The See Clearly Method &

Other Programs: Do Eye Exercises

Improve Vision
By Rob Murphy, with updates by Marilyn Haddrill and Gary Heiting, OD
Self-help programs of eye exerises that laim to redue or eliminate your need for glasses
and ontats ha!e been around sine the "#$%s& But before you spend time and money on
anything that promises you will be able to 'throw away your glasses,' be aware that these
programs remain highly ontro!ersial and most !ision experts ontend there is little or no
sientifi e!idene that shows they wor(&
)n fat, se!eral popular eye exerise programs ha!e been remo!ed from the mar(etplae for
ma(ing apparently false laims about their effeti!eness&
*or example, an )owa distrit ourt in +o!ember $%%, halted all sales of See -learly Method
(its that had been mar(eted for se!eral years by a ompany alled .ision )mpro!ement
/ehnologies as a way to impro!e !ision through eye exerises&
Based on allegations that inluded misleading ad!ertising, the state ourt ordered the )owa
ompany to pay 0$%%,%%% into a restitution fund to ompensate onsumers who had paid
about 012% for eah of thousands of (its&
)n the lawsuit, )owa 3ttorney General /om Miller aused the ompany of ma(ing 'dramati
laims for its produt that ould not be substantiated&'
Ste!en M& Beresford, 4hD, is founder and -5O of 3merian .ision )nstitute 63.)7 8 the
entity behind the original See -learly Method& Beresford told 3ll3bout.ision&om !ia e-mail
in late $%%9: ')n our opinion, the )owa attorney general was paid off by the 3O3 ;3merian
Optometri 3ssoiation< by means of a bribe or ampaign ontribution to arry out a proxy
atta(&'
3.) operates a website that offers a new 4ower .ision 4rogram 'onsisting of the most
effeti!e tehni=ues of the See -learly Method,' aording to the ompany& /he 4ower .ision
4rogram, whih 3.) laims an 'redue, perhaps e!en eliminate your dependeny on glasses
or ontat lenses,' an be downloaded from the ompany>s website for 012&
Self-help programs li(e the See -learly Method, the 4ower .ision 4rogram and other eye
exerise programs promoted online usually laim they an redue refrati!e errors suh as
nearsightedness and astigmatism, as well as presbyopia&
/hese programs differ from super!ised programs of !ision therapy presribed by eye dotors
6usually optometrists7 to orret ertain eye alignment and other binoular !ision problems, or
to enhane dynami !isual s(ills for sports !ision&
Can Eye Exercises !lter "o#r Eye$s %asic !natomy
/o better understand if eye exerises that promise 'natural !ision impro!ement' an atually
redue refrati!e errors, you need to onsider the eye>s basi anatomy and how the eye
refrats light&
4roblems with how the eye is shaped typially ontribute to fousing errors suh as
nearsightedness, farsightedness 6hyperopia7 and astigmatism& *or example:
?hen the eyeball is too short, you are farsighted and an>t fous on near ob@ets
beause light rays entering your eye ahie!e a point of fous somewhere beyond your
retina&
?hen you are nearsighted and your eyeball is too long, light rays ha!e too far to go
and 'fall short' of ahie!ing a point of fous on your retina&
?hen you ha!e astigmatism, usually your ornea has an irregular shape& Sometimes,
astigmatism results when your eye>s natural lens has an irregular shape& /hese
irregularities ause light rays entering your eye to split into different points of fous,
reating blurry !ision&
3nother ommon !ision problem, presbyopia, ours with aging when your eye>s
natural lens starts to lose elastiity and no longer an mo!e properly to aommodate
fous at multiple distanes& /his ondition typially auses your near !ision to start
blurring, beginning at around age A%&
?hen you 'exerise' your eyes, you mo!e your eye musles to reate up-and-down, side-to-
side or irular motion& Bou also 'wor(' the musles ontrolling ba(-and-forth mo!ement of
your eye>s natural lens, to help ahie!e sight at multiple distanes&
So if you are onsidering an eye exerise program to impro!e your !ision, as( yourself these
