The Secret of Myopia V1.0

Hey Guys,

I've been lurking these boards for quite a while, but have never had something new to add to the plethora of new information being reported on ATS. Things change though, and I hope this helps both you and I; you in the context of preventing or stabilizing this condition, and I in the context of finding out who the true culprit for this complete and utter travesty. This travesty, quite simply, is the pandemic of nearsightedness and the ease with which it can be prevented. Read on, and you should be quite surprised and most probably (especially if you or a loved one is chained to glasses) angered... I know I was when I put all these pieces together.

Foreword: Just to warn you, there is quite a bit to discuss on this topic; a large amount of background information is necessary to understand the point I'm trying to make, but very little scientific knowledge is needed to understand it, only some common sense and logical thinking. I have written this in a way that a reasonably intelligent and literate person can follow with little difficulty. I do however realize that I cannot truly know how somebody reading this would perceive this information if it is their first time seeing it. I hope it is not too hard to follow. There is a very, very barebone summary at the end of the article, but I do implore you to make the journey through the whole thing:p Thank you for reading

Note: I had this all nice and formatted on Microsoft Word, but am not used to formatting and whatnot on boards, I hope this isn't too ugly to look at

Let's start off with some basic optometric principles. If one has 20/20 vision, it means that they can see at 20 feet what a normal sighted person can see at 20 feet; therefore, one who has 20/20 vision has normal vision. If one has 20/40 vision, they can see at 20 feet what a normal sighted person can see at 40 feet, double the distance away, meaning one with 20/40 vision has half the visual acuity of one with 20/20 vision. It works the other way around as well...one with 20/10 vision can see at 20 feet what a normal sighted person would only be able to see at 10 feet, and thus has double the visual acuity as a normal sighted person. The maximum visual acuity that the [human] eye can attain is 20/8 vision, based on structural limitations of rod and cone cell densities.

With that in mind, let's move onto some basic anatomy of the eye. We have here a diagram illustrating some structural components of the human eye.




NOTE: Unfortunately I have no idea how to make the image actually appear on the page, I can only make it a link, sorry

Of importance to our investigation are the lens and the cillary muscle. The cillary muscles (on either side of the lens) contract in order to focus the lens. As can be seen in the diagram, if the cillary muscles contract, the lens is stretched somewhat, and the light that enters through it is refracted. This amount of refraction depends on the amount of stress placed on the lens by the cillary muscles. The closer an object is to your eyes, the more the cillary muscles must contract in order to maintain focus, that is, in order to maintain an intersection of lightrays directly on the retina. An important observation to make is that unlike most muscles in your body, the cillary muscles are not anchored to bone, rather they are anchored to the gelatinous choroid. This will be a very important observation, as will be made apparent shortly.



[edit on 26-7-2010 by Sky01]

I must draw a tangent from the subject of the eye, if only for a moment, to describe a relevant scientific phenomenon which involves the adaptatory mechanisms of human and most animal muscle. Imagine holding a twenty pound dumbbell in a curl. At first it seems alright, your arm is bent and you're feeding energy to your bicep in order to keep it contracted. As you start to run an oxygen deficit, your body starts producing energy anaerobically, through the fermentation of lactic acid. This acid begins to burn your muscle, and you begin to feel pain. But let's say you don't care, and you're going to keep the dumbbell. Let's say through sheer force of will, you kept it up for three or four hours, and once bored, you try to let it down...but you can't. You attempt to extend your arm downwards, but are met with huge pain and actual physical resistance. You are forced to let the weight slide off your fingertips and crash into the ground. You see your muscle, realizing you weren't going to let it relax chose to do the only thing it could to prevent itself from forcefully relaxing and having the weight fall onto your toes; it shortened itself...it changed the structure of it's fibres to become shorter, so that the position it was in; contracted, became its new base, requiring very little energy to maintain. For the man with the dumbbell, hours will pass before his muscle will start to lengthen again due to simple effort and the disappearance of the weight, and within a day or two, he'll be back to normal. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all muscles, as we'll soon see.

