42 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
title: "Bates method"
|
||
chunk: 4/4
|
||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method"
|
||
category: "reference"
|
||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00"
|
||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
In 2004 the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) published a review of various research regarding "visual training", which consisted of "eye exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, biofeedback, eye patches, or eye massages", "alone or in combinations". No evidence was found that such techniques could objectively benefit eyesight, though some studies noted changes, both positive and negative, in the visual acuity of nearsighted subjects as measured by a Snellen chart. In some cases noted improvements were maintained at subsequent follow-ups. However, these results were not seen as actual reversals of nearsightedness, and were attributed instead to factors such as "improvements in interpreting blurred images, changes in mood or motivation, creation of an artificial contact lens by tear film changes, or a pinhole effect from miosis of the pupil."
|
||
In 2005 the Ophthalmology Department of New Zealand's Christchurch Hospital published a review of forty-three studies regarding the use of eye exercises. They found that "As yet there is no clear scientific evidence published in the mainstream literature supporting the use of eye exercises" to improve visual acuity, and concluded that "their use therefore remains controversial."
|
||
|
||
== General criticisms ==
|
||
|
||
=== Dead-end ===
|
||
A frequent criticism of the Bates method is that it has remained relatively obscure, which is seen as proof that it is not truly effective. Writer Alan M. MacRobert concluded in a 1979 article that the "most telling argument against the Bates system" and other alternative therapies was that they "bore no fruit". In regards to the Bates method, he reasoned that "If palming, shifting, and swinging could really cure poor eyesight, glasses would be as obsolete by now as horse-drawn carriages."
|
||
Philosopher Frank J. Leavitt has argued that the method Bates described would be difficult to test scientifically due to his emphasis on relaxation and visualization. Leavitt asked, "How can we tell whether someone has relaxed or imagined something, or just thinks that he or she has imagined it?" Regarding the possibility of a placebo trial, Leavitt commented, "I cannot conceive of how we could put someone in a situation where he thinks he has imagined something while we know that he has not."
|
||
|
||
=== Corrective lenses and safety ===
|
||
Discarding one's corrective lenses, as Bates recommended, or wearing lenses weaker than one's prescribed correction, as some Bates method advocates suggest, poses a potential safety hazard in certain situations, especially when one is operating a motor vehicle. James Randi related that his father, shortly after discarding glasses for this reason, wrecked his car. Bates method teachers often caution that when driving, one should wear the correction legally required.
|
||
|
||
=== Avoidance of conventional treatment ===
|
||
A follower of the Bates method may neglect urgently needed medical treatment for a condition such as glaucoma, which can lead to blindness. Also, children with vision problems may require early attention by a professional in order to successfully prevent lazy eye. Such treatment may include exercises, but which are different from those associated with the Bates method, and parents who subscribe to Bates' ideas may delay seeking conventional care until it is too late. It may further be necessary for a child at risk of developing lazy eye to wear the proper correction.
|
||
|
||
== See also ==
|
||
|
||
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
|
||
Iridology
|
||
Pinhole glasses
|
||
Tibetan eye chart
|
||
|
||
== References ==
|
||
|
||
== Further reading ==
|
||
Grosvenor, TP (2007). Nonsurgical Methods of Myopia Control or Reduction (5th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 370. ISBN 978-0750675758. There has never been any clinical or scientific evidence that these procedures are of any help in controlling myopia. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
|
||
|
||
== External links ==
|
||
"The Unending Search for 'Normal' Vision". Life. 27 May 1957.
|
||
Orfield M.A. O.D., Antonia (1994). "Seeing Space: Undergoing Brain Re-Programming to Reduce Myopia" (PDF). Journal of Behavioral Optometry. 5 (5): 123–31.
|
||
"To See or Not to See–Natural Vision Correction". BBC. 27 September 2004.
|
||
Robertson, Kate (14 October 2007). "Seeing eye to eye". The Sydney Morning Herald. |