Eye Problems
Bates Method Teachers divide eye problems into two types:
Functional Vision Problems:
Presbyopia – Age-related far sightedness – When people reach their forties or fifties, they may struggle to see items up close. So, either their eyes are becoming less able to adjust focus for near items, or, their arms have become to short!
Hyperopia – Far Sightedness – People are unable to see close objects clearly, but see more clearly in the distance. This is a similar effect to Presbyopia, but it has a different cause. With Hyperopia, the eyeball becomes too long, so light rays entering the eye land in front of the retina, which results in blur. With Prebyopia, the functioning of the eye does not allow the lense of the eye to change the distance of focus for close objects.
Astigmatism – Cylinder – When the front of the eyeball no longer has a perfect curved shape, but becomes cylindrical or irregularly shaped, this is called astigmatism. Many people who have to wear glasses for one of the other functional eye [problems will also have astigmatism.
Strabismus – Squint or Wall-Eye – When the two eyes are not able to coordinate prefectly, and one or both eyes are unable to look at an object, the eye may look in, out, up or down. This may cause double vision.
Amblyopia – When one eye switches off – In fact, it is not the eye that switches off, but the brain switches off, or ignores, the image from one of the eyes. This may be because on of the eyes has strabismus, or, because there is a large difference in clarity between the two eyes. In either case, the brain will usually ignore the image from the eye which is causing most problems to the sight.
Eye Disease or Pathologies:
Cataracts – Cloudiness or milkiness – This happens when the lense of the eye starts to become opaque or cloudy, and there are a few different types of cataract that can form from different causes.
Glaucoma – High pressure in the eyeball, due to a problem preventing the natural drainage of fluids from the eye.
Macular Degeneration – Deterioration of the cone cells in the macular part of the retina. Cone cells pick up the best clarity and colour, and they occur mostly in the macular portion of the retina. As these cells deteriorate, a person starts to lose their clearest vision, and only the less clear vision from the rod cells remain.
Detached Retina – The retina houses the light receptor cells of the eyes, and it becomes detached from the supporitng layers of the eye – this can lead to blindness.
Floaters, Spots, and Flashes – These can be relatively harmless, just an irritating function of strain, but it may be an indicator of another more serious condition like detached retina.
Who can benefit from the “Bates method” of Natural eyesight Improvement?
Most people who have problems in the first category, the functional vision problems, will benefit from this teaching.
In each and every one of those different problems, the basic cause is the same – STRESS – and in each and every one, the solution is the same – RELAXATION!!
Dr. Bates proved that the cause of all of these functional vision problems was tightness in the muscles that surround the eye. His true genius, though, was to find out why these muscles were tight. He discovered that this tightness was caused by visual or other forms of stress. Even more importantly, he realised that there are certain habits that are key to the correct functioning of the eye, and that by returning to these good vision habits would release the tension in the muscles.
In addition, improved, relaxed vision habits may help people who have more serious eye problems. For example, Dr. Bates documented many cases of people recovering from cataract through his eye relaxation techniques. Other people have recovered from glaucoma, and even from retinal problems.
One thing is certain – no matter which vision problem you are facing, you can do yourself no harm by relieving the stress with good vision habits!
