of black letters. By repetition and some patience he became able to read diamond type at six inches. After this was accomplished, his vision for distance became normal and he read the bottom line without trouble at fifteen feet.


Eye Injuries

By Emily A. Bates

It is not always easy to treat a case where the sight has become impaired through an accident or injury to the eye. I have in mind particularly two patients who came to me recently, and who at one time had had normal vision.
One was a young man, 23 years of age, who had been to several doctors for treatment during a period of ten years, and as he explained his case to me, I realized how despondent he was, fearing that he would go blind completely. He was thirteen years of age when he was taken on a long automobile trip, at which time the accident occurred. Being far away from civilization, it was some time before he was able to receive medical aid, and during that time his vision became very poor in both eyes. Some of the occupants of the car were instantly killed. He was found pinned under the overturned car, some days after the accident and after he had recovered consciousness he found that he could not see well. His head had been cut very badly and the doctors feared that internal injuries on his head and other parts of his body would prove fatal, and for a time it was thought that he would lose his mind as well as his sight. When he came to me, there was a scar on his forehead directly over each eye, but otherwise he showed no outward signs of injury.
He had received a different kind of treatment from every doctor who had treated him with the result that he did not go blind entirely. He got along very well with the aid of glasses for a time and then cataract began to form in each eye. An operation was advised but the boy refused to submit to this. Friends cared for him and helped him with his education but his sight was too poor to aid him in doing any kind of work which would require the use of his eyes. He stopped going to doctors for help because each one who had treated him advised an operation for the removal of cataract, with the exception of the last doctor who had given him medical treatment. This doctor knows Dr. Bates very well and has from time to time cured headaches and other pain by the Bates method, although he is not an eye specialist.
At the advice of this doctor, the boy came to me for treatment while I was in the West. The cataract could easily be seen by the naked eye, but there was a small spot about the size of the head of a pin in the retina which was clear. Not being allowed to use my retinoscope in California, in the absence of a doctor, I asked him to bring me a written statement from a specialist who had given him a thorough examination of his eyes. He replied that he had already been to one and explained that the doctor had said that there was no hope of his ever regaining his sight. He gave me a written report from a few of the doctors who had examined him and each one had given him a different diagnosis, but all of them said there was no hope of his ever seeing again, unless he submitted to an operation, which would probably be useless.
Sometimes I have to spend a considerable amount of time convincing a patient that I can really help him, if he can have enough confidence in what I am able to do, but this young man did not need any explanation, for I seemed to be his last hope. He did not ask me for an opinion, but just came at the advice of his family physician. He felt that I really could help him if there were any chance at all.
I placed a large test card five feet from his eyes. I thought I would use the black card with white letters first, because this card seems easier for the partially blind patient, or those patients who have diseases of the eye, such as glaucoma, atrophy of the optic nerve, and so forth. Before I placed the card in position at five feet I had told him to close his eyes to rest them because all the while he had been in my presence, he stared hard to see me and seldom blinked his eyes. I placed the test card with the blank side of the test card facing him. There was only a plain white surface to look at and I was hoping that he would see it as it really was. When he opened his eyes, at my suggestion, he was waiting for me to tell him what to do while he looked at the blank side of this card. I asked him if he could see any letters on the card and he said, “No, it seems like a blank white paper.”
I was pleased that he saw the card as it really was, without my telling him. I told him to close his eyes immediately and while his eyes were closed, I turned the card right side up. I told him to open his eyes and tell me what he saw. He was able to read three lines of the test card immediately. I encouraged him then and told him that if he were willing to sacrifice his time that I surely would give him my time to help him to improve the little vision he had.
After he palmed and improved his memory by reciting history, which was his favorite subject at school, he read the card again for me, and this time his vision improved to 5/30. I gave him a test card to practice with at home and told him to report to me in a few days’ time.
Seven months later he came again for treatment. His eyes looked much better and his face showed signs of relaxation, which were absent at his first visit. I tested his sight again with the same black card with white letters and his vision had improved to 5/20. He reported that he had practiced two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening every day since his first visit. He remembered what I had said to him about blinking his eyes consciously all the time in order to avoid the stare which made the cataract worse.
I placed him by a window and told him to look across the street where there was a large sign with letters that looked to be about three feet in height. He said he could not read any signs from the window. I gave him a fine print card to hold in his hand and he looked at the white spaces below the lines of black type that were on the small card. I told him to look at the white spaces and then to close his eyes and to imagine the white whiter than he saw it on the card. He did this alternately for about five minutes and when he looked out of the window to where this large sign was, he began to see the letters one by one by quickly looking away, after seeing each letter as I directed him, and taking the sun treatment as he stood by the window, which I thought would help him. Without giving him notice, I told him to turn around with his back to the light and to look at the test card which was five feet away, and he read another line of the test card at 5/15.
I gave him the Fundamental card to read, but all he could see was sentence Number 1 and the words “Fundamentals by W. H. Bates, M.D.” All the rest of the card was a blur to him. He knew there were words on the card, but he could not distinguish them.
Not far away from my office there was a public park where he would sit for hours at a time to take sun treatment. The warmth of the western sun is the most healing thing in the world in cases where the sun is helpful. I can prove it by this particular case, because the next time my patient came, he was able to read the whole of the Fundamental card up to sentence Number 15, which is in diamond type. He did not read it immediately as one with normal sight would have done, but with many hours of patience on my part and with the aid of the sun-glass treatment in between times he finally read it. Sometime later he came for another treatment and this time he read the microscopic type I gave him, which is a reproduction of that contained in the small Bible. He read this type at nine inches from his eyes. I then tested his sight for the large test card and his vision had improved to 7/20, and later 7/15 by palming and the long swing.
He left the West for other parts and I did not see him again but I received a letter sometime later, saying that he was still practicing with the test card and also with the fine type every day. After that, however, I lost track of him. There is not much satisfaction in treating a case like that unless we can cure it, but I hope that wherever he is that he is still keeping up with the Bates treatment and receiving benefit. At any rate, I was very much encouraged to know that the Bates Method helped when all else failed, and that I was able to improve his vision, instead of saying as others had said to him that there was no more hope.

The other case which was interesting to me was a young man, twenty years old, who had started to wear glasses at the age of ten years. He had been playing with some boys near a building that was being torn down and without realizing it the boys were playing near a section of a wall which was about to come down. It finally did tumble down and buried them under a mass of debris. The boy’s glasses were broken and the right eye was severely injured, having been cut by the broken glass.
His father was a physician and he took him to various eye specialists in the hope that the left eye could be saved. For some time the left eye was discharging and he almost lost the sight of it. With medical treatment and care the discharge ceased and apparently there seemed to be nothing wrong with his left eye. He strained terribly in daylight, but at night he had very little trouble in seeing things. Since the accident he had acquired the habit of turning his head to one side and squeezing the lids of his right eye together tightly, in order to see with the left.
Before I tested his sight with the test card he told me that there was a dead nerve in the left eye which was caused by the injury to the right eye—at least he was told by the eye specialists that this was so. After the accident he said that he had had an attack of malaria, and then keratitis settled in both eyes. At the age of fifteen he suffered a great deal of pain in his right eye and was treated for iritis.
After listening to all he had to say, I tested his sight. He could only see the large letter “C” of the test card at six inches from his right eye. Everything else was a blank to him. His vision with the left eye was 15/20, and all the letters were clear and black. In order to read with the left eye, he turned his head to one side. I told him to palm and reminded him that he must not remove his hands from his eyes while I was talking to him. I told him that no matter what the diagnosis was or how bad his sight was that he could at least see something on the test card with his right eye and that I did not believe that there was anything radically wrong with his left eye. If there were, he could not have seen the 20 line letters of the card at fifteen feet.
I gave him some sun treatment after he had palmed a little while and then told him to palm again before I tested his sight the second time. I felt that it was necessary for him to close his eyes and palm after being in the bright sunlight.
This poor fellow had quite a story to tell me and I had a strong desire to become better acquainted with him and help him in other ways besides improving his sight. He was not a nice looking boy and neither was he clean. He did not wear a coat or vest and he had no hat with him when he came. His shoes were soiled and much worn and he looked as though he had not received much affection or care for a long time. He was short in his answers and when he looked at me, he would just look for a moment and then look away. I told him that I believed that he was far away from his home, but that he was not the only one, and that I was three thousand miles away from my home too.
While he was palming, I noticed a tear drop on the front of his shirt and then I encouraged him to tell me all about everything that was on his mind. I told him I wanted to be his friend if he would let me. He told me that he was sad and lonely too and that his family no longer cared about him. He said that it was his own fault, of course, but a strict father whose confidence he never had made it hard for him to live at home. He said that he did not know what was the matter with him, but that he could never hold a job for any length of time. He knew there was something wrong with him but he did not know how to become better and he had no one to guide him.
I asked him if he had a home somewhere and he said “Yes.” He said that a distant relative had befriended him and given him a place to sleep. What I had to say to him that day helped, I know, because the next time he came his shoes were cleaned, his top shirt had been washed and ironed and his face and hands were clean. We became friends after that and up to the last week of my stay in the West, I helped him with his sight and in other ways. As his vision improved, he obtained a position in an office which paid him a fair salary. Every day he arose early in the morning to practice with the test card and before retiring at night he practiced again. During the day he remembered what I had advised him to do with the small pocket test card and microscopic type. He practiced the long swing and palming which always helped to improve his sight, and on the last day I saw him his right eye had improved to the 50 line of the test card, as he held the card at two feet from his eyes. His left eye improved to 12/10 which is more than normal vision.
I have had no further report from this patient, but I am confident that he has not forgotten what to do to avoid the loss of vision in his right eye.
If this patient I have written about reads this article, he will know who I mean. I hope that if at any time he visits New York he will come to see me if he needs more help for his eyes.]]>

Shifting – Treatment – Case Reports - Stories From The Clinic; 111. Eye Injuries by Emily A. Bates



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

MAY, 1929

Shifting

When the normal eye has normal sight it is at rest and when it is at rest it is always moving or shifting. Shifting may be done consciously with improvement in the vision, or it may be done unconsciously with impaired vision.

