Eye exercises (1 Viewer)

Eye exercises

http://www.wikihow.com/Exercise-Your-Eyes

Thanks Tvc - good info :t:

It's amazing how we take our eyes for granted. Finding "blackness" can be hard after staring at a computer screen for a while - what with all the coloured flashing dots. Likewise focal accommodation also suffers after long periods of fixed distance viewing - such as a computer screen.

I reckon something like ~50% (up to and more than ) of what is discussed in BF is down to the user's eyes and individual differences.

Perhaps more eye exercises and relaxation techniques could provide better evaluations. I know that some here make a point of such practice in testing already.


Chosun :gh:

. My friend in Sweden does eye exercises every day and says that they are very effective especially as regards maintaining accommodation.

I'm afraid I have never bothered but I find that if I rest my eyes totally for 10 minutes by closing them then they are returned to a much better state especially when I'm very tired say watching the television or reading.

When I was younger I of course had much less problem and my eyes did not get tired even after reading several hours.

After a week's camping and birding, meaning the time is spent with very limited reading and no computer use and the great majority of it looking at things that are far away, I always find my vision, particularly my distance vision, is much sharper than usual. Better colour perception and appreciation too.

OTOH, I can still recall what happened in my early days while using slightly misaligned binoculars, so birding alone is no guaranteed panacea....

I'm shocked to find this freaking rubbish on here. There is no scientific evidence that this is a working method. It bears strong resemblance to the infamous Bate's method:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method#Sunning

I'm not saying this because eye exercises would have any impact on my livelihood, but because it can have and does have adverse effect on certain individuals. Not the training itself, but it averts some easily led astray people who would really need to see a real eye doctor. In particular, I find it damning that there is a child on the instruction pictures.

Children's eyes may need spectacles to improve. A family member of mine was unexpectedly shown to have a large refractive error on one eye. He started using spectacles at the age of 4 and his corrected visual acuity has improved from about 1/10 to near 20/20. Imagine his situation if he didn't use spectacles because of some New Age fanatic's abusive ideas, and if something happened to the only usable eye!

Every week I refer patients to an ophtalmologist. On several occasions this led to the rescue of their eyes, in particular when glaucoma was my suspicion.

I can admit that the use of reading glasses does seem to decrease the span of accommodation among middle-aged individuals. Some may do relatively fine without their reading glasses at the price of squinting and headaches. I scratch my head wondering why on earth it is so important to avoid spectacles when they actually fill a need.

I think I'll throw my bins in the bin, burn my shoes and only eat a couple of times a week. Then I'm going to go naked through the awfully cold Swedish winters, in order to build an insulating layer of brown body fat like the Inuits have...
Who wants to join me?


//L

I rest my eyes every night for about 8 hours.

. Thanks for that looksharp 65.
I will have great satisfaction giving the link to my friend.

. Another good friend was a professional diver and used to go ice swimming regularly in Scandinavia.
He was one of a group of people who daily swam even below -20°C.

Unfortunately the ladies in the group developed a lot of body hair which is what seems to happen if you follow this pursuit.
Yes they are tough but it wasn't for me although I have swum in holes in the ice for a couple of minutes. wouldn't do it now.

The web page linked at the beginning of this thread seems to present "collaborative" text, which anyone can edit on registering at the site or even without! (Came across this method only now and I repeat, it seems to me that's how it is.) There's also a Warnings section (regarding the subject matter) some way down which please read - maybe better to have it at at the top of the page. I can confirm, however, that the method recommended by Bowlander in this thread is quite safe.

I would regard the exercises in the OP as good therapy for people who spend the day staring at a computer monitor 18 inches in front of them. I don't see any claims about 'better eyesight without glasses' or other extravagant Batesian benefits, but can't see how doing that stuff can be anything but a good way to counteract that unnatural part of daily life.

I am amazed to read of the Bates Method regarding sunning.

