Seeking Wholeness

Book Review:

Recently, I finished reading a book titled “Improve Your Vision Without Glasses Or Contact Lenses” by the American Vision Institute (AVI).  As a newbie to the concept of Vision Therapy and ‘naturally’ improving eye power, I found “Improve Your Vision Without Glasses Or Contact Lenses” a good starting point, but you should not make this book your last to read on the subject. The book is very short and easy to read, making it very practical. The book emphasizes exercising the eye muscles and offers hope to many.

This book may have done more than offer hope, apparently it actually helped people improve their vision! By reading the comments and ratings on amazon.com I found that 42 users gave this book 4 or 5 stars, many of them reporting vision improvement! (I listed some of these comments below).

The 42 positive reviews gave me enough reason to give this book a try. Even if half the 42 positive ratings did not actually have improved vision, even if 21 individuals no improvement, in reality even if only 3 individuals where able to enhance their vision by following some visual exercises, that in itself warrants more investigation and experimentation.

I have been using ‘corrective’ eye glasses and contact lenses ever since I was 11 years old. Back then I barely needed my spectacles, now I cannot even see my wife’s face without them, and I am 30 years old (as of the date of this article).

I caution you from relying on this book as the only source of information on natural vision enhancement because it overlooks the Bates method which has been proven to improve eye sight.  There are so many websites, books and products on this topic. Only a few are worth your time and money.

My next book will be the original Bates Method book to which I will write about later.

Official Product Description:

For the 110 million Americans who suffer some type of vision problem, the American Vision Institute offers a clinically proven program of 20 exercises and maintenance techniques guaranteed to improve vision in as little as 30 days. This complete course in vision therapy helps increase focusing power, decrease eye strain, and prevent further deterioration of vision.

Six users gave the book one star, in other words a negative rating. Most the negative comments where what you would expect in a negative comment for a book that is against the mainstream of thought, basically “if it sounds too good it is probably too good to be true” comments.

One good thing that came out of these negative comments was to introduce me to the Bates Method, and let me know (even before reading the book) how this book followed a different approach to vision enhancement that was NOT the Bates Method.

I have to caution you about following the eye squeezing exercises mentioned in this book. I am finding information that squeezing the eyes tight is ‘not’ a good thing to do.

I would like to share with you 12 of the positive responses that “Improve Your Vision Without Glasses Or Contact Lenses” received from readers posted on amazon.com. Most of the comments you will see below are cropped. I highlighted important information and removed commenters’ names. To find this information please visit amazon.com – These comments offer a lot of valuable advice, from people that walked down this path before me.

Natural alternative to glasses: and it works!
January 15, 1998
I had read many books on natural vision improvement and tried many things before I found this book. It gives easy instructions for simple techniques that actually improved my nearsightedness. If you’ve ever wondered why your vision got worse even when you followed the eye doctor’s advice, this book is for you.

I’d have preferred literature references or deeper theoretical explanations for some of the techniques, but I can understand that it was meant to be short and sweet. I wish I’d learned this when I was 10!

Good book on eye exercise
July 30, 2002
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve eyesight. The book is straightforward with complete instructions on the eye exercises. It is true that everyone can improve one’s eyesight by doing eye exercise. Although the method does work, it takes time. Don’t expect a quick fix. You have to be patient and persistent. I think the book has exaggerated the speed of results. I believe, for someone who has low a prescription, they can improve to see perfectly in a short period of time because I saw a big improvement in my vision for the first 3 months after I did the exercise. However, it levels off. To reduce a high presciption like me, it is slow. In my case, I was -8.75. After exerersing for a year and half, my vision has been reduced to -7. I am still doing it beliving that I will one day, many years from now, do not have to wear contacts.

This book will revolutionize the optometry industry, if read
April 13, 1999
…
I’ve already recommended this book to over 20 people among families and friends. One friend, after only 2 weeks of doing the exercises, noticed that he was able to read the fine print on the shampoo bottle while showering. Excited, he went to his eye doctor for a re-examination. The doctor said that there was a dramatic reduction of the myopic state of his eye. His new prescription was reduced by .75 in both eyes. The left was reduced from -3.00 to -2.25 and the right eye was reduced from -2.50 to -1.75.

In my case, after 3 months of exercises, my objective myopic measurement reduced from -2.25 in the left eye to -1, and -2.00 in the right eye to -1.