Shifting can be practiced correctly and incorrectly.

+A wrong way to shift is to turn the head to the right while the eyes are turned to the left, or to turn the head to the left while the eyes are turned to the right.

+Correct way = Eyes, head/face, body move together, synchronized, at the same time, in the same direction.

To improve imperfect sight by shifting, it is well to move the head and eyes so far away that the first letter or object imagined is too far away to be seen at all clearly. Shifting from small letters to large letters alternately may be a greater benefit than shifting from one small letter to another small letter. Quite frequently the vision is decidedly improved by shifting continuously from one side of a small letter to the other side, while the letter is imagined to be moving in the opposite direction. When the shifting is slow, short, and easy, the best results in the improvement in the vision are obtained.
The eye also moves quick, very fast (Saccadic) and this occurs automatically. Any attempt to stop the shifting always lowers the vision. The letter or other object which appeared to move is usually shifting a short distance – one half or one quarter of an inch. It is not possible to imagine any particular letter or other object stationary for a longer time than one minute.
Strain, blur begins when the eyes have not moved after a fraction of a second to one second.
While the patient is seated, benefit can be obtained from shifting, but even more benefit can be obtained when the shifting is practiced while the patient is standing and moving the head and shoulders, in fact the whole body, a very short distance from side to side. (The Sway, Rock) Shifting the whole body makes it easier to shift a short distance and may explain why this method is best.

It is easy to see letters on a eyechart clear when shifting easily on the letters while doing the sway a short distance left and right.
Blink, sway, relax.

Treatment

By W. H. Bates, M.D.


Vision is largely associated with the activity of the mind. The memory, imagination, must be nearly perfect for the vision to be nearly perfect. When the memory is imperfect, the imagination and sight are always imperfect. There are no exceptions.

In MYOPIA, or short sight, (unclear distant vision) the eyeball is elongated. Myopia can be produced by a stare, concentration, or an effort to see distant objects. When all objects are regarded with an effort to see more than two parts perfectly at the same time, myopia is always produced. (Shift from part to part, seeing one part at a time perfect, clearest produces clear vision) To do the wrong thing, a strain or effort is made. The greater the strain, the more imperfect becomes the vision. To do the wrong thing requires much trouble, hard work, and a useless effort. The production of myopia is not easy. Rather it is difficult. This truth, when demonstrated by the patient, is important. It demonstrates the cause of myopia and when the cause of myopia is known, treatment can usually be suggested which helps in the cure.
The production of improved or perfect sight is easy. Rest or the absence of strain is helpful in obtaining normal vision.
When the sight is normal, the eye is at rest. Any effort to improve the sight is wrong, always fails, and the vision soon becomes less. Perfect sight is easy and is not benefited by strong efforts to improve the sight. Myopia is cured by the efforts which are not made, rather than by strong efforts to see. Most people with myopia are not conscious of the stare, strain, or effort. Persons with normal sight are often able successfully to demonstrate the existence of strain in myopia and to suggest successful methods of treatment for the prevention of strain.
One method of treatment has been practiced consciously, continuously, and successfully, namely: “Make the sight worse by a strong effort to stare.” The imperfect sight of myopia does not come easily by staring. When it does come the patient feels a manifest strain in his head and all his nerves. By alternately producing the stare consciously and unconsciously he realizes the harm it can produce. He becomes acquainted with the stare. By practice, he becomes able to produce it to any extent and at all times.
Imperfect sight is difficult and normal or improved sight is easy and enables most people with myopia to obtain a cure in a very short time. It should be known that high degrees of myopia are not always easy to produce. It is a truth that quick cures of myopia can only be obtained by persons who have the ability to make the myopia worse.
Some statistics on the production of myopia in school children and others show that 10 percent of the population are myopic, 80 percent have imperfect sight from other causes, and 10 percent have normal sight. Some statistics state that 50 percent of the population of China and about the same percentage in Japan have acquired myopia by improper use of their eyes. What is improper use of the eyes, and what is known of the cause of myopia in these countries? They are a book-reading people to such a slight extent that we need not consider the use of books in the daily life of the Chinese. No one can say that the Chinese have acquired imperfect sight from reading. The characters of the books that they do possess are very large compared to our print and that used in other countries. Many writers have stated that fine print is a strain on the eyesight, and is the cause of myopia; the Chinese use very large print and there is no nation in the world that has so much myopia! Large print instead of being a rest to the eyes is a great strain.
Some years ago, a prominent ophthalmologist of Cleveland was told to introduce in the public schools books printed in very large type. After a short time, the teachers complained to the authorities that the large print hurt the eyes of the children and increased the production of myopia and made so much trouble that they requested that the new books be discarded and books with finer print be used again. This is offered as evidence that myopia does not result from the reading of fine print. Fine print, instead of being the cause of nearsightedness, is the best preventative that one can use. One should not stare at the letters of fine print, but rather, he should take a break and look at the white spaces between the lines, look to other objects, then, when the eyes are relaxed, look back to the fine print. Blink, relax, shift on/along the words or through the center of the words as the sentences are read. Look at the white spaces or distant objects to rest the eyes, then back to the print. In this way the print is seen without strain.
The Snellen test card can be used in various ways to improve the vision. The best distance of the card from the patient is variable. Some patients with a high degree of myopia will improve more when the card is read at a short distance, five feet or less. Other patients prefer to have the test card at a greater distance from their eyes and they improve their vision more when they practice with the card at a long distance off - twenty-five, thirty, or, forty feet. The optimum distance of the card from the patient is the distance at which the best results are obtained. To imagine the card to be moving, when held in front of the patient, who at the same time sways from side to side, is usually beneficial. After a little practice, when the patient sways from side to side, the card may be imagined to be moving about four to six inches from side to side. If the card seems to sway a very short distance or not at all, it usually means that the patient is staring, straining, or trying to see.
One should avoid looking directly at the Snellen test card, because then the movement of the card becomes uncertain or disappears altogether. A long movement of the card from side to side can be shortened with an improvement in the vision. When the patient stands with the feet about one foot apart and sways from side to side, without looking directly at the card, the letters may be seen to move in the same or in the opposite direction.
The correct result is for the letters to move opposite – ‘oppositional movement’. If a object is in front of the card, closer to you, the card, letters appear to move with, in the same direction as the eyes, head, body. The shorter the sway, the shorter the oppositional movement.
Sometimes practice with the card will be followed by double or multiple vision, due to the fact that the patient stares, strains, and makes an effort to see the letters. For example, one patient saw one line of letters multiplied two or three times. This would not have occurred if the patient had imagined the card moving slightly from side to side, and had not tried to see the letters. Palming, when practiced successfully, has relieved many cases of double vision. Some letters, objects appear double, triple as the blur and any underlying astigmatism is removed and the brain, eye muscles relax, left and right brain hemispheres work together, correct with eyes, eye muscles.
Some patients, when they palm, see flashes of light and all the colors of the spectrum, without at any time seeing black. It is strange to hear patients complain of the numerous objects they remember or imagine when they palm. Thinking of pleasant things has helped some people to palm more successfully. The memory of imperfect sight is a strain and should not be practiced when palming. The length of time that patients can palm with benefit is widely variable. Some patients have gone to sleep while palming and when they awakened in the morning they were still palming, with their hand covering their eyes, with the result that their vision was very much improved. Others obtain more benefit from palming for short periods of time at frequent intervals.

The Thin White Line

If one can imagine a thin white line below letters of the test card or beneath a line of fine print it is very helpful. This thin white line is only imagined, it is not seen, because the line is not really there. It is valuable in the treatment and cure of presbyopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism and many cases of myopia. It is well to imagine it in the right way. The wrong way is to try to imagine the thin white line and the black letters at the same time. This is a strain which always blurs the black letters and prevents the thin white line from being imagined. It is actually seen, it appears and is a beneficial illusion.
Many patients complain that they have difficulty in imagining the thin white line. To overcome this, one should imagine it just below some word or collection of words which are known. The line is then readily imagined and it can be imagined extending from one side of the page to the other, and wherever it becomes manifest the vision is always improved. One can read rapidly, clearly, and without discomfort, when he is conscious of the thin white line, but to fix the black letters and expect to read them is a mistake which very few teachers or students have observed. The fact that one cannot read properly when looking at the black letters should be more widely known. Much time has been lost in the class room by teachers trying to force the children to look directly at the blackness of the black letters. When black letters are regarded and seen best, much pain, discomfort, or imperfect sight is experienced: If staring, squinting, effort, diffusion to see the letters clear is used.
One cannot be sure when imagining the thin white line that the eyes are directed toward it. When one plans to look at the thin white line and while trying to read something feels discomfort or pain, it means that the eyes are not directed on the thin white line as the reader may imagine.

