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Ask HN: Has anyone tried 'hacking' their eyesight?

9 points by WorldMover ↗ HN
I was wondering if anyone who is longsighted or shortsighted has tried any methods to improve their eyesight such as spending more time outside, trying to rely less on glasses/contacts, any kind of eye excercises or any other methods? Has anyone had any success? What have the results been?

8 comments

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noonespecial
I don't know about making my sight better, but I have found that if I take a moment a few times per day to exercise my eyes by shifting focus quickly from near to far for a minute or two, I've been able to prevent the headaches I used to frequently get.
thenomad
This is a good technique. It was recommended to me, too, a while ago, and has proved useful ever since.

Eyes can get RSIs too!

lumberjack
Honestly, visit an ophthalmologist. Eyesight can be improved but there is no reliable, do this, get that, way of going about things. For me patching an eye helped drastically improve the other but that was because I had Amblyopia which you don't necessarily have. There is also a lot of wrong facts out there so be sure to weed through the bullshit.
bleu
Flax seed , oil and cod liver oil, sorts out my dry eyes
kellishaver
This interocular lens implant is really doing the trick, but after 7 surgeries, my eye's feeling hacked to bits.

Seriously, though... You're not going to be able to correct for most refractive errors. There are exercises you can do to strengthen eye muscles, but the amount of benefit you will receive from this is limited. There's only so much range of motion there to work with and that range decreases with age and the natural hardening of the lens of the eye.

That said, some people who do a lot of close work (such as working at a computer all day) can benefit, because their eyes get so used to seeing at one focal range that it becomes difficult to quickly focus at other distances, just because the muscles aren't used to doing it.

If you're really serious about it, see an ophthalmologist. There are a number of different types of vision therapies, from exercises to refractive lenses to laser treatments. Tell them your daily routine and your goals and they'll be able to help you find a combination that works best for you.

bigmickey
Great question! Do a search for 'the Bates Method'. I am short-sighted and stopped wearing corrective lenses about 10 years ago when I discovered the Bates Method of natural eyesight improvement. I very soon experienced what he describes as 'clear flashes' i.e. 20/20 vision for a brief moment. When you have worn glasses for 20 years, it is a magical experience. I don't practice the exercises religiously but nevertheless my eyesight has measurably improved (from about -2.5 to -2.0). I still get the clear flashes, sometimes for appreciably longer periods of time e.g. 5 or 10 seconds. I hope that I will some day regain 'normal' vision and I only wish that someone had told me about this when I began to go short-sighted at about the age of 13.