Hyperopia/Presbyopia exercises
Hyperopia theory
Another common vision defect is hyperopia (also known as farsightedness). It is the opposite of nearsightedness — distance vision is relatively clear, but close-up vision is blurry. This causes rapid eye fatigue when reading and can lead to headaches and irritation of the conjunctiva. Hyperopia stems from the structure of the eyeball: the eye is either too short or its cornea is too flat. As a result, the light rays entering the eye are focused behind the retina rather than on it.
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Presbyopia theory
Presbyopia, or age-related farsightedness, is — as the name suggests — one of the side effects of the body's overall aging and the gradual decline in the functioning of its organs. It commonly appears in people over the age of 40. The condition worsens until about the age of 60–65, when it stabilizes. The symptoms are the same as in hyperopia: difficulty seeing objects close to the eyes clearly. However, the underlying cause of presbyopia is different from the farsightedness discussed above.
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That said, a significant number of elderly people who report no need for glasses contradict the theory of inevitable vision deterioration with advancing age. Although it's hard to deny that the lens becomes more rigid and cloudy with age, and that the condition of the eye muscles worsens, the techniques of Dr. Bates' method offer an effective remedy for these unfavorable changes.
In presbyopia, we perform the same exercises as for farsightedness (available below).
Exercise D1. Reading text in various sizes
For farsighted individuals, reading small print with relaxed eyes is the best way to improve vision. Text printed in a range of font sizes teaches the eyes to focus on smaller and smaller letters while maintaining dynamic relaxation.
- Place the chart at a distance so that the largest letters are slightly blurred but easily recognizable.
- Start by looking at the large print, letter by letter. Let your eyes wander around the letters and their shapes, imagining in your mind how black they are. Blink frequently, and every now and then close your eyes and visualize what you just read.
- Now move on to the smaller print and repeat step 2. If you can no longer make out the letters clearly, simply observe whatever you see, however strange or blurred. Do not strain your eyes; just look at the contours, edges, and spaces between the letters and words. Blink to keep your vision relaxed. Every now and then, close your eyes and repeat in your mind: "the page is white, and the letters are black."
- If your eyes are not too tired, repeat step 3 with even smaller text.
- Return to the larger print now. You will likely find it much clearer and much larger than at the beginning of the exercise.
Exercise D2. Reading inverted text
The inverted-text exercise helps you focus on what your eyes actually see, without your mind reading the book's text.
- Turn a page of any book 180 degrees and set it at a distance so that the text is slightly blurred.
- Read each letter individually, allowing the eye to move point by point, gradually and carefully following the shape of the letter. Try to blink often and breathe freely. If it helps, you can imagine a small black dot that you move along the shape of each letter. Do not try to recognize letters or words, just freely move your gaze over the letters. At the end of each line, close your eyes for a moment and visualize the blackness of the letters.
Exercise D3. Reading with "tromboning"
This exercise extends your range of clear vision at the "near point," letting you read printed text from an even shorter distance than before.
- Place a book or chart with texts of varying sizes at a distance where you can easily read the text.
- Slowly bring the sheet closer to your eyes until you can no longer read the text.
- When the print becomes blurry, move your gaze along the letters and words without trying to recognize them. Don't strain your eyes, just focus on the contours, edges, and spaces between the letters and words. Blink to keep your vision relaxed.
- Now move the sheet away from your eyes until you can read the text again.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 several times.
- If you are using a chart, you can repeat the exercise with smaller text.
- Check whether you can now read comfortably at a shorter distance than before.
Exercise D4. Exercise with two charts
This exercise allows you to practice alternating between near and far vision, improving eye accommodation and depth perception.
- For this exercise, you will need a special chart with letters for viewing at both near and far distances.
- Attach the large chart to the wall at a distance where you can see it clearly, and hold the small chart in your hand at a distance where the text is visible but slightly blurry.
- Read 3 consecutive letters on the large chart, close your eyes for a second and visualize those 3 letters, then look at the small chart and read the same letters. Do the same with the next 3 letters.
Primary source: W. H. Bates, Perfect Sight Without Glasses (1920), ch. 20 and 9 — full text at Wikisource.