Bates method of restoring vision

Just 100 years ago, no one could have imagined that visual acuity could be returned by non-surgical methods. And today it has become possible thanks to special techniques and exercises to restore vision. Consider the method of Bates: what is its essence and how effective it is.

Underlying principles

Horatio Bates is an American ophthalmologist who practiced in the early 19th century. During his many years of practice, he once remarked that wearing glasses and standard methods of vision correction do not work. This discovery interested the doctor and he began to actively explore the structure of the eye. This circumstance prompted him to rethink the existing theories of the visual apparatus and to search for alternative treatment options.

As a result of many experiments and numerous studies, Bates revealed a characteristic feature: the lens is not at all responsible for visual acuity, as many doctors say, but the muscles of the eyeball. A person with good vision should never make an effort to see an object.

On the basis of the knowledge gained, two fundamental conclusions were made:

1. Visual impairment occurs when a person needs to make additional efforts to better consider the details of a particular object. This leads to an overstretching of the eye muscles and a decrease in the quality of vision: the development of myopia, hyperopia, strabismus, or astigmatism.
2. To bring sight back to normal, it will be enough to teach a person to look at objects without much effort and additional strain on the eyes. In other words, it is important to give the muscles time to rest.

It is on these two pillars that the Bates exercise principle is based. Based on them, you can make a simple conclusion - to see perfectly, you need to stop straining and learn relaxation.

Contemporaries reacted to such a theory with extreme skepticism, but in subsequent years, the Bates method was used almost throughout the world. On the territory of the post-Soviet countries, this method is also popular and is being finalized.

Thus, the well-known practitioner G. A. Shichko introduced his own corrections into this theory, according to which in a separate notebook you need to write phrases for self-suggestion: "My eyesight will get better", "I can see better" and so on. These attitudes should influence the subconscious and simultaneously stimulate the person to take active actions. As a result, another branch of the vision restoration exercise with the help of Shichko-Bates exercises appeared.

Go to practice

Exercises for the eyes of the Bates method are based on three stages of correction:

1. Step one is complete immersion into one's consciousness and abstraction from exposure to light.
2. Step two is the restoration of memory and the presentation of the shapes of objects.
3. Step three - exercises for the eyes, which teach to focus on objects even when exposed to irritating factors.

Each stage consists of several exercises, similar to each other by the nature of the implementation and the goals to be achieved in the end. We will not focus on everyone, but give only the main complex recommended for implementation for various types of visual impairment.

Dive or palming

The word palming came to us from English, where Palm means palm. The essence of this set of exercises is to close your eyes with your hands and protect yourself from the light falling on the retina. The exercise is performed as follows:

1. It is necessary to fold the palms of the house and cover their eyes so that the fingertips fall in the middle of the forehead.
2. Now you need to look at any object in the room, and then close your eyes and mentally imagine it.
3. As a result, a kaleidoscope of various color shades should appear before your eyes. Your task is to repaint all colors black.
4. Relax, breathe evenly and mentally carefully paint over all the white spots. When in front of you there will be only a perfectly black canvas, the goal of the exercise is achieved.

Mental visualization

Bates believed that if the vision is imperfect, it means that the very perception of the boundaries of the object, as well as the section of the brain responsible for memory, are also disturbed. To restore these defects, the doctor came up with the following exercise:

1. At some distance from yourself, place a special letter table on the wall to check visual acuity.
2. Now take a close look at the letters in the very bottom line and select the one that you can easily distinguish.
3. Then close your eyes and clearly visualize the selected letter in front of you. Submitted? Then try at the subconscious level to lighten the main background and darken the letter itself.
4. Then open your eyes. If you did everything correctly, this letter and those located next to it will be clearly visible on the rest of the background.

Solarization

At the last stage it is proposed to accustom the eyes to "get along" with your irritant. To do this you need to choose a particularly warm and sunny day:

1. Close your eyes and expose your face to direct sunlight.
2. Turn the body several times to the right and left, and then slightly open one eye.
3. Blink a little and repeat the same for the second eye.
4. Do the exercise 1-2 times a day.

Research and public recognition

And although this method of vision correction was developed about a century ago, his clinical studies have never been conducted. Orthodox ophthalmologists to this day leave negative reviews about the exercises and the Bates method of restoring vision. Traditional medicine loudly claims that it is the lens, and not the muscles of the eye, that are responsible for the focus and, therefore, for the clarity of vision. Therefore, to assume that such exercises will help to correct vision is silly.

But in the philistine circles about the effectiveness of the way Bates say many people who have experienced this method for themselves. Of course, many did not succeed in achieving a full focus of view, however, in most cases, people learned to completely dispense with glasses.

Which of the two opinions to believe more is up to you. Perhaps this method will be effective in your case. At least, no contraindications to the exercises according to the Bates method were revealed even by official medicine. Take care of your eyesight!