I have done extensive work on eclipse blindness and permanent eye damage occurs at exposures of between about one second and 15 to 20 seconds to central vision if one stares at the sun with direct vision in a transparent sky. this is without optical aid.

The damage occurs from all wavelengths from ultraviolet, near blue, visible and infrared.
particular emphasis is mentioned regarding the near blue wavelengths.

This is for people with average tolerances.
Persons taking certain drugs such as antibiotics and others show increased sensitivity to light and should take care not to look into the sun for even the briefest periods.

Persons who have had eye surgery should be particularly careful and ask their doctor's advice

Persons wearing sunglasses can sometimes be at more risk because the pupils dilate.

In addition we had to deal with the case of somebody in the Nottingham area who was selling so-called solar filters to astronomers and people reported feeling that there eyes were getting warm even though the eye I think has no pain receptors at least in the retina? these so-called solar filters were not cheap to buy and were advertised in the astronomical press until we found out how dangerous they were.
It took concerted effort and a barrister's letter to get him to cease selling these dangerous filters.
They were in fact pieces of coloured plastic inserted into empty filter rings.
A friend at a major university undertook spectral analysis of the filter and it was transmitting above 25% in some infrared wavelengths. if we had paid for this analysis it would have cost us a lot of money but it was done for free.
It was totally unsafe and in addition optically rubbish.

Several years later this gentleman started selling these again and we again had to lean very hard on him so that he stop selling these monstrosities.

Unfortunately I personally know of individuals who have permanent eye damage from incorrectly observing the sun sometimes with handmade filters.

There are also the dreadful solar filters that screw into all attach onto the eyepieces of cheap telescopes. These luckily are less frequently encountered. They can shatter in seconds.

The sun is half a million times too bright for direct vision with the unaided eye.
safe solar filters reduce the light usually by about 100,000 times or more throughout the spectrum.
One must only buy these through recognised reputable dealers.
Eclipse glasses should be checked for pinholes and have a five-year shelf life although I don't know how long they actually last.
A welder's glass 14 is safe but difficult to obtain in the UK.

Some actors including a famous knighted person were told earlier in their careers to stare the sun to stop squinting and this would improve their appearance on screen.
They have permanent eye damage.

I think that may be some religious eastern sects have individuals who stare at the sun and have actually become blind.
I think this is selfish and incorrect behaviour.

As I mentioned elsewhere I hope that birdwatchers take into account the sun.
With the unaided eyes a 1/10 of a second exposure to direct sunlight should be okay.
The blink response and rapid averted vision usually protects us from damage.
The iris response is too slow and in addition our eyes do not stop down to nothing as to some movie lenses.

With binoculars I estimate that a 1/500 of a second exposure might be safe but of course one cannot react in that time so it is down to chance.
If one catches the sun with a moving binocular the movement may just protect you but if it happened to me I hope that I would drop the binoculars and avert my vision as fast as possible.
I would not want to catch the sun with direct vision.

I would think that a 1/50 of a second is unsafe with binoculars.

This is a vast subject but basically just be aware to avoid looking at the sun with optical aid or even with the unaided eyes.

Today at 1730 BST on Neighbours on Channel 5 there was an episode called The eclipse.
There were so many basic mistakes in this half-hour programme that I will not comment.
It did involve one of the characters getting retinal damage.
But if people respond to news of solar eclipses in the way it was presented on this program it is no wonder that eye damage occurs.

Thanks for the info Looksharp, and Binastro - very important safety warnings :t:

I took the original post's link as more relevant to focus accommodation, and the impacts of our modern daily lives - I know I've witnessed some woeful late arvo, low light bin viewing after too much screen time. I thought some of the stuff on there was pretty 'fruity' :hippy: but harmless enough, but never a substitute for professional eye care.

I can't even begin to imagine the quackery of 'sunning' |8.|

Btw - after seeing 'Day of the Triffids' - I'm also rather nervous in viewing meteor showers / northern, or southern lights! I think Bowlander's techniques show some merit though ||


Chosun :gh:

Binastro, that is fascinating and useful.

