Is it reliable?
Can black pin-hole glasses really restore your natural vision? Looking at the plastic frame, covered pin-hole lenses can spark dubious response among the public, but if science and people have nice things to say about these plastic frames, maybe we should read between the lines and start listening. A little knowledge doesn’t hurt after all.
The idea of pin-hole eye glasses is not new. It has been around since the 1980s, introduced by Dr. Bates who believes that every individual organ can self-heal like cuts and bruises disappear within a few days, including your vision. Countless of people who has tried Dr. Bates method say that their vision whether from a light myopia of 100 to a heavy one up to 400 has been restored to a perfect 20/20 vision after merely months of exercising their eyes. Not bad from No Hope to Perfect Vision. It’s goodbye to big ugly glasses and troublesome contact lenses.
Of course, a spokesperson of this product said that the rate of recovery or if they ever recovered at all highly depends on their determination. The exercise can be tough, especially for people who have high degree of myopia or astigmatism. They have to get used to the blur and train their eyes to look through one hole only as they look through the pair of glasses while their reading material has to be well-lit.
Those undergoing the Bates’ method usually use step-down glasses to give room for vision to improve. In Singapore, there is a Bates’ Method Centre which caters to provide step-down glasses and other services to those undergoing the Bates’ Method. However, in Malaysia, there are none such centre available,” she said.
Late last year, pharmacies like Watson and Guardian sold these glasses for an average of RM50 per pair with brochures on scheduled workshops offered twice a year. Participants of the workshops claim that their vision has improved on the spot after following through a series of exercises taught there. Needless to say, these things look quite ugly and it’s not even in our Asian societal culture to accept a person wearing these ugly pin-hole glasses outdoors. So, if you’re one of those determined lots who is prepared to get laughed at or just stay home, away from your glasses, then you are in for the game of vision correction. Bad news though - for those who has completely ruined their eyes by undergoing laser eye surgery, the Bates’ Method will not work for you.
What’s the science behind all these?
Eye glasses are considered eye crutches and the power prescribed to you is often incorrect. As Dr. Bates illustrated, suppose without your glasses, you can read the magazine in front of you but you cannot see the road sign across the street. You get your vision corrected and your vision is corrected based on a 20 metre distance. In reality, your vision at less than 20 metre is perfectly fine. Putting on your glasses to see a short distance will only further strain your eyes. This is the main reason why people who wear glasses often have their power increased, not decreased when they put on their corrective lenses. Glasses are only short-cuts that only temporary that does not solve the problem.
Eye-exercising Methods
When you wake up in the morning, don’t immediately put on your glasses. Open the window and greet the sun. Put up the curtain and let the sunlight into the room. Then, swing your waist from side to side with your head turned towards that direction and your eyes looking towards the direction you are turning to. When it’s time to go to school or to work, take a walk in the porch or in the garden. Shut your eyes and see the reddish ray of sunlight against the blackness as you look at the sun with your eyes shut. As you are working throughout the day or perhaps studying, look at the tip of a pen and then switch your focus to a further object before switching back and forth from the pen to the further object. Lastly, when you return home, remove your glasses, put on your pin-hole eye glasses and read the eye chart with a bright white light directly shining on it. Then, remove your pin-hole glasses and check if there are any improvements in your vision. You might just be able to see one line below your current readable line the next time. Of course, when you are reading, put on your pin-hole glasses, read through the same hole, turning your head from left and right as you go along (to promote the correct reading habit) with a bright white light on the book or reading material you are holding onto. Use your pin-hole glasses the same way also (without the light) when you are on a computer or watching TV.
Book to read
Better Eyesight Without Glasses by W.H. Bates, M.D.
(Will get the workshop number soon.)
I've been using spoectacles and now contact lenses since I was 12, so if this had worked I'd have taken it up long ago. There are many systems that don't repair themselves; it's a myth that every system repairs and regenerates. 