Bates writing about the white spaces, thin white line is a bit confusing. Modern teachers state; to see a letter, object clear; look directly at it. I believe Bates means for the person to be able to see the thin white line by looking directly at it, shifting back and forth from the letters to the white line, to the letters again… To shift to the black letters, look directly at them, move the eyes (visual attention) on the letters to read, see them clear. No staring at the white line/spaces, no staring at the letters. Let the eyes shift, move, blink, relax.
Modern teachers have removed many of Bates paragraphs concerning the white spaces and thin white line.
They are left in this book so the reader can obtain Dr. Bates original work.
In other issues of Better Eyesight Magazine Dr. Bates gives these modern directions.
The blue print on this website is by Clark Night to explain Modern versions of the methods.
Just remember; when you want to see the thin white line or white spaces; look directly at them. ‘Central Fixation.’ Shift on them.
If you want to see/read the black letters; look directly at the black letters. ‘Central fixation.’ Shift, move the eyes along the sentence.
The white spaces and line will also appear in the peripheral field when reading the black print in the center of the visual field and when shifting from sentence to sentence, spaces to words, words to spaces.
The white line, white glow also appears around blue, green and other colored letters and on other colored paper/backgrounds.
See the white glow on the blue sky above mountains, trees. Shift back and forth on the mountains, trees and sky and see the glow flash. The glow can also be seen around a person, especially the head. It can be different colors. Scientists, religions state a aura, energy field can appear.

It is well for each patient to test his ability to concentrate, stare at on one point of a large letter or of a small letter. In less than a minute the patient suffers fatigue, pain, imperfect sight. When concentration causes trouble, common sense would suggest that the concentration be avoided. Shift from point to point for clear vision.
Most cases of imperfect sight are cured by relaxation - relaxation of the mind, relaxation of the nerves of the head and of all other parts of the body. The importance of the control of relaxation is very great, because most diseases of the eyes are caused by the stare or strain and cannot be cured until the stare or strain is relieved.

Case Reports

A girl, twelve years of age, was brought to the office by her mother who complained that her daughter was suffering from a high degree of progressive myopia, and that her glasses had to be changed quite frequently because of this fact. She said that she did not want to buy any more glasses because each pair had to be changed after a few months. When I tested her glasses, I found that she was wearing Concave 12 D.S. After she had been under treatment for some time, her mother said that the girl did not see the Snellen test card, but that she committed it to memory. To satisfy the mother and to obtain some facts, I showed the daughter a strange card. Although it was placed more than fifteen feet away, she read every letter correctly, much to the surprise of the mother.
When the daughter was asked how she did it, all she said was ''Starch.'' The mother asked her why she answered so queerly. Then I told the mother that I had trained the girl to improve her sight by the use of a perfect imagination or memory. When she remembered or imagined things perfectly she always had perfect sight. She must have remembered the starch perfectly white in order to become able by the memory of starch to see the letters on the strange card perfectly. The mother then said to me: "I wish you would speak to her about the way she goes downstairs; she runs down three steps at a time and I am very much afraid that she will stumble and hurt herself.'' I spoke to the girl about this and she told me that while she was going downstairs, three steps at a time, she remembered a piece of white starch. The memory of the starch gave her a perfect balance so that she was always certain of the steps that she took. The memory of starch or a white handkerchief freshly laundered has helped other people to improve their vision immediately.
A man, aged 51, had worn glasses for hypermetropia and for reading for 20 years. Without glasses his vision at fifteen feet was 15/200. He was told to imagine a thin white line between the white spaces of the Fundamental card. In about five minutes the patient became able to remember or imagine a thin white line when regarding the white spaces between the lines of black letters. By repetition and some patience he became able to read diamond type at six inches. After this was accomplished, his vision for distance became normal and he read the bottom line without trouble at fifteen feet.


Eye Injuries

By Emily A. Bates

It is not always easy to treat a case where the sight has become impaired through an accident or injury to the eye. I have in mind particularly two patients who came to me recently, and who at one time had had normal vision.
One was a young man, 23 years of age, who had been to several doctors for treatment during a period of ten years, and as he explained his case to me, I realized how despondent he was, fearing that he would go blind completely. He was thirteen years of age when he was taken on a long automobile trip, at which time the accident occurred. Being far away from civilization, it was some time before he was able to receive medical aid, and during that time his vision became very poor in both eyes. Some of the occupants of the car were instantly killed. He was found pinned under the overturned car, some days after the accident and after he had recovered consciousness he found that he could not see well. His head had been cut very badly and the doctors feared that internal injuries on his head and other parts of his body would prove fatal, and for a time it was thought that he would lose his mind as well as his sight. When he came to me, there was a scar on his forehead directly over each eye, but otherwise he showed no outward signs of injury.
He had received a different kind of treatment from every doctor who had treated him with the result that he did not go blind entirely. He got along very well with the aid of glasses for a time and then cataract began to form in each eye. An operation was advised but the boy refused to submit to this. Friends cared for him and helped him with his education but his sight was too poor to aid him in doing any kind of work which would require the use of his eyes. He stopped going to doctors for help because each one who had treated him advised an operation for the removal of cataract, with the exception of the last doctor who had given him medical treatment. This doctor knows Dr. Bates very well and has from time to time cured headaches and other pain by the Bates method, although he is not an eye specialist.
At the advice of this doctor, the boy came to me for treatment while I was in the West. The cataract could easily be seen by the naked eye, but there was a small spot about the size of the head of a pin in the retina which was clear. Not being allowed to use my retinoscope in California, in the absence of a doctor, I asked him to bring me a written statement from a specialist who had given him a thorough examination of his eyes. He replied that he had already been to one and explained that the doctor had said that there was no hope of his ever regaining his sight. He gave me a written report from a few of the doctors who had examined him and each one had given him a different diagnosis, but all of them said there was no hope of his ever seeing again, unless he submitted to an operation, which would probably be useless.
Sometimes I have to spend a considerable amount of time convincing a patient that I can really help him, if he can have enough confidence in what I am able to do, but this young man did not need any explanation, for I seemed to be his last hope. He did not ask me for an opinion, but just came at the advice of his family physician. He felt that I really could help him if there were any chance at all.
I placed a large test card five feet from his eyes. I thought I would use the black card with white letters first, because this card seems easier for the partially blind patient, or those patients who have diseases of the eye, such as glaucoma, atrophy of the optic nerve, and so forth. Before I placed the card in position at five feet I had told him to close his eyes to rest them because all the while he had been in my presence, he stared hard to see me and seldom blinked his eyes. I placed the test card with the blank side of the test card facing him. There was only a plain white surface to look at and I was hoping that he would see it as it really was. When he opened his eyes, at my suggestion, he was waiting for me to tell him what to do while he looked at the blank side of this card. I asked him if he could see any letters on the card and he said, “No, it seems like a blank white paper.”
I was pleased that he saw the card as it really was, without my telling him. I told him to close his eyes immediately and while his eyes were closed, I turned the card right side up. I told him to open his eyes and tell me what he saw. He was able to read three lines of the test card immediately. I encouraged him then and told him that if he were willing to sacrifice his time that I surely would give him my time to help him to improve the little vision he had.
After he palmed and improved his memory by reciting history, which was his favorite subject at school, he read the card again for me, and this time his vision improved to 5/30. I gave him a test card to practice with at home and told him to report to me in a few days’ time.
Seven months later he came again for treatment. His eyes looked much better and his face showed signs of relaxation, which were absent at his first visit. I tested his sight again with the same black card with white letters and his vision had improved to 5/20. He reported that he had practiced two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening every day since his first visit. He remembered what I had said to him about blinking his eyes consciously all the time in order to avoid the stare which made the cataract worse.
I placed him by a window and told him to look across the street where there was a large sign with letters that looked to be about three feet in height. He said he could not read any signs from the window. I gave him a fine print card to hold in his hand and he looked at the white spaces below the lines of black type that were on the small card. I told him to look at the white spaces and then to close his eyes and to imagine the white whiter than he saw it on the card. He did this alternately for about five minutes and when he looked out of the window to where this large sign was, he began to see the letters one by one by quickly looking away, after seeing each letter as I directed him, and taking the sun treatment as he stood by the window, which I thought would help him. Without giving him notice, I told him to turn around with his back to the light and to look at the test card which was five feet away, and he read another line of the test card at 5/15.
I gave him the Fundamental card to read, but all he could see was sentence Number 1 and the words “Fundamentals by W. H. Bates, M.D.” All the rest of the card was a blur to him. He knew there were words on the card, but he could not distinguish them.
Not far away from my office there was a public park where he would sit for hours at a time to take sun treatment. The warmth of the western sun is the most healing thing in the world in cases where the sun is helpful. I can prove it by this particular case, because the next time my patient came, he was able to read the whole of the Fundamental card up to sentence Number 15, which is in diamond type. He did not read it immediately as one with normal sight would have done, but with many hours of patience on my part and with the aid of the sun-glass treatment in between times he finally read it. Sometime later he came for another treatment and this time he read the microscopic type I gave him, which is a reproduction of that contained in the small Bible. He read this type at nine inches from his eyes. I then tested his sight for the large test card and his vision had improved to 7/20, and later 7/15 by palming and the long swing.
He left the West for other parts and I did not see him again but I received a letter sometime later, saying that he was still practicing with the test card and also with the fine type every day. After that, however, I lost track of him. There is not much satisfaction in treating a case like that unless we can cure it, but I hope that wherever he is that he is still keeping up with the Bates treatment and receiving benefit. At any rate, I was very much encouraged to know that the Bates Method helped when all else failed, and that I was able to improve his vision, instead of saying as others had said to him that there was no more hope.

