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Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

losetheglasses.org

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Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#31

Post by iod »

gdebel wrote: post #26
iod wrote: post #23

I have been working on doing this since the start of 2020. I purchased glasses for almost all the diopters from .5 to -4.25 (where I started) cheaply on Zenni, by going with minimal add-ons, it makes the total cost per glasses pair between $10 and $30 each. I have customized text on each of the frames that says their correction, since some of my frames are duplicates with different lenses. I am down to about -2.75 so…

I'm genuinely interested in your testimony. Did you, by any chance, underwent a refraction after cycloplegia (cyclopentolate) anytime in your life? Cyclopentolate suppresses the ciliary spasm and allows to measure the real, residual myopia. I would be very impressed if I had the opportunity to observe a myopic regression in a patient after cycloplegia (for both exams, of course).

I have not done an official cyclopentolate on myself as it requires a prescription here, but in the past I believe it's standard practice at my ophthalmologist when I get checkups, but I haven't gone for one in years.

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#33

Post by girvo »

derekp7 wrote: post #4
Scott_Sanderson wrote: post #2

I do think vision habits matter for near sightedness. The human eye, like all mammal eyes, seems adapted for far vision. To bring the focal point in, the ciliary muscle must contract to change the shape of the eye. When it relaxes, the focal point goes back out far away. In the environment for which we are adapted, most time was spent focusing far away. In the modern world, a person may spend all day, every day, for…

I wonder would the regular use of reading glasses for children help prevent myopia?

Not quite the same, but orthokeratology (Ortho-K) is a thing. Specifically for children.

https://www.eyeconcepts.com.au/ortho-k

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#34

Post by seshagiric »

We recently obtained Ortho-K lens for our 11-year-old as his myopia was progressing faster than normal. These are hard contact lens worn during sleep, they work by basically flattening the cornea. Next day morning when they wake up, vision is perfect, and glasses are not needed for the next day. Ortho-K contacts must be worn every night. If not, kid simply has to use his glasses. https://www.visioncenter.org/contacts/orthokeratology/

One has to wear the contacts every night. They do not reverse myopia but are the most effective in stopping further progression of myopia. As per our eye doctor, ortho-K lens is the most effective (~80%) and is a non-destructive method unlike LASIK which basically burns the cornea to the right shape.

There is also a team at Univ. of Washington who designed glasses to slow down the progression of myopia (approved in Canada, not yet in the USA). https://newsroom.uw.edu/news/glasses-stop-myopia-are-success...

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#35

Post by nneonneo »

Anecdotally, I had regular eye exams (once every two years) for several years since they were free under insurance, and was prescribed progressively stronger glasses each time. I wound up somewhere around -7.5. For the past ~10 years I’ve just stuck with a single prescription out of sheer laziness + having no optical insurance in the US. Recently, having gotten a proper job with real insurance, I visited an optometrist and was surprised to learn that my prescription had gone down to -7 - and the new glasses really aren’t much different than the old ones visually.

A fairly significant part of this is likely due to my eyes not growing anymore (the regular eye exams were during high school + undergrad), but I do like to think that some part of it is not feeling like I always had to update my prescription constantly.

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#36

Post by fallingfrog »

I can focus my eyes without glasses (20/15), and with glasses too. I can try on the glasses of a myopic person and still bring everything into focus, although it's an eye strain like I'm trying to focus on something 2 inches from my face. Astigmatism is tough though- either the horizontal is in focus, or the vertical, but not both at the same time.

One aspect of this that I haven't heard anyone talk about is the fact that you can get your eyes to focus more precisely if you practice. You can make out really fine details in something if you have bright enough light and you concentrate on one specific point and try really hard to make it as sharp as possible. You can focus on one ridge of the fingerprints on your hand and then look at the little imperfections on those. Or the individual fibers in a sweater. Likewise you can defocus your eyes just by relaxing them. Focusing is a skill and a muscle you can train. I wonder if many people habitually don't focus on things precisely, just leaving them a bit fuzzy, and this contributes to the problem?

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#37

Post by smsm42 »

I have a hard time buying this theory. I'm working behind a screen a lot, and my vision was mostly ok, but about 6-7 years ago I discovered I am no longer comfortable watching TV. I got glasses, which I wore only when watching TV (no more than an hour or two per day, and not every day - on average, would be around an hour a day or less). Recently, I had to take a vision test for driving, and I discovered that while I can still subjectively see OK, I can no longer legally drive without glasses. I went for an eye check and got a prescription which is slightly stronger than my old glasses, though not significantly: I can drive - and pass the eye exam - both with my old and new glasses. Clearly, I have some myopia, and clearly, it got worse with time, though not drastically so. Also it sounds very unlikely that it was caused by short period I have been wearing glasses to watch TV. Moreover, since I've been going around for a while with no glasses, while my vision was somewhat myopic (I didn't have vision test for years and didn't feel the need to have one) - I have essentially been following the instructions in the article, without knowing it, as I understand. Yet, my vision didn't become better - in fact, it became worse, albeit slightly (which I totally expected with age, so I am not surprised here).

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#38

Post by andi999 »

afarviral wrote: post #17
gdebel wrote: post #5

Ophthalmologist here. The myopia epidemic is real thing. The advice given in this post is not a dangerous thing to try. However, I doubt that the theory is true, and I doubt that following this method will really help myopic patients. Let's try to justify this point : "The long-term use of over-correcting glasses induces myopia" This is quite true. But it induces a myopia which is reversible. Overcorrection (which we…

My understanding was dopamine has the effect of stopping the eyeball from growing longer, which is released during exercise in the presence of bright sunlight. Hence a sedentary and indoor setting make you more prone to Myopia. I don't have time to find a reference, but I have read research which shows that our eyes tend to grow longer when we are having any sort of trouble focusing, which is often the case with a we…

No post body was provided.

Re: Reversing Lens-Induced Myopia (2018)

#39

Post by krenzo »

seshagiric wrote: post #34

We recently obtained Ortho-K lens for our 11-year-old as his myopia was progressing faster than normal. These are hard contact lens worn during sleep, they work by basically flattening the cornea. Next day morning when they wake up, vision is perfect, and glasses are not needed for the next day. Ortho-K contacts must be worn every night. If not, kid simply has to use his glasses. https://www.visioncenter.org/contacts…

Wow, thanks for posting that link! I was able to find his paper, "The End of Myopia", and glasses patent which describe his theory of myopia progression and preventative solution. The patent describes a pair of glasses with tiny dots (The theory is that children are naturally far sighted which creates blurrier/lower contrast central vision and sharper/higher contrast peripheral vision. The brain interprets the higher contrast peripheral vision as a sign the eye is too short and far sighted, and the eye begins to grow. As the eye grows to the appropriate length, central vision experiences higher contrast and peripheral vision experiences lower contrast, and the eye stops growing.

If you degrade the peripheral vision's ability to experience higher contrast at all with these glasses, then the brain will never see a need to grow the eye.

https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1258672/v1/48b147...

https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2018026697A1/en

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