I have come so close to the sun with binoculars a couple of times that I could feel the heat on the outer part of my eyeballs, and closed my eyes in time. I really try to avoid that, but when watching a bird in flight it can happen.
Ron

Thanks for the warnings. I will chime in with your warnings that everyone considering eye exercises should not deprive you child of glasses and make them stare at the sun and prevent them from having their eyes examined. Also do not put chopsticks up your nose.

Here is a news flash It is good to exercise all the major muscle groups in your body – it is proven beyond a doubt. But not the 17 muscles that control the movement of your eyes. Total nonsense.

For a healthy human being could you outline the problem and risk with resting your eyes or looking at something far away and then close?

I have to say in my case after just 10 days of doing eye exercises My eyes feel much better than any
optometrists or ophthalmologists ever made them feel.

Lets put it to the test. If you are trying these exercises. are seeing or feeling results? http://www.wikihow.com/Exercise-Your-Eyes

Now if I could just get rid of those floaters.


T

Ron: I too have been close to the sizzle! From all reports, the excellent glare performance of the Zeiss Victory HT makes that one to watch out for - it wouldn't pay to get too carried away watching raptors circling up to the sun.

Tvc: Modern eye usage, as you say is very similar to other muscle usage and diets. ie. completely different from our evolutionary genetics. Surely just focussing rapidly at different distances merely replicates our ancestors fight for survival, by constantly scanning for predators. The only precaution that I was previously aware of (apart from the sun stuff), was not to force or strain your eyeballs into the extremities of their travel, as this could permanently damage the movement musculature structures. This was mentioned in the article.

There are of course other, very serious signs to watch out for, such as early signs of retinal detachment which requires immediate professional medical attention. Perhaps Looksharp could fill us in more on that one.

The only other precaution I would add is not to pull funny faces at other people, just in case the wind changes!

Perhaps in the future, evolution will catch up with our lifestyles, and we'll all look a bit more like this?! http://shootingparrots.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Square-Eyed-52464.jpg


Chosun :gh:

. Obviously the photograph of the lady's eyeball was taken before the days of widescreen television.

Further to the above on eclipse blindness particular problems occur with individuals who are drinking alcohol.
The alcohol intake can prevent the blink response and averting vision from operating properly. In addition if you are drunk you may actually want to stare directly at the sun.

This is apart from the days of the hippies when who knows what trips were being taken.

The hardest eye exercise I'd want happens when I get a new binocular. Trying different IPD, diopter and eyecup adjustments until they're all just right, and testing for every conceivable flaw and difficulty under every lighting condition, the constant pressing of eyecups to the eyeballs, and increased hours of use just because it's new, can turn my eyse to mush. Even in normal birding use, the huge perturbation to vision of bringing the instrument to the eyes, scanning the field to locate the target, and judging focus quality as the adjustment is rapidly changed, works the eyes constantly. We get used to all this and relish it because that's what it takes to get the super views we crave, but when you offer a view to an inexperienced user you can see what they're going through.

Whether this is beneficial exercise or bad stress that other deliberate eye exercises supposedly counteract, I don't know. But I feel like a manual laborer must when he gets off work--he's supposed to go to the gym now?
Ron

. A sort of colleague reports that many years ago I think when using a 20 x 50 binocular with small eye relief the seal between the rubber eye Cup and his eye was so perfect that when he tried to remove his eye from the binocular the suction damaged his eyeball and he still has an injury from this.

He thought this might be quite common but I've never heard of such a thing happening before.

Has anyone here either had it happen to themselves or know of this happening to somebody else?

I have not had this happen to me even though I had some binoculars with very short eye relief.

I guess it is time for some clarification re the Bates' and Angard methods for eye exercises.
Apart from the sunning, I don't think the exercises are primarily harmful to the eyes, on the contrary they would be largely inefficacious and hence have no direct adverse effects.