The other case which was interesting to me was a young man, twenty years old, who had started to wear glasses at the age of ten years. He had been playing with some boys near a building that was being torn down and without realizing it the boys were playing near a section of a wall which was about to come down. It finally did tumble down and buried them under a mass of debris. The boy’s glasses were broken and the right eye was severely injured, having been cut by the broken glass.
His father was a physician and he took him to various eye specialists in the hope that the left eye could be saved. For some time the left eye was discharging and he almost lost the sight of it. With medical treatment and care the discharge ceased and apparently there seemed to be nothing wrong with his left eye. He strained terribly in daylight, but at night he had very little trouble in seeing things. Since the accident he had acquired the habit of turning his head to one side and squeezing the lids of his right eye together tightly, in order to see with the left.
Before I tested his sight with the test card he told me that there was a dead nerve in the left eye which was caused by the injury to the right eye—at least he was told by the eye specialists that this was so. After the accident he said that he had had an attack of malaria, and then keratitis settled in both eyes. At the age of fifteen he suffered a great deal of pain in his right eye and was treated for iritis.
After listening to all he had to say, I tested his sight. He could only see the large letter “C” of the test card at six inches from his right eye. Everything else was a blank to him. His vision with the left eye was 15/20, and all the letters were clear and black. In order to read with the left eye, he turned his head to one side. I told him to palm and reminded him that he must not remove his hands from his eyes while I was talking to him. I told him that no matter what the diagnosis was or how bad his sight was that he could at least see something on the test card with his right eye and that I did not believe that there was anything radically wrong with his left eye. If there were, he could not have seen the 20 line letters of the card at fifteen feet.
I gave him some sun treatment after he had palmed a little while and then told him to palm again before I tested his sight the second time. I felt that it was necessary for him to close his eyes and palm after being in the bright sunlight.
This poor fellow had quite a story to tell me and I had a strong desire to become better acquainted with him and help him in other ways besides improving his sight. He was not a nice looking boy and neither was he clean. He did not wear a coat or vest and he had no hat with him when he came. His shoes were soiled and much worn and he looked as though he had not received much affection or care for a long time. He was short in his answers and when he looked at me, he would just look for a moment and then look away. I told him that I believed that he was far away from his home, but that he was not the only one, and that I was three thousand miles away from my home too.
While he was palming, I noticed a tear drop on the front of his shirt and then I encouraged him to tell me all about everything that was on his mind. I told him I wanted to be his friend if he would let me. He told me that he was sad and lonely too and that his family no longer cared about him. He said that it was his own fault, of course, but a strict father whose confidence he never had made it hard for him to live at home. He said that he did not know what was the matter with him, but that he could never hold a job for any length of time. He knew there was something wrong with him but he did not know how to become better and he had no one to guide him.
I asked him if he had a home somewhere and he said “Yes.” He said that a distant relative had befriended him and given him a place to sleep. What I had to say to him that day helped, I know, because the next time he came his shoes were cleaned, his top shirt had been washed and ironed and his face and hands were clean. We became friends after that and up to the last week of my stay in the West, I helped him with his sight and in other ways. As his vision improved, he obtained a position in an office which paid him a fair salary. Every day he arose early in the morning to practice with the test card and before retiring at night he practiced again. During the day he remembered what I had advised him to do with the small pocket test card and microscopic type. He practiced the long swing and palming which always helped to improve his sight, and on the last day I saw him his right eye had improved to the 50 line of the test card, as he held the card at two feet from his eyes. His left eye improved to 12/10 which is more than normal vision.
I have had no further report from this patient, but I am confident that he has not forgotten what to do to avoid the loss of vision in his right eye.
If this patient I have written about reads this article, he will know who I mean. I hope that if at any time he visits New York he will come to see me if he needs more help for his eyes.]]> https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=268 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:00:55 -0600 https://naturaleyesightimprovement-batesmethod.com/GuestPage/showthread.php?tid=268

Blinking – Illusions - Negative After-Images – Stories From The Clinic; 110. Mental Strain by Emily A. Bates – Questions and Answers



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

APRIL, 1929

Blinking

Blinking is one of the best methods that may be employed to obtain relaxation or rest. When rest is obtained by blinking, the vision is improved, not only for one letter or part of one letter, but for all the letters of a page, which may be seen some parts best, other parts not so well. This is called central fixation and one cannot see anything clearly without it. In order to maintain central fixation there should be continuous opening and closing of the eyes by blinking which makes it easier for the vision to improve. When the eye discontinues to blink, it usually stares, strains, and tries to see. Blinking is beneficial only when practiced in the right way.
What is the right way? The question may be answered almost as briefly as it is asked. Blinking when done properly is slow, short, and easy. One may open and close the eyes an innumerable number of times in one second, and do so unconsciously.
Lord Macaulay was able to rend a page of print in one second, and blinked for every letter. In order to read perfectly, he had to see each side of every letter by central fixation. We know that he acquired or had a perfect memory, because it was only with a perfect memory that he could recite the pages of any book which he had read many years before.
A casual observer would not be able to determine the number of times Lord Macaulay blinked, as it was done so quickly and easily, without any effort on his part. While most of us will not be able to blink without effort as frequently as Lord Macaulay did, it is well to practice his methods as well as we can. Those with imperfect sight who do not blink sufficiently should watch someone with normal eyes blink unconsciously and then imitate him.


Illusions

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

Many people who know little or nothing about physiological optics have the habit of criticizing adversely anyone who has the courage, or who is foolish enough, to announce discoveries which do not meet with the favor of people who theorize. In order to bring about quick and lasting cures of myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, and many other causes of imperfect sight, one needs to know a great deal about illusions.
Many years ago a student of the eye, a man of great authority, after studying the illusions of perfect sight and comparing these illusions with those of imperfect sight, was very much upset because the more facts he obtained, the greater became the illusions. He finally made the statement that “seeing is deceiving.” By this he meant that no one could understand the physiology of the eye without going to a great deal of trouble to prove that somebody else was deceiving the scientific world. He admitted that he was very much discouraged himself by the large number of illusions which were imagined or seen. To correct most diseases of the eyes it is absolutely necessary that one should learn by repeated experimental work something about illusions.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, this man was persecuted by his friends to such an extent that it ceased to be a joke and became a matter of great importance. It was hard for him even with all his “backbone,” which was considerable, to keep on studying illusions when these studies were so very unpopular.
It may be a shock to some people who have not studied the illusions of vision to find that imperfect sight is difficult. In fact it is so difficult that the majority of people in this world dodge the illusions of imperfect sight because these illusions are usually so disagreeable or painful. Perfect sight can only be obtained easily without staring or straining to see. When the eye is normal, any effort to improve it always makes it worse.
It has been proven over and over again that with perfect sight the eyes are completely at rest. The movement that they always have is necessary in order to prevent the stare and other efforts to see which are difficult, painful, disagreeable, and cause fatigue. But when the eye with normal sight is permitted to move sufficiently to prevent the stare or the strain, the head and eyes do not make any effort. To make an effort requires that the eye should be kept stationary. When the eye stares it is always stationary; when the eye stares, it is always trying to be immovable unconsciously. The stare is only possible when a mental effort is made, consciously or unconsciously, to imagine that everything is stationary.
The normal movements of the eyes are passive. As soon as they become active and the eye is made to move by a strain, or stare, then the movement of the eye is no longer passive, it is active and it is this active movement of the eyes done consciously or even unconsciously which causes so much trouble. This is why shifting is practiced in a relaxed, easy, effortless way, with the goal of it becoming a automatic normal eye function, habit, occurring on its own, a subconscious function, just as the heart and lungs beat, breathe automatically. Practice the Bates method, shifting, central fixation… then ‘take a break’, ‘don’t practice’, forget about the eyes and let the eyes shift… on their own. Return to practice if blur, strain, squinting, staring occurs in order to remove these incorrect functions and reinforce correct function.
This question is often asked: “What is the evidence that the normal eye is permitted to stare and strain unconsciously?” This is the answer. Many people can stare or strain as much during sleep as when they are awake. If the active strain is practiced, a patient may awake in the morning with pain in the eyes, head or in other parts of the body or they may feel a sense of great fatigue. The vision is always worse. When the passive movement of the eyes occurs, the movement may be imagined passively. The active movement requires the stare, strain, or an effort to remember, imagine, or see. This can often be recognized in myopia. The retinoscope is a great help in discovering the active swinging of the eyes. When the patient is asleep and straining the eyes unconsciously, the stare or strain is recognized with the aid of the retinoscope.