Back to they eye! Before we get straight to the point, I must first explain when you are focussing and when you are not. Case 1: A man looking into the distance, dreaming about where he could be, what he could do, and why he hasn't gone there and done these things yet. Is he focussing; that is, are his cillary muscles contracting? No, they are not. For a person with 20/20 vision, optical infinity; that is, the distance at which the cillary muscles are completely relaxed, is 20 feet, and presuming “the distance” is further than 20 feet, his cillary muscles are completely relaxed.
Case 2: A man is watching a television, ten feet away. In this case, he is focussing...his cillary muscles are in a contracted state. Let's give this level of contraction a value of 100.
Case 3: A man is reading a book, 8 inches away, In this case, his cillary muscles are much more contracted than when he is watching a television set 10 feet away. His cillary contraction level is over 100.
Case 4: A man who has 20/40 vision is watching a television 10 feet away. He is NOT focussing. His cillary muscles are NOT contracted. His optical infinity is 10 feet away, since he has half the visual acuity of the man with 20/20 vision. Remember this

What does this mean exactly. Since the cillary muscle is attached at two points, the eyeball structural components, and the lens, it is pulling on both with equal force when it chooses to contract. The harder it is contracted, the more force is imparted upon these two sides. Now taking the story of the man with the dumbbell into account, imagine a person reading a book for 2 or 3 hours, or using a laptop, or what have you. What is the state of the cillary muscle after this? In order to adapt to the constant pressure, it has adopted a new, squished shape. This is why even a normal sighted person will have their vision blurry after doing near work for a significant period of time. Even when they stop doing whatever it was they were doing, the cillary muscle is still contracted, and the eye is focussing on far away stuff as if it is focussing on closer stuff, leading to a blur, since the whole mechanism with which the eye focusses lightwaves perfectly onto the retina is thrown off by this temporary condition of the cillary muscle.

Of course, as with the man with the dumbbell, the cillary muscle goes back to normal, and the man whose vision went from 20/20 to 20/25 temporarily returns back to 20/20. Unfortunately, we do not afford our cillary muscles the same care that we do our others, maybe because we can't see them. Take into account the man who does near work for 6-8 hours a day, and on his days off, spends time reading, surfing the internet, or engaging in other near work. Eventually, the cillary muscle does not have time to return back to normal, and the man with 20/20 vision begins to move through the numbers, until he notices that indeed his vision has gotten noticeably worse. At this point, the man is at a crossroads, even though neither he nor nearly anyone else knows it; in his mind, the only option is to visit the optometrist. And what does the optometrist do? He/she gives the man glasses (the nail in the man's visual coffin). Minus lenses (the type people who have trouble seeing far have) are simple in their effect. In Case 4 of the above case studies, we observe the cillary muscle of the man with 20/40 vision, and how it is not contracted at 10 feet. This means that at distances up to ten feet, the man with 20/40 vision can see normally, and his acuity begins to drop off only after this. So if a man with 20/40 vision gets glasses, these glasses will bring anything that is 20 feet away in real life essentially 10 feet away, so that while wearing glasses, he can see something 20 feet away normally, just like a person with 20/20 vision. Unfortunately, something that is 10 feet away is now brought to 5 feet away by the glasses, which essentially doubles the load on the cillary muscles while wearing the glasses. Now imagine that man who visited the optometrist going about his daily activities while wearing the glasses...the cillary muscles are now twice as stressed throughout the day as before, and in a matter of a year, the man is back for new stronger glasses, which bring everything EVEN CLOSER virtually. Continue this cycle, and you can understand the huge coke bottle glasses that the likes of computer programmers have. Hours and hours sitting in front of a computer screen, while wearing glasses is what keeps the cillary muscles tense and endlessly focussing.

You may ask, what if I do not look at things that are close for days, will my vision return back to normal? The answer is no...however, this is where many get tripped up. The cillary muscle WILL return back to normal after days of relaxation, but the cillary muscle, in it's previous tension has pulled with great force on the structural components of the eyeball, causing them to lengthen. That is why people with myopia (near sightedness) have elongated eyeballs. Even if the cillary muscle becomes completely relaxed, the eye is now lengthened and the intricate and complex machinery that focusses converging lightrays on the retina is thrown off.

Prevention is the only medicine against myopia. This is where many people claim that prevention entails stopping reading and computers and games and whatnot. Far from it...one must simply learn to maintain relaxation in the cillary muscles. There are a number of ways to do this. Simply looking up and focussing on nothing every minute or two for a few seconds is quite enough. If this is not possible, wearing low strength reading glasses (these do the opposite of minus lenses; they move stuff further away) will reduce stress on the cillary muscles. Very simple, yet will never be publicized because eyeglasses manufactures cannot have anybody hearing about this, nor can optometrists for that matter.

Genetics do play a part, of course. This part is in the adaptability of the cillary muscles. Some people are more prone to the cillary muscles retaining a shape after the stress has been relieved, and these are people who are more susceptible to myopia.