=uestions:
?ill exerising your eyes hange the basi shape of your eyeball, by ma(ing it longer
or shorterC
?ill eye exerises alter the basi shape of your ornea, and hange the angle of how
light rays enter your eye to ahie!e fousC 6*or example, this is how D3S)E wor(s to
orret ommon !ision errors&7
)f you ha!e astigmatism, will exerising your eyes somehow reshape your eye>s
irregular surfaeC
)f you ha!e presbyopia, will eye exerises restore your eye>s lens to its one youthful
elastiity that has delined due to aging proessesC
3 reent re!iew of researh published in peer-re!iewed, sientifi @ournals onduted by
3ll3bout.ision&om failed to uno!er any studies showing that eye exerises an alter the
eye>s basi anatomy signifiantly or eliminate presbyopia 8 whih no one esapes after a
ertain age&
Bou possibly an 'train' your eyes to see better in different ways, suh as in how your brain
and your eyes adapt and funtion& -hildren with ertain early !ision problems, suh as
amblyopia or 'laFy eye,' may need a speifi type of !ision therapy to ma(e sure their eyes
wor( together properly 6binoular !ision7 and that !ision is de!eloping normally&
But abo!e all else, eye shape determines your basi refrati!e error& 3nd if you ha!e a
signifiant problem with the way your eye is shaped, it>s unli(ely you will be able to 'throw
away' your glasses e!en after a de!oted program of eye exerises&
3fter e!aluations of !arious studies in!ol!ing programs of eye exerises, biofeedba(, musle
relaxation, eye pathing and eye massage, offiials at the 3merian 3ademy of
Ophthalmology issued this statement in $%%A:
')t is not lear if patients purhasing these programs for use at home outside of the ontrolled
en!ironment of a researh study will ha!e any impro!ement in their !ision& +o e!idene was
found that !isual training has any effet on the progression of myopia& +o e!idene was found
that !isual training impro!es !isual funtion for patients with hyperopia or astigmatism& +o
e!idene was found that !isual training impro!es !ision lost through disease proesses suh as
age-related maular degeneration, glauoma or diabeti retinopathy&'
The See Clearly Method o& Eye Exercises
/he See -learly Method was de!eloped by four 3merian .ision )nstitute dotors& 3.)
liensed the program to .ision )mpro!ement /ehnologies, whih then mar(eted the See
-learly Method diretly to the publi&
?hen the See -learly Method was being widely promoted, the original website
6seelearlymethod&om7 did not inlude statements regarding sientifi proof of the program>s
effeti!eness&
/he 'tromboning' exerise had you hold a small ob@et at arm>s length, inhale, then mo!e the
ob@et in to touh the tip of your nose& Bou would then exhale, loo( at the ob@et, and mo!e it
ba( out& '/romboning exerises the fousing mehanism, impro!es ontrol of the extraoular
musles and stimulates the flow of nutrients inside the eyes,' aording to the See -learly
Method manual&
Howe!er, the website said the do-it-yourself !ision impro!ement plan was a 'safe, healthy
alternati!e to glasses, ontats and e!en laser surgery&' But then a dislaimer on the site noted:
'/he rate at whih your eyesight impro!es as a result of the See -learly Method and the
extent of that impro!ement, if any, will !ary among indi!iduals&'
?ith no way of (nowing whether it wor(ed, purhasers bought the produt on faith& /he )owa
3ttorney General>s offie said the ompany harged ustomers about 012% retail for eah of
the 2,%%% to "%,%%% (its sold monthly& 4eople wanting to return the (its for a refund reportedly
enountered diffiulty getting through to a ompany representati!e&
/he basi !ersion of the See -learly Method inluded three !ideotapes, three audiotapes, an
instrution manual, a daily progress hart and other materials& /he deluxe !ersion inluded a
-D-ROM&
3 fundamental premise of the program was that refrati!e disorders suh as myopia may be
partially hereditary but also ha!e en!ironmental auses, suh as fousing stress aused by