NEGATIVE AFTER-IMAGES: When a person with good sight regards a white Snellen test card which has black letters and does so with his eyes open, he may see the truth, that the white card appears white and the black letters appear black. When the eyes are closed an illusion is sometimes evident: the white card when remembered appears black and the black letters appear white. This illusion is promptly corrected with the aid of central fixation. One patient, a teacher of mental science, was able to see a white pillow perfectly white with his eyes open, but when he closed his eyes an illusion was seen or imagined at once - the white pillow appeared to turn into a black one. This was a great surprise to the professor. The illusion was prevented when the eyes were closed, by remembering or imagining each part in turn of the pillow best. He was then recommended to see two corners at the same time. The illusion returned, but it required a strain in order to bring it back.
The patient’s memory was improved by practicing central fixation with the eyes closed, seeing, imagining, or remembering one corner of a pillow at a time best and the rest of it worse. It was all done so quickly that the patient was not able quickly to remember, imagine, or see by central fixation. When he became able to produce the illusion or to prevent the illusion, his memory, imagination, and sight were very much improved.
He had worn glasses for the relief of headache for more than fifty years. It was a new and pleasant sensation for him to discard his glasses without suffering, as he had previously, with frightful headaches. The correction of various illusions of the sight are one of the best methods we have for the cure of imperfect sight without the use of glasses. If we correct the illusion, the eyesight may be improved.
One time I happened to be in the office of a well known professor of astronomy. With me was a high school girl, one of my patients, who wanted to learn something about astronomy. The professor asked us what we would like to see and with the naked eye I looked up toward the center of the sky where one could see the moon about the size of a nickel. I spoke to the professor and told him that I had so often seen the moon appear as big as a house and instead of being a dull gray it was usually a fiery red. I told him that I would be very much obliged if he would explain to me why the moon looked so much larger on the horizon than it did overhead. The professor said that there was a change in the density of the atmosphere when the moon was viewed low down on the horizon, which was entirely different from the air overhead. This, of course, is an illusion, not of imperfect sight, but of perfect sight, caused by conditions over which we have no control.
A man interested in the illusions of imperfect sight reported the following facts. One morning when he entered the bathroom he was surprised to observe that the tiles composing the floor had changed their colors. All the blue tiles had become pink and all the pink tiles had changed to blue. The illusion was very vivid. “What can I do” he asked, “to prevent this illusion, because it is maintained with a strain or effort to see which lowers my vision?” He was advised to practice central fixation which prevented or relieved the illusion very promptly.
Illusions are not harmless, as many people may think. They are always one cause of pain with imperfect sight. It is interesting to observe that when an illusion causes imperfect sight it also causes the stare, strain to see, or an imperfect memory (imagination) with poor vision.
Illusions which are beneficial do not cause pain, dizziness, fatigue, or any discomfort whatever. Beneficial illusions always improve the sight. For example: The thin, white line below the bottom of a line of letters is an illusion because there is no white line there. When it can be imagined, the vision is improved and this illusion is so important, even necessary, that one cannot read small letters or the newspaper unless the thin white line is imagined. The thin white line helps to improve the imagination of the black letters so that they can be read in a dim light. Other beneficial illusions are: white halos, glow around and inside letters, white glow on a blue sky above trees, mountains.., the illusion of oppositional movement ‘the swing’.
The same man described the illusions he had when a headache bothered him in the morning soon after opening his eyes. In one illusion there seemed to be a thin white transparent curtain floating up to the ceiling and then slowly dropping downwards toward the bed. It surprised him very much to observe that when the illusion of the floating curtain was manifestly at its height that the headaches became worse and a severe pain was felt in his eyes, head, and in other parts of the body. The illusion lasted about fifteen minutes and slowly disappeared. In this case also, central fixation was a great help in correcting or preventing the illusion.

A well known surgeon of the city of New York came to me for treatment of illusions. He had so many of them that the available space of this magazine is too small to describe them all. Among his many illusions was the fact that at irregular intervals while walking along the street, he would suddenly become totally blind and unable to see the light of the sun even when he looked straight at it. The blindness would continue for about a minute, usually less. The frequency of these attacks increased.
In the beginning he had three or four in a week, but after some months he had a partial or complete attack of blindness more frequently. The attacks made him very despondent; he was afraid that he might have one in the midst of a surgical operation.

Double Vision – How to Produce and Cure It.
While he was being treated, an illusion of double vision became almost constant and interfered very much with his vision for the Snellen test card. The illusions of double vision were corrected by teaching him how consciously to produce them rapidly and in any form. That is to say, he could imagine two lights, one directly above the other, at an angle of 90 degrees or when he strained sufficiently the two lights would be seen on a horizontal plane. With the help of the stare, strain, or trying to see better, he saw the two images at an angle of 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or 75 degrees. In short, he became able, after some instruction, to produce double images close together or double images farther apart and at any angle he desired. During the many months of treatment he demonstrated without knowing himself that he was able to produce illusions at will. Furthermore, he was able to produce illusions which lowered his vision and illusions which improved his sight. To produce double images, one above the other, he looked at a light about ten feet away and strained to see a small letter just below it at an angle of 90 degrees. To obtain double vision at an angle of 90 degrees required an effort.
I called this doctor’s attention to the fact that in order to produce an illusion of letters of the Snellen test card or to produce double vision required a stare or strain. I asked him this question: “Would you like to learn how to produce double vision of the Snellen test card?” He answered, “I do not see how you can do it, but the matter is so interesting I am willing that you should produce or show me how to produce double vision.” He was taught how to produce double vision consciously and this pleased him very much. Finally the day came when he was getting so restless that I thought I was justified in helping him to get rid of the double vision by teaching him how to produce the blindness consciously. He objected very much at first but more of the nerve specialists tried to convince him that he was incurable and that if he had let the matter go untreated he would have attacks of double vision almost continuously and be compelled to give up his work. The patient was told how to produce all kinds of illusions and that in order to produce illusions of double vision he would have to go to considerable trouble to accomplish it. He was finally persuaded or convinced that if my methods failed there was no help for him and so we began.

Creates and Cures Blindness
I had a very hard time in making this patient blind consciously. The strain was terrible and he did not take it calmly, but he finally made himself totally blind so that he could look straight at the sun without being able to see light. The blindness continued for about five minutes when it suddenly disappeared and the sight was just as good as it ever was. He finally came to me less frequently than every day. Eventually he became able consciously to increase the length of time of the blindness, and while still blind he could, with the help of central fixation and other methods, obtain his previous normal vision. Some of my other patients out of curiosity made themselves totally blind by the same methods practiced by him. When war was declared between Germany and France he enlisted in the medical department of the French Army; he never had a single relapse; he knew the cause of his double vision and how it was produced and was therefore able to avoid it.


