Eye Exercises

In 1891, a prominent New York physician believed he had found a cure for myopia. Instead of prescribing glasses, he advocated the use of eye exercises and taught patients how to do them. This man was Dr. William Horatio Bates and imperfection of the system is still used today.

Bates was different from other charlatans because he had respectable credentials. He graduated from Cornell University in 1881 and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1885. Over time, however, he developed wild ideas on the vision he popularized in his book "The Cure of Imperfect sight by treatment without glasses" published in 1920.

"The book attracted a large number of quacks, charlatans and gullible followers who then published scores of books and non-scientific articles about their own vision. Praising the Bates system, these authors urged readers to "throw" lenses. Some of these writers even established schools, "wrote Drs. Russell S. Worrall and Jacob Nevi in" The Brigands of health. "

Although Bates was recognized as goggles to see and read as possible, he said they did not treat defects of vision and can ruin a person's eyes in the long term.

Doctors say that vision problems are usually caused by improper bending of light rays through the lens of the eye. The lens normally changes shape to refract light at an angle that will strike the retina and bring objects in relief.

Once the lens loses this ability, refractive errors occur. In myopia, for example, light rays entering the eye fall short of the retina, causing the patient to see close objects only. In hyperopia, the reverse occurs. Light rays beyond the retina, putting far objects developed.

However, Bates ignored these facts and pursued his own particular notions. He said that the goal does not change shape and eye defects are caused by stress or a thought "bad" that can strengthen the muscles of the eyes. To relieve tension and improve vision, he invented a series of eye exercises which he claimed could cure nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, cataracts and glaucoma.

He advised patients to cover their eyes with the palms of their hands, looking at different objects continually instead of watching something, and reading in difficult conditions as in the dark. He also told people to look directly at the sun to enjoy its warmth.

Eye exercises, of course, have their place in medicine. In "The Patient's Guide is well informed of cataracts and other eye surgery," Dr. Mark Chairman of the eye and ear Infirmary New York and Karyn Fieden said they can help people with strabismus or eye-cons. Dr. Peter Gott writes in "Better Health & Diet", published by the World Almanac, has said the exercises can be useful if poor vision is caused by a weakness or imbalance of eye muscles.

But in most cases, the problem is caused by abnormalities of the eye itself. This situation is common in eye disorders like nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. eye exercises are useless here, as well as glaucoma and cataracts as these conditions are not caused by stress, but by other factors.

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