If you got through all this, I commend you on your perseverance, I hope you can spread the word Thank you for reading.


Summary:

Focussing on near objects causes stress on the eye
This stress can deform the eye
This deformation is treated with eyeglasses
These eyeglasses only bring things nearer to you (virtually, but real enough for the eye muscles)
This increases stress, increases deformation, increases prescription, cycle
Retinal detatchment, etc, and essentially incapacitation without glasses.


If you have any questions or need clarification on some ideas, fire away

[edit on 26-7-2010 by Sky01]

reply to post by Sky01


Very interesting. I have worn glasss since the age of 5. Also wore a patch for lazy eye.

So the trick is to never wear glasses and to relax your eye muscles occasionally.

It's a well known fact that wearing glasses or contacts causes your eyes to (relatively) permanently acclimate to using them.

reply to post by NotThat


Exactly, optimally glasses should never be used in the first place. A decrease in the amount of near-work done, or the use of reading glasses for near work will prevent the 20/20 eyes from becoming myopic

reply to post by VneZonyDostupa


I would contend that this is not a well-known fact, by a made-up definition of over 60% of people knowing it. I know this by asking people I know whether they are aware of the damage that has been done to their eyes by eyeglasses, based on the acclimatizing of the eye, specifically the cillary muscle, to continual accommodation by the use of a minus lens.

Thanks for such a great post. More people need to know this information. I learnt about it 3 years ago, when I was 13. I have worn glasses from the age of 5. I searched for much information and found relaxation techniques that may help cure myopia. But, the problem is that it suggests to spend majority of your time without glasses. But, it's difficult as I am a student and I spend 8 hrs. studying and 2-3 on computer and 1-2 on TV. I have sometimes tried the methods and I can say that they work.

I currently use -4.25 glasses. I got them in October 2008. In December 2009, I noticed that my vision had worsened and I was having problem seeing distant things. I tried the exercises and within 3-4 days my eyes were back to the level it was in October 2008, when I got my glasses. I can see everything perfectly clear with my glasses. But, due to tight schedule, I can't do those exercises currently(and can't spend much time without glasses). And I am noticing that again my sight is worsening as I have problem seeing blackboard clearly in classes.

So, OP what do you suggest I try to cure myopia?

S+F for you!

You just might have explained what happened to me when I was 8 or 9.

It was in July, and I was watching things with binoculars. I heard a plane and began following it, and it passed right in front of the sun. It was noon.

Yikes! I cried for a few minutes before I could open my eyes again. When came September, I couldn't read what was written on the board anymore. Optometrists have always told me the sun could not have burned my eyes, even with the binoculars... I was skeptic.

But with your explanation, it makes sense that the muscles in my eyes tried to protect them by bringing my focus much closer in an attempt to escape the intensity of the light, deforming them forever! Bwahh!

Now, I'm sad and glad at the same time...

Thanks, it's kind of a relief to know, but being a penciler, I believe I am deep in it!

reply to post by check_himu


Your post made me remember that my brother, when he was in the army, training, had relaxation sessions for the eyes, and found his glasses to be too strong after a while!

So at least, the army knows! Interesting...

Originally posted by Sky01
reply to post by VneZonyDostupa

 

I would contend that this is not a well-known fact, by a made-up definition of over 60% of people knowing it. I know this by asking people I know whether they are aware of the damage that has been done to their eyes by eyeglasses, based on the acclimatizing of the eye, specifically the cillary muscle, to continual accommodation by the use of a minus lens.

For something you consider "not a well-known fact", I certainly saw it come up several times on first year exams, second year exams,and both steps 1 and 2 licensing exams in medical school.

The exact degree of acclimation (I'd hesitate to call it damage, really, as nothing injurious is being done to the muscle), varies person to person, as does the permanence of the acclimation.



[edit on 7/26/2010 by VneZonyDostupa]

i'm 32 now, and i've been wearing glasses since the 5th grade, now is it 100% true, that elongation of the eyes is permanent?

since i've been wearing glasses, there have been a few instances where, after going without glasses (after sleep, for instance) i've been hit with a few moments where my vision minus glasses, went back to normal, for seconds, even a few minutes, if i focused on a distant object.

reply to post by ahmonrarh


It depends entirely on why you were prescribed glasses in the first place and what the strength of your lenses are. I've seen studies in which patients with minor vision problems who only wore weak lenses for reading purposes were able to correct their vision by other means and stop wearing glasses.

reply to post by VneZonyDostupa


Based on the fact that most people will not go through medical school in their lives reinforces the notion that this is not a well-known fact.