Mental Strain

By Emily A. Bates

Children who are nearsighted are suffering from a mental strain. Children who are cross-eyed are also suffering from mental strain. Eyes that have been injured, as by a foreign body entering the inside of the eyeball, even after it has been removed, may be responsible for a mental strain. This strain is different from that caused by nearsightedness or cross eyes.
Mental strain is only evident in these cases when symptoms are present. Children who are nearsighted are not always conscious of it. Therefore, at such times mental strain and the myopic condition are less, and the retinoscope has proved this in every case examined by Dr. Bates. What is true of children is also true of adults. After an attack of whooping cough or fever, such as measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, malaria, hay fever, or other conditions, some patients have acquired cross eyes. Sometimes the right eye turns in while the left eye is straight, or the reverse may be observed. The eye which turns in usually has imperfect sight, while the eye which is straight may have normal vision for distant objects and for near objects. These cases can always be benefited. Strain, which is evident in cases of cross eyes may be relieved, but never cured, by wearing eyeglasses. All such cases under my observation have proved this to be true. Some patients have told me that they feel a sense of relief when they remove their glasses. It is the mental strain that is relieved and not the eyestrain.
When a child is placed under my care for the cure of squint or cross eyes, before I test the sight I hold a short conversation with the child to find out his mental attitude. It helps me to treat the child successfully and it helps my young patient to become acquainted with me. It is always best to have the guardian or parent in the room during the treatment given the child so that they can help in the home treatment, but sometimes I wish that I could be alone with my patient. I can do better work. This desire only comes when an anxious mother continually nags her child to do as I wish. Repeating to my patient that he or she must be good, must sit still, or must do as I say, is only a waste of time and does not help.
Some children troubled with cross eyes have very sensitive minds and constant or frequent nagging or scolding only causes more mental strain. While I was assisting Dr. Bates at the Harlem Hospital Clinic I was able to study the child mind. I found in cases of squint or cross eyes, which is the same thing, that children who were fortunate enough to have parents who loved them and helped them were cured of this trouble much quicker than those who were less fortunate. Sometimes I would send for the school teacher when a case was hard for me to benefit and with her help at school, encouraging the child to practice with the test card, with the aid of palming and the long swing, in due time the eyes would become perfectly straight and the vision normal.
In the early days of our work together, we gave test cards away to our clinic patients so that they would surely practice at home or at school or elsewhere. For the child of the clinic there was no alternative. They could not afford glasses; they must be cured without. A short while ago a little woman came to our office and with her was a girl twelve years old who was just a head taller than the woman. She asked to see me and when she stood before me she smilingly asked if I didn’t remember her. This question is asked of me quite often by patients I have not seen for a few years and I do not always remember. When she smiled and spoke in her usual slow way, I recognized her. I said, “Of course, I remember you and this big girl is Ruth whom I treated for cross eyes at the hospital clinic nine years ago.”
She apologized for taking up my time but said that Ruth was anxious to see me again because she had forgotten how I looked and she did want me to see how straight her eyes were. Indeed I was glad to see my little patient all grown up and I like to boast of my work being so well done. The mother also deserves credit for the cure of Ruth’s eyes. Every day before the school hour the child practiced reading the test card letters with her mother to help her if she made a mistake. Immediately after school she practiced again. When her test cards became soiled she sent for new ones. Her efforts and mine were all worthwhile because Ruth can read all letters of any test card with either eye.
There is always a mental strain while glasses are worn. Sometimes patients are not conscious of it until they are informed that their glasses must be changed for a stronger pair. During the absence of Dr. Bates, I have been called upon to take care of his practice. At such a time I remember a patient placing on my desk four pairs of glasses which she wore at different times of the day. One pair was worn while she was reading or sewing, another pair for the movies or theatre, another pair, amber colored, to wear in the bright sunlight and the strongest pair she was advised to wear early in the morning at which time she suffered most pain and discomfort. She did not realize that she strained during sleep, which explained the pain and discomfort she had in the morning. I did not help her until after I had corrected the mental strain. After that it did not take me long to give her normal vision. The patient helped me by following my directions, practicing at home and elsewhere those things which helped her the most.
For many years she had avoided the bright sunlight, so during her first treatment I placed her near a window where the sun was shining. While her eyes were closed and shaded with the palm of her hand, I led her to the window. I used my sun glass, focusing it quickly on her closed eyelids, first on one eye and then on the other. Sometimes this treatment when it is first given causes a tearing of the eyes which is only temporary, but this patient had no such trouble. She enjoyed it so much that she asked for more of it. When there was no sun, a strong electric light was used with benefit. After the patient had had a few treatments, her vision improved for the near point and for the distance. After she had been doing well for some days she suddenly had a relapse and her vision was lowered. I asked her if she had put on her glasses again and she admitted that she had done so. In her case this was the worst thing she could do. It retarded her cure and made my task more difficult. I felt keenly her mental strain and proved without a doubt that imperfect sight is contagious, for I suffered with her mentally. Long ago, Dr. Bates trained my mind so that I would not lose patience with those who were under treatment for their eyes, but just the same neither he nor I are immune to their suffering or mental strain. We give each other the same treatment we give our patients sometimes when the day is almost done, so that we can enjoy the remainder of the day without any strain or discomfort. It requires only a few minutes to relieve the mind of strain when you know how to do it.


Questions And Answers


Q - Which is the best method of obtaining relaxation?
A - The object of all the methods I recommend is relaxation. Some patients obtain more benefit from the practice of one method than another.

Q - When palming and remembering black, is it advisable to keep the image stationary and to keep the same image, or is it just as good to shift from one object to another?
A - When palming and remembering black, one should imagine everything remembered to be moving and not stationary. It is necessary to shift from one image or from one object to another.

Q - How long is it necessary to read the test card before obtaining benefit?
A - Some patients by palming and resting their eyes have obtained benefits in a few minutes.

Q - What is most helpful when one is dreadfully nearsighted and finds it almost impossible to see without glasses?
A - Practice palming as frequently as possible every day. Keeping the eyes closed whenever convenient for five minutes ten times a day is also helpful.

Q - I have noticed when I palm that my eyeballs hurt from the pressure. When I loosen this tension the light filters in.
A - Palming is done correctly with the fingers closed and laid gently over each eye, using the palms like a cup. If this is done properly there is no pressure and the light is shut out.

Q - Is there a possibility of palming wrong? I can obtain some benefit, but later I feel strained.
A - Palming may be done properly or it may be done wrong. Read the chapter on palming in my book.

Q - Should children read microscopic type?
A - Yes. Reading microscopic type is a benefit to the eyes of both children and adults.

Q - Dr. Bates says that in reading fine print one should look between the lines. Is this not contrary to the principles of central fixation? To see the print best, should one not look directly at it?
A - One can look between the lines and shift to the black letters with central fixation. Look directly at the letters when reading them.

Q - When I look at an object and blink, it appears to jump with each blink. Would this be considered the short swing?
A - Yes. You unconsciously look from one side to the other of the object when blinking.

Q - After palming for ten minutes or longer, my eyes are rested, but I feel sleepy.
A - The palming is not perfect. Try imagining stationary objects to be moving when you palm.
Shift on the objects in the imagination.

Q - My eyes feel fine after I palm and let my mind drift on various black objects. However, the period is more difficult.
A - Perfect mental pictures of ordinary objects means a perfect mental picture of a period. To try to see is an effort or strain, and produces defective vision. Shift on the period in the imagination.

Q - Should I think only of a black period when palming? Should I imagine my body swaying and the period moving?
A - If it requires an effort for you to think of a period, you should not try to do so. It is just as beneficial to let your mind drift from one pleasant thought to another. When one remembers a period, it should be imagined to be moving from side to side. (as the eyes, mental visual attention is shifting on it.)

Q - Should one always imagine stationary objects to be moving in the opposite direction?
A - When one is riding in a train, one should imagine that telegraph poles and other stationary objects are moving in the opposite direction. When one is walking on the street, he can imagine when looking down, that the pavement is coming toward him; when he looks to the right or left, he can imagine that objects on either side are moving opposite. The object of this is to avoid the stare.

Q - Will you please describe the long swing?
A - The long swing is accomplished as follows: Stand with the feet about one foot apart, turn the body to the right - at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes move with the body. Now place the left heel on the floor, turn the body to the left, raising the heel of the right foot. Alternate.

Q - How do you practice the variable swing?
A - Hold the forefinger of one hand six inches from the right eye and about the same distance to the right, look straight ahead and move the head a short distance from side to side. The finger appears to move.

Q - What is central fixation?
A - Central fixation is seeing best where you are looking, and worse where you are not looking. That is, when you look at a chair, for instance, do not try to see the whole object at once, look first at the back of it, seeing that part best and other parts worse. Remember to blink as you quickly shift your glance from the back to the seat and legs, seeing each part best in turn.

Q - How much time should I devote to palming each day?
A - The more time one devotes to palming, the quicker will results be obtained, provided one practices correctly. Palming should be practiced for five, ten, fifteen minutes or longer at a time. Some patients obtain more benefits from practicing palming for short periods of time at more frequent intervals.]]>

Blinking – Illusions - Negative After-Images – Stories From The Clinic; 110. Mental Strain by Emily A. Bates – Questions and Answers



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

APRIL, 1929

Blinking

Blinking is one of the best methods that may be employed to obtain relaxation or rest. When rest is obtained by blinking, the vision is improved, not only for one letter or part of one letter, but for all the letters of a page, which may be seen some parts best, other parts not so well. This is called central fixation and one cannot see anything clearly without it. In order to maintain central fixation there should be continuous opening and closing of the eyes by blinking which makes it easier for the vision to improve. When the eye discontinues to blink, it usually stares, strains, and tries to see. Blinking is beneficial only when practiced in the right way.
What is the right way? The question may be answered almost as briefly as it is asked. Blinking when done properly is slow, short, and easy. One may open and close the eyes an innumerable number of times in one second, and do so unconsciously.
Lord Macaulay was able to rend a page of print in one second, and blinked for every letter. In order to read perfectly, he had to see each side of every letter by central fixation. We know that he acquired or had a perfect memory, because it was only with a perfect memory that he could recite the pages of any book which he had read many years before.
A casual observer would not be able to determine the number of times Lord Macaulay blinked, as it was done so quickly and easily, without any effort on his part. While most of us will not be able to blink without effort as frequently as Lord Macaulay did, it is well to practice his methods as well as we can. Those with imperfect sight who do not blink sufficiently should watch someone with normal eyes blink unconsciously and then imitate him.


Illusions

By W. H. Bates, M.D.