The believers reject the scientific consensus about how the eye's anatomy is constituted, of course since it would pull away the weak foundation their beliefs rely upon.

First, let us mention how the ocular accommodation works. The crystalline lens is flexible at the beginning of life but slowly loses its range. For most individuals without refractive errors (which means that the image of distant objects does not fall on the retina when accommodation is relaxed) or with slight hyperopia, a discernible loss of reading sharpness occurs around the age of 45. This is because most reading is at 16 to 20 inches which corresponds to an accommodation amplitude of 2.5 diopters. In reality, the amplitude would be about 5 diopters but extended reading requires excessive ciliary muscle labour so the remaining 2.5 diopters are a reserve.

The crystalline lens changes shape when the ciliary muscle is engaged. But the muscle does not put press on the lens when used. On the contrary, the lens sits in a capsule that is connected with the ciliary muscle with the zonulary fibers, like the hub in a bicycle wheel.
When the ciliary muscle is engaged, its diameter decreases, the zonulary fibers slacken and the press through the capsule onto the lens decreases as well. If it is a young lens (which is also generally smaller), it strives to become more spherical. The optical radii decrease and the refractive power increases.
When the ciliary muscle relaxes, its diameter increases, the zonulary filaments stretch and the capsule puts press on the lens, which increases the optical radii and decreases the refractive power so distance vision is obtained again.

Edit: It is the built-in elasticity of the lens, or lack thereof, that decides the amplitude of the accommodation, not the condition of the ciliary muscle.
True, some middle-aged and a very small number of elderly people may retain a portion of their accommodative flexibility. For most, this extraordinary ability to change focus comes with a non-negligible eye strain and delayed refocus towards distance viewing after reading. It should also be mentioned that a miotic pupil regularly seen with elderly people does aid the near vision but does also require a powerful illumination of the text.

The four main reasons to use spectacles or contact lenses are

1) Myopia (where the eyeball is too elongated compared to the compound refractive power of the eye and the focus does not reach the retina),

2) Hyperopia (where the eyeball is shorter than the focal length of the optical system)
If it is moderate and the individual is young, accommodation can be used to increase distance sharpness. The near vision triad may cause double vision unless corrective lenses are used, though. If this goes on for an extended period during childhood, unilateral central vision loss can occur.

3) Astigmatism, which means that the refractive power of the optical system is different in the 90 and 180 degrees direction (or anything in between, like 70/160 degrees).
As a general rule, astigmatism is composed by a corneal component and a lenticular ditto. Ideally, they nullify each other. If not, and it is a high-grade astigmatism, it emanates from a warped corneal shape.

Edit: Astigmatism often occurs simultaneously with myopia or hyperopia, with myopia+presbyopia or with hyperopia+presbyopia.
If it is moderate and with moderate hyperopia, it may result in a a fairly usable visual acuity since it partly reduces the effect of the hyperopia.
However, corrective lenses will yield better sharpness and more relaxed vision.

4) Presbyopia, which I explained above.

Thus, refractive errors manifest themselves differently depending on the location of their origin. Flexibility exercises won't change the shape of the cornea or the length of the eyeball, but the avid eye exercise believers claim that they have a universal method which magically will make the use of spectacles unnecessary.
Like everybody knows, this has not happened.

"If palming, shifting, and swinging could really cure poor eyesight, glasses would be as obsolete by now as horse-drawn carriages."
-Alan M. MacRobert

I see some progress

-You stopped using the word rubbish
-You are no longer associating a harmless web page of eye harmless exercises with cooking your eye ball with a magnifying glass and staring at the sun.
-You are no longer associating eye exercises as withholding medic treatment for children.
-You are no longer assuming somone who would choose top do eye exercises would refuse to wear glasses and get a head ache.
-You have converted from condeming gazing at a pencil and resting our eyes. Now you just calim it is ineffective. I guess you are waiting for some trade association to tell you resting our eys is OK or you need scientific proof. For the rest of us – it is just common sense.
- If the image of a child gazing at a pencil upsets you. I assume your shock comes from not seeing a child wearing glasses.

