Vulture’s thread on “Old Eyes & Fluorescent Wings” prompted this one.
Most folks with uncorrected vision start experiencing some deterioration of their eyesight in the mid forties, or thereabouts. Happened to me around age 45. My distance vision was still just fine, but I needed glasses for reading and close in work. I went the way of most - prescription lenses.
Then I read an article by Depak Chopra, who is a medical doctor, although he is generally better known for things having little to do with physical health. Chopra prescribed and described a simple eye exercise to delay the normal deterioration of eyesight, which is primarily caused by loss of strength and flexibility, as I recall, of the muscles contracting the various parts of the eye involved in focusing.
So at about age 50, give or take a couple years, I tried the exercises. In a couple months I went from requiring presecription reading glasses for reading newspaper and magazine size print to easily reading that size print without glasses. The first time I read without glasses after doing the exercises, it was “Jonathon Livingston Seagull” cover to cover. At best, I could read an English to Japanese dictionary which was very small - both the dictionary and the print.
I discontinued the exercises for some time after that major improvement in my close in vision. I have used them again several times in the past fifteen years with some noticeable improvement in vision each time. It’s probably something I should get back to again soon. Both for near and for far vision, which is finally starting to be a bit of a problem.
Anyway, so much for the background and sales pitch.
In a place where you have a distant object to focus on - the further away the better - hold one hand about 6" in front of your face, fingertips just at eye level. First, slowly focus as best you can on your fingertips. Next, slowly look beyond your fingertips to focus on the most distant object in your field of view. Then slowly bring your focus back to your fingertips. Repeat the cycle about twenty times, once or twice a day.
I enhanced Chopra’s prescription by adding a second set of exercises - doing the same exercise with each eye individually, for the same cycle of twenty times each.
It may not work for any given individual, but I do not think it could cause harm to anyone’s vision if done as Chopra prescribed. It only takes a minute or two a day. It won’t, as far as I know, help anyone with vision issues other than the usual deterioration of normal vision with age.
John
) . Once this lens hardens and no longer can be re-shaped by the contraction of muscles pulling on strands attached to the capsule of this lens, no matter how strong your muscles are will it make any difference.