Many people who know little or nothing about physiological optics have the habit of criticizing adversely anyone who has the courage, or who is foolish enough, to announce discoveries which do not meet with the favor of people who theorize. In order to bring about quick and lasting cures of myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, and many other causes of imperfect sight, one needs to know a great deal about illusions.
Many years ago a student of the eye, a man of great authority, after studying the illusions of perfect sight and comparing these illusions with those of imperfect sight, was very much upset because the more facts he obtained, the greater became the illusions. He finally made the statement that “seeing is deceiving.” By this he meant that no one could understand the physiology of the eye without going to a great deal of trouble to prove that somebody else was deceiving the scientific world. He admitted that he was very much discouraged himself by the large number of illusions which were imagined or seen. To correct most diseases of the eyes it is absolutely necessary that one should learn by repeated experimental work something about illusions.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, this man was persecuted by his friends to such an extent that it ceased to be a joke and became a matter of great importance. It was hard for him even with all his “backbone,” which was considerable, to keep on studying illusions when these studies were so very unpopular.
It may be a shock to some people who have not studied the illusions of vision to find that imperfect sight is difficult. In fact it is so difficult that the majority of people in this world dodge the illusions of imperfect sight because these illusions are usually so disagreeable or painful. Perfect sight can only be obtained easily without staring or straining to see. When the eye is normal, any effort to improve it always makes it worse.
It has been proven over and over again that with perfect sight the eyes are completely at rest. The movement that they always have is necessary in order to prevent the stare and other efforts to see which are difficult, painful, disagreeable, and cause fatigue. But when the eye with normal sight is permitted to move sufficiently to prevent the stare or the strain, the head and eyes do not make any effort. To make an effort requires that the eye should be kept stationary. When the eye stares it is always stationary; when the eye stares, it is always trying to be immovable unconsciously. The stare is only possible when a mental effort is made, consciously or unconsciously, to imagine that everything is stationary.
The normal movements of the eyes are passive. As soon as they become active and the eye is made to move by a strain, or stare, then the movement of the eye is no longer passive, it is active and it is this active movement of the eyes done consciously or even unconsciously which causes so much trouble. This is why shifting is practiced in a relaxed, easy, effortless way, with the goal of it becoming a automatic normal eye function, habit, occurring on its own, a subconscious function, just as the heart and lungs beat, breathe automatically. Practice the Bates method, shifting, central fixation… then ‘take a break’, ‘don’t practice’, forget about the eyes and let the eyes shift… on their own. Return to practice if blur, strain, squinting, staring occurs in order to remove these incorrect functions and reinforce correct function.
This question is often asked: “What is the evidence that the normal eye is permitted to stare and strain unconsciously?” This is the answer. Many people can stare or strain as much during sleep as when they are awake. If the active strain is practiced, a patient may awake in the morning with pain in the eyes, head or in other parts of the body or they may feel a sense of great fatigue. The vision is always worse. When the passive movement of the eyes occurs, the movement may be imagined passively. The active movement requires the stare, strain, or an effort to remember, imagine, or see. This can often be recognized in myopia. The retinoscope is a great help in discovering the active swinging of the eyes. When the patient is asleep and straining the eyes unconsciously, the stare or strain is recognized with the aid of the retinoscope.

NEGATIVE AFTER-IMAGES: When a person with good sight regards a white Snellen test card which has black letters and does so with his eyes open, he may see the truth, that the white card appears white and the black letters appear black. When the eyes are closed an illusion is sometimes evident: the white card when remembered appears black and the black letters appear white. This illusion is promptly corrected with the aid of central fixation. One patient, a teacher of mental science, was able to see a white pillow perfectly white with his eyes open, but when he closed his eyes an illusion was seen or imagined at once - the white pillow appeared to turn into a black one. This was a great surprise to the professor. The illusion was prevented when the eyes were closed, by remembering or imagining each part in turn of the pillow best. He was then recommended to see two corners at the same time. The illusion returned, but it required a strain in order to bring it back.
The patient’s memory was improved by practicing central fixation with the eyes closed, seeing, imagining, or remembering one corner of a pillow at a time best and the rest of it worse. It was all done so quickly that the patient was not able quickly to remember, imagine, or see by central fixation. When he became able to produce the illusion or to prevent the illusion, his memory, imagination, and sight were very much improved.
He had worn glasses for the relief of headache for more than fifty years. It was a new and pleasant sensation for him to discard his glasses without suffering, as he had previously, with frightful headaches. The correction of various illusions of the sight are one of the best methods we have for the cure of imperfect sight without the use of glasses. If we correct the illusion, the eyesight may be improved.
One time I happened to be in the office of a well known professor of astronomy. With me was a high school girl, one of my patients, who wanted to learn something about astronomy. The professor asked us what we would like to see and with the naked eye I looked up toward the center of the sky where one could see the moon about the size of a nickel. I spoke to the professor and told him that I had so often seen the moon appear as big as a house and instead of being a dull gray it was usually a fiery red. I told him that I would be very much obliged if he would explain to me why the moon looked so much larger on the horizon than it did overhead. The professor said that there was a change in the density of the atmosphere when the moon was viewed low down on the horizon, which was entirely different from the air overhead. This, of course, is an illusion, not of imperfect sight, but of perfect sight, caused by conditions over which we have no control.
A man interested in the illusions of imperfect sight reported the following facts. One morning when he entered the bathroom he was surprised to observe that the tiles composing the floor had changed their colors. All the blue tiles had become pink and all the pink tiles had changed to blue. The illusion was very vivid. “What can I do” he asked, “to prevent this illusion, because it is maintained with a strain or effort to see which lowers my vision?” He was advised to practice central fixation which prevented or relieved the illusion very promptly.
Illusions are not harmless, as many people may think. They are always one cause of pain with imperfect sight. It is interesting to observe that when an illusion causes imperfect sight it also causes the stare, strain to see, or an imperfect memory (imagination) with poor vision.
Illusions which are beneficial do not cause pain, dizziness, fatigue, or any discomfort whatever. Beneficial illusions always improve the sight. For example: The thin, white line below the bottom of a line of letters is an illusion because there is no white line there. When it can be imagined, the vision is improved and this illusion is so important, even necessary, that one cannot read small letters or the newspaper unless the thin white line is imagined. The thin white line helps to improve the imagination of the black letters so that they can be read in a dim light. Other beneficial illusions are: white halos, glow around and inside letters, white glow on a blue sky above trees, mountains.., the illusion of oppositional movement ‘the swing’.
The same man described the illusions he had when a headache bothered him in the morning soon after opening his eyes. In one illusion there seemed to be a thin white transparent curtain floating up to the ceiling and then slowly dropping downwards toward the bed. It surprised him very much to observe that when the illusion of the floating curtain was manifestly at its height that the headaches became worse and a severe pain was felt in his eyes, head, and in other parts of the body. The illusion lasted about fifteen minutes and slowly disappeared. In this case also, central fixation was a great help in correcting or preventing the illusion.

A well known surgeon of the city of New York came to me for treatment of illusions. He had so many of them that the available space of this magazine is too small to describe them all. Among his many illusions was the fact that at irregular intervals while walking along the street, he would suddenly become totally blind and unable to see the light of the sun even when he looked straight at it. The blindness would continue for about a minute, usually less. The frequency of these attacks increased.
In the beginning he had three or four in a week, but after some months he had a partial or complete attack of blindness more frequently. The attacks made him very despondent; he was afraid that he might have one in the midst of a surgical operation.

Double Vision – How to Produce and Cure It.
While he was being treated, an illusion of double vision became almost constant and interfered very much with his vision for the Snellen test card. The illusions of double vision were corrected by teaching him how consciously to produce them rapidly and in any form. That is to say, he could imagine two lights, one directly above the other, at an angle of 90 degrees or when he strained sufficiently the two lights would be seen on a horizontal plane. With the help of the stare, strain, or trying to see better, he saw the two images at an angle of 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or 75 degrees. In short, he became able, after some instruction, to produce double images close together or double images farther apart and at any angle he desired. During the many months of treatment he demonstrated without knowing himself that he was able to produce illusions at will. Furthermore, he was able to produce illusions which lowered his vision and illusions which improved his sight. To produce double images, one above the other, he looked at a light about ten feet away and strained to see a small letter just below it at an angle of 90 degrees. To obtain double vision at an angle of 90 degrees required an effort.
I called this doctor’s attention to the fact that in order to produce an illusion of letters of the Snellen test card or to produce double vision required a stare or strain. I asked him this question: “Would you like to learn how to produce double vision of the Snellen test card?” He answered, “I do not see how you can do it, but the matter is so interesting I am willing that you should produce or show me how to produce double vision.” He was taught how to produce double vision consciously and this pleased him very much. Finally the day came when he was getting so restless that I thought I was justified in helping him to get rid of the double vision by teaching him how to produce the blindness consciously. He objected very much at first but more of the nerve specialists tried to convince him that he was incurable and that if he had let the matter go untreated he would have attacks of double vision almost continuously and be compelled to give up his work. The patient was told how to produce all kinds of illusions and that in order to produce illusions of double vision he would have to go to considerable trouble to accomplish it. He was finally persuaded or convinced that if my methods failed there was no help for him and so we began.

Creates and Cures Blindness
I had a very hard time in making this patient blind consciously. The strain was terrible and he did not take it calmly, but he finally made himself totally blind so that he could look straight at the sun without being able to see light. The blindness continued for about five minutes when it suddenly disappeared and the sight was just as good as it ever was. He finally came to me less frequently than every day. Eventually he became able consciously to increase the length of time of the blindness, and while still blind he could, with the help of central fixation and other methods, obtain his previous normal vision. Some of my other patients out of curiosity made themselves totally blind by the same methods practiced by him. When war was declared between Germany and France he enlisted in the medical department of the French Army; he never had a single relapse; he knew the cause of his double vision and how it was produced and was therefore able to avoid it.