prolonged reading and other near wor(& -ertain eye exerises in the See -learly Method were
designed to relie!e 'lo(ing up' of the eye>s fousing mehanism 6a ondition alled
aommodati!e spasm7 from stress and fatigue, thereby reduing the ris( for myopia
progression and possibly re!ersing myopia&
Other exerises were said to impro!e eye oordination or to straighten misaligned eyes& )t>s
important to note that while many people thin( of suh eye exerises as !ision therapy, most
!ision therapists do not ad!oate or endorse self-direted programs&
/he See -learly Method had you do 1% minutes of exerises a day to strengthen and enhane
the flexibility of the musles that go!ern the eye>s fousing power and ontrol its mo!ements&
Six of the ati!ities were desribed as 'new !isual habits&' One, for example, had you hold a
finger up as you !aried your fous ba( and forth from the finger to a distant ob@et&
/hen there were "% 'booster tehni=ues,' designed to 'address problems or enourage faster
progress,' aording to the instrution manual& /he 'blur reading' tehni=ue, for example,
had you turn a magaFine upside-down at a distane from whih the words were blurry& Bou
were then supposed to selet a word and run your gaFe around it, and if you ould pi( out
any letters, run your gaFe around them& 5ah of the exerises might ta(e two to four minutes&
Bou reorded your progress in the @ournal that ame with the (it&
/he instrution manual reommended personal affirmations to help you along& Bou might
remind yourself, for example: ') am seeing better eah day&' )f you were ha!ing any doubts,
you might delare: ') an see without my glasses,' or ') feel positi!e hanges in my !ision
ta(ing plae&'
'.isualiFation' also was a omponent of the See -learly Method, along with tehni=ues that
were holdo!ers from an eye exerises regimen alled the Bates Method, de!eloped in the
"#$%s by ma!eri( +ew Bor( -ity ophthalmologist ?illiam Horatio Bates, MD&
Dight therapy, a ta(eoff on Bates>s tehni=ue of 'sunning,' had you sit with your eyes losed
and your fae six inhes from an unshaded "2%-watt bulb, @ust far enough to ma(e your eyes
'pleasantly warm but not too hot,' aording to the manual& Meanwhile, the manual suggested
that you 'repeat your affirmation and !isualiFe your inner lens beoming more flexible and
the iliary musle more powerful& .isualiFe the eyeball transforming into a better shape&'
/he 'palming' tehni=ue had you lose your eyes and rest them against your palms, while
'hydrotherapy' had you alternately plaing hot- and old-water-soa(ed towels against your
eyes& 3ffirmations and !isualiFation were said to help with these tehni=ues as well&
3s 6or if7 your !ision impro!ed, you were enouraged to obtain progressi!ely wea(er
orreti!e lenses from your eye dotor until you no longer re=uired orretion or you en@oyed
the maximum impro!ement& Bou were ad!ised that pathing one eye ould be neessary if the
fellow eye lagged in its expeted impro!ement&
Do Eye Exercises 'or(
3 long-standing ritiism of eye exerises by optometrists and ophthalmologists is the
absene of sientifi researh that demonstrates eye exerises an effeti!ely redue or
eliminate refrati!e errors and derease your need for glasses or ontat lenses& /he medial
literature la(s well-ontrolled linial studies 8 with strit sientifi riteria inluding
arefully mathed omparison populations 8 showing that eye exerises effeti!ely treat
myopia or hyperopia&
/he Sanning -hart exerise was one of the See -learly Method>s "% 'booster tehni=ues&'
Bou would position the hart @ust into your blur Fone, then @ump from dot to dot in time with
the musi on the exerise !ideo& /he booster tehni=ues were meant to 'enourage faster
progress,' aording to the manual&
Da!id ?& Muris, OD, one of the four dotors who de!eloped the See -learly Method,
onduted a linial e!aluation of the produt in his Saramento, -alif&, pratie during the
fall of "###&
'/he in!estors @ust wanted some due diligene and some people to atually go through this,'
