Seeing Clearly After Fifty
Common to most women as they reach middle life are changes in vision. Far-sightedness or presbyopia (old vision) creeps up on us and while playing trombone with the newspaper may be sufficient for a few years, eventually we give in and buy some reading glasses or worse, bifocals (even the word makes me shudder).
No wonder then that a company that advertised a method guaranteed to improve vision and free customers of the need for contact lenses and glasses was a huge hit. The “See Clearly Method”, a kit of manuals, charts, videos and auto-tapes for which the company charged $350, promised that by using their eye exercises and methods, customers could attain normal vision. The only problem is, it didn’t work.
An Iowa court has ordered Vision Improvement Technologies, Inc., to immediately stop selling its so-called natural vision improvement kit and to pay $200,000 in restitution to customers who bought the “See Clearly Method”. The court ruled that the company could not substantiate claims of effectiveness for the product.
On the other hand, LASIK surgery is becoming more commonplace and so far has been shown to be an effective method of correcting vision long-term. Read about LASIK surgery at the FDA website.
It’s probably based on the old Bates method : Better Sight Without Glasses. The exercises certainly refresh the eyes and make sense. Whether they actually improve sight is another matter.
One exercise is called “sunning” where you actually stare into the sun for a couple of minutes. I never quite got past that one
John
By John Evans on November 9th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Maybe it’s one of those “feels so good when you stop” exercises.
I remember one gimmick for eyesight years ago - you simply stared through a pinhole. Your vision was less blurry and so they said this meant you were “training” your eyes to see better. But if you think about it, it’s pretty much the same as squinting. Narrow the focus and your perception of it is better. But it goes back to normal when you stop squinting. You can do the same if you make a telescope out of your hand and look through the narrow tunnel it forms.
By Andrea on November 9th, 2006 at 11:52 pm