Make no mistake if I wanted somone who would reliably recommend stronger glasses I would go to you. To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

The statement – “if it worked no one would wear glasses” – close minded all or nothing thinking. Nothing in between good enough eh?

In my case the less than 2 weeks of eye exercise, my eyes are less fatigured. My distance vision is improving. I can read my watch again when I am tired. I am wearing my glasses less and my glasses are more effective when I wear them. I measure that as success. In the mean time I just want to see the birds as best as I can for as long as I can.

Hoyotoho!

Tvc15_2000 said:

I see some progress

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It may come as a disappointment to you, but I stand by my words and my opinions.

Tvc15_2000 said:

Make no mistake if I wanted somone who would reliably recommend stronger glasses I would go to you. To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

Click to expand...

I've been in this profession for seventeen years and believe that I have acquired at least some experience. If I habitually would let prejudice be my Northern Star of eye exams, fewer patients would have been satisfied. Of course it is not routinely about prescribing stronger glasses. Just as often it's weaker glasses that are the correct prescription. Sometimes I advise my patient to permanently stop using their spectacles.
A comparison to using binoculars is inevitable here - when the object is in focus, it's sharp and your eyes are relaxed.
When you're out of focus, it's more or less blurred regardless of if you have focused them too close or too far away.

Tvc15_2000 said:

-You stopped using the word rubbish

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Hopefully it's clear what I think although I don't wish to overuse the r-word.

Tvc15_2000 said:

-You are no longer associating a harmless web page of eye harmless exercises with cooking your eye ball with a magnifying glass and staring at the sun.

Click to expand...

The Wikipedia page has a quite good overview of Mr. Bates ideas. While the sunning may have been extinct, it is a clear expression of the lack of understanding of the human physiology. Some ideas eradicate themselves, just like celibacy cults.

Tvc15_2000 said:

-You are no longer associating eye exercises as withholding medic treatment for children.

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I still find it utterly inappropriate to have a child as the illustration, for the reasons I already mentioned. There's people for everything, and if somebody is a passionate eye exerciser, I'd expect them to foist their ideas upon their children as well.

Tvc15_2000 said:

-You are no longer assuming somone who would choose top do eye exercises would refuse to wear glasses and get a head ache.

Click to expand...

You may believe this or not, but I regularly meet elderly drivers with large refractive errors who refuse to drive with spectacles. It's all a matter of pride and denial, and the power of imagination is one of the strongest powers in human decision-making.
"Alternate Nostril Breathing" is another example of what the power of imagination can do to ignorant victims of New Age marketing.

Tvc15_2000 said:

The statement – “if it worked no one would wear glasses” – close minded all or nothing thinking. Nothing in between good enough eh?

Click to expand...

One thing is for sure: the vision is not only about sharpness, it is even more about psychology, in particular what visual stimuli we choose to ignore.
Most people say: I believe it when I see it, but the truth is that we only see what we believe or expect. That's how magicians can spellbind their audience.

Tvc15_2000 said:

I guess you are waiting for some trade association to tell you resting our eys is OK or you need scientific proof.

Click to expand...

Your mentioning of trade associations is probably more revealing than you'd like it to be.
It tells me that you're harbouring a conspiracy theory saying that anyone who offers a professional and knowledgeable treatment must have a hidden agenda.
They are in fact members of a rigorous cult. Science is merely an opinion, scientists are conspirators who wish to enslave the humanity with their boring truth.
Came across this link, by the way: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/why-rational-people-buy-into-conspiracy-theories.html?_r=0

You wanted some assent, didn't you? Frankly, I think the massage section of the site might be of some use for dry, sore eyes since the massage should have some benefit to the lipid glands and the mucus glands of the eyelids.


//L