In addition, damage need not be injurious or permanent to be called damage. Since the change in visual acuity is negative, it is damaging, not to mention the increased pressure placed on the bond between the retina and the back of the eye, causing retinal detachment in a significant proportion of high myopes.

reply to post by ahmonrarh


This "clear flash" that you experience was first "discovered" by Dr. William H. Bates, inventor of the Bates Method of eye exercises to reduce myopia. It was later theorized that these clear flashes are nothing more than water on the surface of your eyes refracting light just as minus lenses do; and the best time for water to collect in such an uneven, convex, way is when your eyelids are shut over them, as in when you are asleep.

Minor myopia in the 0.25-0.5 range can be corrected by abstinence from minus lenses and near work, or near work with reading glasses. Any prescription above that requires much more effort, to the point where it is nearly impossible in the modern world, which requires multitudinous near work. There is a story of a soldier who was lost in the jungle during the Vietnam war, and lost his glasses (his prescription was over -1). Suffice to say, he was quite disconcerted at first, but his vision got better since his near work was minimal until it was back to 20/20, his eyes sensing that the need for close accommodation was all but gone.

reply to post by check_himu


Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done for a degree of myopia such as yours without LASIK, PRK, or the like. While your myopia is considered moderate to the medical community, it is beyond your body's ability to naturally correct through an ordinary abstinence from glasses, which you wouldn't be able to do with such a prescription. You could try wearing your older, lower prescription glasses for every day tasks, except driving, for which is it is advisable to use your strongest glasses. For reading and computer use, wear the lowest possible prescription you have while still able to see the screen at a reasonable distance. For reading, I believe you are at the upper limit of still being able to see the words without glasses on.

I am at -1.5 and -1.25 and I haven't worn my glasses for a year for anything, and my prescription at the beginning of the year was 1.75 and 1.5. I have not in any way changed my lifestyle in respect to computer use and reading, doing a large amount of both, and am currently in university, so I have no done any extreme measures. I only wear glasses for driving, and walking around indoors in poorly lit areas, or at night outside. The reason I stopped using plus lenses for reading was because I had a brief scare with monocular diplopia (a doubling of images vertically, that happened with either eye) a few months into their use, which I thought was due to the low quality plus lenses I was using, but was later tipped as to the fact that this was my astigmatism peeking through my myopia, since the myopia was lowering but my astigmatism was not (you can't fix astigmatism through natural methods, only Lasik ).

VneZonyDostupa; I feel that you have more technical knowledge on this subject than I, do you agree that it was the astigmatism, which had remained unchanged, that caused the ghosting of images?

Originally posted by Sky01
reply to post by VneZonyDostupa

 

Based on the fact that most people will not go through medical school in their lives reinforces the notion that this is not a well-known fact.

Most people aren't mechanics, but most people know to have their oil changed from time to time to keep their car in good shape. Same thing here. Just because you and a few friends weren't aware doesn't make this common knowledge. Google 'eyes acclimate to glasses' and you'll see literally thousands of articles and questions about how long this change takes, if it's permanent, what happens when you change prescriptions, etc. Not secret at all.

In addition, damage need not be injurious or permanent to be called damage. Since the change in visual acuity is negative, it is damaging, not to mention the increased pressure placed on the bond between the retina and the back of the eye, causing retinal detachment in a significant proportion of high myopes.

A small number of a small population of myopia sufferers, who are already prone to retinal detachment anyways, may suffer this, yes. This is not a reason to throw away glasses/contacts, especially since the alternative to not wearing them is being unable to see well. There is no way, other than glasses, to allow for such great correction in vision.

Originally posted by Sky01
reply to post by check_himu

 

VneZonyDostupa; I feel that you have more technical knowledge on this subject than I, do you agree that it was the astigmatism, which had remained unchanged, that caused the ghosting of images?

That is too far out of my field, unfortunately. I wish I could help, but I'm an internist, and only did my required rotation in opthamology.

Umm just wanted to say I've been wearing VERY strong glasses for years so strong that without them I cannot easily judge depth distance or shape. I have walked into stationary people when I am not wearing my glass. If my eye sight did get worse I was told I would be considered legally blind. I was told this when I was 8 years old. I am now 19 and my eyes have been getting progressively better. Because my eyes are no longer straining to see. I have had to get progressive lenses however that is only because I read a lot more and am straining to see the words on tiny text book pages.