Mental Strain

By Emily A. Bates

Children who are nearsighted are suffering from a mental strain. Children who are cross-eyed are also suffering from mental strain. Eyes that have been injured, as by a foreign body entering the inside of the eyeball, even after it has been removed, may be responsible for a mental strain. This strain is different from that caused by nearsightedness or cross eyes.
Mental strain is only evident in these cases when symptoms are present. Children who are nearsighted are not always conscious of it. Therefore, at such times mental strain and the myopic condition are less, and the retinoscope has proved this in every case examined by Dr. Bates. What is true of children is also true of adults. After an attack of whooping cough or fever, such as measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, malaria, hay fever, or other conditions, some patients have acquired cross eyes. Sometimes the right eye turns in while the left eye is straight, or the reverse may be observed. The eye which turns in usually has imperfect sight, while the eye which is straight may have normal vision for distant objects and for near objects. These cases can always be benefited. Strain, which is evident in cases of cross eyes may be relieved, but never cured, by wearing eyeglasses. All such cases under my observation have proved this to be true. Some patients have told me that they feel a sense of relief when they remove their glasses. It is the mental strain that is relieved and not the eyestrain.
When a child is placed under my care for the cure of squint or cross eyes, before I test the sight I hold a short conversation with the child to find out his mental attitude. It helps me to treat the child successfully and it helps my young patient to become acquainted with me. It is always best to have the guardian or parent in the room during the treatment given the child so that they can help in the home treatment, but sometimes I wish that I could be alone with my patient. I can do better work. This desire only comes when an anxious mother continually nags her child to do as I wish. Repeating to my patient that he or she must be good, must sit still, or must do as I say, is only a waste of time and does not help.
Some children troubled with cross eyes have very sensitive minds and constant or frequent nagging or scolding only causes more mental strain. While I was assisting Dr. Bates at the Harlem Hospital Clinic I was able to study the child mind. I found in cases of squint or cross eyes, which is the same thing, that children who were fortunate enough to have parents who loved them and helped them were cured of this trouble much quicker than those who were less fortunate. Sometimes I would send for the school teacher when a case was hard for me to benefit and with her help at school, encouraging the child to practice with the test card, with the aid of palming and the long swing, in due time the eyes would become perfectly straight and the vision normal.
In the early days of our work together, we gave test cards away to our clinic patients so that they would surely practice at home or at school or elsewhere. For the child of the clinic there was no alternative. They could not afford glasses; they must be cured without. A short while ago a little woman came to our office and with her was a girl twelve years old who was just a head taller than the woman. She asked to see me and when she stood before me she smilingly asked if I didn’t remember her. This question is asked of me quite often by patients I have not seen for a few years and I do not always remember. When she smiled and spoke in her usual slow way, I recognized her. I said, “Of course, I remember you and this big girl is Ruth whom I treated for cross eyes at the hospital clinic nine years ago.”
She apologized for taking up my time but said that Ruth was anxious to see me again because she had forgotten how I looked and she did want me to see how straight her eyes were. Indeed I was glad to see my little patient all grown up and I like to boast of my work being so well done. The mother also deserves credit for the cure of Ruth’s eyes. Every day before the school hour the child practiced reading the test card letters with her mother to help her if she made a mistake. Immediately after school she practiced again. When her test cards became soiled she sent for new ones. Her efforts and mine were all worthwhile because Ruth can read all letters of any test card with either eye.
There is always a mental strain while glasses are worn. Sometimes patients are not conscious of it until they are informed that their glasses must be changed for a stronger pair. During the absence of Dr. Bates, I have been called upon to take care of his practice. At such a time I remember a patient placing on my desk four pairs of glasses which she wore at different times of the day. One pair was worn while she was reading or sewing, another pair for the movies or theatre, another pair, amber colored, to wear in the bright sunlight and the strongest pair she was advised to wear early in the morning at which time she suffered most pain and discomfort. She did not realize that she strained during sleep, which explained the pain and discomfort she had in the morning. I did not help her until after I had corrected the mental strain. After that it did not take me long to give her normal vision. The patient helped me by following my directions, practicing at home and elsewhere those things which helped her the most.
For many years she had avoided the bright sunlight, so during her first treatment I placed her near a window where the sun was shining. While her eyes were closed and shaded with the palm of her hand, I led her to the window. I used my sun glass, focusing it quickly on her closed eyelids, first on one eye and then on the other. Sometimes this treatment when it is first given causes a tearing of the eyes which is only temporary, but this patient had no such trouble. She enjoyed it so much that she asked for more of it. When there was no sun, a strong electric light was used with benefit. After the patient had had a few treatments, her vision improved for the near point and for the distance. After she had been doing well for some days she suddenly had a relapse and her vision was lowered. I asked her if she had put on her glasses again and she admitted that she had done so. In her case this was the worst thing she could do. It retarded her cure and made my task more difficult. I felt keenly her mental strain and proved without a doubt that imperfect sight is contagious, for I suffered with her mentally. Long ago, Dr. Bates trained my mind so that I would not lose patience with those who were under treatment for their eyes, but just the same neither he nor I are immune to their suffering or mental strain. We give each other the same treatment we give our patients sometimes when the day is almost done, so that we can enjoy the remainder of the day without any strain or discomfort. It requires only a few minutes to relieve the mind of strain when you know how to do it.


Questions And Answers


Q - Which is the best method of obtaining relaxation?
A - The object of all the methods I recommend is relaxation. Some patients obtain more benefit from the practice of one method than another.

Q - When palming and remembering black, is it advisable to keep the image stationary and to keep the same image, or is it just as good to shift from one object to another?
A - When palming and remembering black, one should imagine everything remembered to be moving and not stationary. It is necessary to shift from one image or from one object to another.

Q - How long is it necessary to read the test card before obtaining benefit?
A - Some patients by palming and resting their eyes have obtained benefits in a few minutes.

Q - What is most helpful when one is dreadfully nearsighted and finds it almost impossible to see without glasses?
A - Practice palming as frequently as possible every day. Keeping the eyes closed whenever convenient for five minutes ten times a day is also helpful.

Q - I have noticed when I palm that my eyeballs hurt from the pressure. When I loosen this tension the light filters in.
A - Palming is done correctly with the fingers closed and laid gently over each eye, using the palms like a cup. If this is done properly there is no pressure and the light is shut out.

Q - Is there a possibility of palming wrong? I can obtain some benefit, but later I feel strained.
A - Palming may be done properly or it may be done wrong. Read the chapter on palming in my book.

Q - Should children read microscopic type?
A - Yes. Reading microscopic type is a benefit to the eyes of both children and adults.

Q - Dr. Bates says that in reading fine print one should look between the lines. Is this not contrary to the principles of central fixation? To see the print best, should one not look directly at it?
A - One can look between the lines and shift to the black letters with central fixation. Look directly at the letters when reading them.

Q - When I look at an object and blink, it appears to jump with each blink. Would this be considered the short swing?
A - Yes. You unconsciously look from one side to the other of the object when blinking.

Q - After palming for ten minutes or longer, my eyes are rested, but I feel sleepy.
A - The palming is not perfect. Try imagining stationary objects to be moving when you palm.
Shift on the objects in the imagination.

Q - My eyes feel fine after I palm and let my mind drift on various black objects. However, the period is more difficult.
A - Perfect mental pictures of ordinary objects means a perfect mental picture of a period. To try to see is an effort or strain, and produces defective vision. Shift on the period in the imagination.

Q - Should I think only of a black period when palming? Should I imagine my body swaying and the period moving?
A - If it requires an effort for you to think of a period, you should not try to do so. It is just as beneficial to let your mind drift from one pleasant thought to another. When one remembers a period, it should be imagined to be moving from side to side. (as the eyes, mental visual attention is shifting on it.)

Q - Should one always imagine stationary objects to be moving in the opposite direction?
A - When one is riding in a train, one should imagine that telegraph poles and other stationary objects are moving in the opposite direction. When one is walking on the street, he can imagine when looking down, that the pavement is coming toward him; when he looks to the right or left, he can imagine that objects on either side are moving opposite. The object of this is to avoid the stare.

Q - Will you please describe the long swing?
A - The long swing is accomplished as follows: Stand with the feet about one foot apart, turn the body to the right - at the same time lifting the heel of the left foot. The head and eyes move with the body. Now place the left heel on the floor, turn the body to the left, raising the heel of the right foot. Alternate.

Q - How do you practice the variable swing?
A - Hold the forefinger of one hand six inches from the right eye and about the same distance to the right, look straight ahead and move the head a short distance from side to side. The finger appears to move.

Q - What is central fixation?
A - Central fixation is seeing best where you are looking, and worse where you are not looking. That is, when you look at a chair, for instance, do not try to see the whole object at once, look first at the back of it, seeing that part best and other parts worse. Remember to blink as you quickly shift your glance from the back to the seat and legs, seeing each part best in turn.

Q - How much time should I devote to palming each day?
A - The more time one devotes to palming, the quicker will results be obtained, provided one practices correctly. Palming should be practiced for five, ten, fifteen minutes or longer at a time. Some patients obtain more benefits from practicing palming for short periods of time at more frequent intervals.]]>