he said& '/hey didn>t want to re=uire anything sientifi&'
3ording to Dr& Muris, the e!aluation in!ol!ed $" people ages "A to 9% with mild myopia
6less than -1&%% diopters7& 3fter six wee(s of eye exerises, nine of the $" had 'signifiant'
impro!ement and "" had 'moderate' impro!ement in !isual auity& Se!en eliminated their
need for glasses or ontats, he said, while "" had 'redued dependeny,' meaning they
needed their orreti!e lenses for less time than before&
3ll3bout.ision&om onduted its own deidedly unsientifi e!aluation of the See -learly
Method when a staffer ga!e it a try and experiened no !ision impro!ement& )n addition, as a
busy wor(ing mother of three, she found the minimum of 1% minutes a day the program
re=uired too demanding of her time and felt that @ust wearing her ontat lenses was a more
reasonable option&
%#yer %e)are
5ye exerise programs oupy a nebulous spae somewhere between medial siene and
fol( remedy& Most optometrists and ophthalmologists are dismissi!e of the types of programs
promising that you an 'throw away your glasses&'
3upressure exerises had you applying firm pressure to speifi points surrounding the
eyeball& Bou would press for @ust a seond, then release, and ontinue this pattern& Basially, it
was a massage for the musles surrounding the eye&
/he See -learly Method>s ad!oates not only a(nowledged the unon!entional status of the
program, but they regarded that position as a !irtue&
*rom the instrution manual, we learned that: ')n the history of mediine, new ideas ha!e
often been resisted by those shooled in traditional methods&' ?e were told that the deision
to wear glasses or ontats 8 for the present purposes defined as 'ruthes' 8 borders on the
mentally unsound&
4romotional materials delared: '-ertainly, exept for diseases and in@uries for whih there is
no ure, nobody in their right mind would willingly aept a ondition that ompromises the
ability to funtion and en@oy life, or to be dependent on ruthes fore!er&'
/he number of orreti!e-lens haters is open to debate, but De!i Mees(e, a $2-year-old @ob-
plaement ounselor in 3tlanta, found his ontat lenses suffiiently loathsome to gi!e the
See -learly Method a try& Six wee(s after starting the program, he was delighted, he said,
with his !isual impro!ement& /he refrati!e error in his right eye had impro!ed modestly
from -1&$2 to -1&%% diopters 6D7, while his left eye remained stable at -1&G2 D&
Mees(e still needs ontat lenses to orret his !ision& 'But when they are in, ) an see farther
8 as )>m loo(ing at buildings or at trees, the amount of detail that )>m able to pi( up has
greatly inreased,' he said& 'Doo(ing at grass, loo(ing at flowers, the olors are muh more
!ibrant&'
Eeep in mind, howe!er, that the )owa 3ttorney General>s offie found in ompany reords
that far more unhappy ustomers wrote in about their results, and that positi!e letters were
'relati!ely sare&'
/he See -learly Method was one of the more popular eye exerise programs and was widely
ad!ertised& /hough it is no longer mar(eted, similar do-it-yourself !ision impro!ement
programs are readily a!ailable online&
)n fat, a ?eb searh we onduted in $%"" for 'eye exerises to impro!e !ision' produed a
number of websites promoting suh programs 8 as well as some strange onspiray theory
hatter alleging that optometrists and ophthalmologists (now the 'truth' about benefits of eye
exerises but won>t tell their patients beause they then wouldn>t be able to sell eyeglasses,
ontat lenses and eye surgery&
Suh re(less laims illustrate the importane of onsidering the redibility of soures when
see(ing reliable health information on the ?eb&
?hile there may be little harm in trying eye exerises to impro!e your !ision, it>s wise to (eep
your expetations in he(& ?e reommend that before you in!est time and money in self-
help !ision impro!ement programs, first ha!e a omprehensi!e eye exam and as( your eye
dotor for professional ad!ie regarding the effeti!eness and safety of any eye exerise
programs you are onsidering&