How can we improve our vision?

• William Bates: eye exercises
• Food for the eyes

William Bates : eye exercises

The usual method to correct faulty vision is by wearing prescribed glasses. But, some people have claimed that this would not improve vision, i.e. not solving the root of the problem.

The first person to publicly spread this message was William Bates of the 1900's. To him, wearing glasses merely makes our faulty vision more persistent. Just as over-strained muscles could improve, our eye can improve with the use of routine eye exercises.

• sunning --- letting your eyes bath in sunlight to "rejuvenate" eye cells
• palming --- use your palm to shield your eyes from the surrounding light for a period of time
• swinging --- swinging yourself from side to side, all the time imagining yourself drawing a line on the wall

Bates and others after him have designed other methods specially for specific eye disorders e.g. myopia. Their aim is to enable patients to use weaker glasses and eventually not to use glasses altogether.

However, some eye specialists have criticized these methods.

Food for the Eyes

There are some health food for the eyes in both Chinese and Western dishes.

• wolfberry: used a lot as a Chinese herb, contains Vitamin A, anti-oxidants and amino acids
• eyebright: helps to relax eye muscles
• bilberry: increases supply of oxygen to retina cells

Still, there is no substitute for provision of adequate rest to the eyes.

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