When I discovered vision therapy I was outraged, because I particularly asked my eye doctor on several occasions if there’s anything that he can recommend that will prevent my eyes from getting worse, and he said “No”. That is the same doctor I went back to for a re-examination because I wanted to confront him with the issue. He attempted to give me a referral to a behavioral optometrist, but I told him that I wanted him to examine my eyes to see the improvement I got by using the AVI Method, the Bates Method, and the Janet Goodrich Methods. While examining my eyes, he admitted that my vision had improved significantly to 20/70. It was about 20/400 progressing to 20/800.
…

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING
April 11, 2000

I bought this book a while back whilst still in london. This book is absolutley amazing. The information is accurate and concise. I was at -4.25 in each eye and went to -3.00 in a month, just by doing the excercises for 30 minutes daily! I know others with worse conditions who have done the excercises for 2 hours a day and improved dramatically (-6 to -2 in 6 weeks! ) Also once reading this information I actually had a discussion with my optometrist- He eventually admitted that it was possible using the information in this book that someone can fix their eyesight! BUY THIS BOOK BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, USE IT!

important info, highly recommended
November 8, 2005
…
Vision therapy is not just eye exercises. It includes correct eyesight habits. Once you understand how the eye was intended to be used, all of the info in the book will make sense. Furthermore “good eyesight” is much more than just the ability to see near and far. The book will educate you about other traits that are important.
…
My own improvement was revealed when I lost my glasses and had to get a new pair. The optomitrist remarked that my prescription had improved, and asked me if I had been doing anything different. I had been practicing vision therapy for almost a year. That is the first time in my life that my prescription improved.

Also my night vision has improved, I can wear my glasses much less than before, and I have been able to diffuse that blurry/dizzy effect when spending lots of time on the computer or reading books for long periods of time.
…

Do bother!!
July 12, 1999

15 years with glasses and lenses, 1998 with strain and headaches all day. A major turning point for me came after buying this book jan 99. I am now rid of the headaches and on my way to get rid of the glasses. Gone down from -3.5 to -2.0.

If I had listen to my eye doctor that would have been years of trying different lenses to cure the headaches. I’d already spent one year with no result.

My best investment ever!

Proof is in the results
April 16, 2003
I had once asked my eye doctor if there was anything I could do to improve my eyesight. He said, “No, you will need to get stronger prescription glasses”. Two years later, I stumbled upon this book. My prescription strength was -3.00 (L) and -3.50 (R), with a slight astigmatism in my right eye. After two and a half months of performing these exercises roughly every other day, my prescription strength is now -1.75 (L) and -2.25 (R), with no trace of astigmatism.

I personally don’t care what method this is based on and what new packaging the authors are doing. This book works for me and that’s what I care about. For the first time in 15 years, I can look at my alarm clock in the morning and see what time it is without glasses or squinting. This book has worked for me.

An Amazing Book, Go For It!
July 11, 2001
This is an absolutely amazing book. No Rubbish, straight to the point and very effective. I dropped from -4.5 in each eye to -2.0 in thirty days, I took it easy though, did only a couple of excercises once in a while. Of course I am extremely happy with my results, and am in the process of working my socks off to get myself back to 20/20. Get this Book, but more importantly, USE IT!!

The Best Book ever on Eye Care!
May 27, 1999

This is the best book ever on how to improve your eyesight. The book is concise and easy to read. “Talking about an eye opener!” If you are serious about getting rid of your glasses, this book is a must! I recently had an eye exam after only two weeks of doing the recommended eye exercises. The results were; the right eye from -3.00 D to -2.00 D and the left eye from -3.25 D to -2.50 D. “I will be for ever grateful to the authors of this Book!”.

-12.75 to -10.75 in 2 1/2 months!
August 9, 2000

I started doing these eye exercises on June 1, 2000. After a week of very gently doing the recommended progressive myopia booster sequence listed in the book, I was unable to wear my strongest power contacts and glasses. It HURT to put them on. So out came my 1994 contacts and glasses. They weren’t strong enough, but at least it didn’t hurt to wear them.

After doing some (not all) of the eye exercises in this book for 2 1/2 months I finally went in to see the optomitrist. The results of the eye exercises were a definite improvement; from -12.75 in the right eye to a -10.75, and -12 in the left eye to -9.75. And this after only doing some of the exercises from this book a half an hour 3 days a week. I can hardly wait to see what happens when I do more of the exercise techniques! Makes me wonder what kind of eyesight I would have had if my eye doctor had prescribed eye exercises at age 8 instead of thick glasses.

My only criticism about this book is that explanation of how and why the exercises work would be nice.
….

Great book, but not practical if you have to work for a living.
September 12, 2009

Excellent book. Highly recommended. Everything in it is true. I was taken to the “eye doctor” in 1st grade in the 60s and put on a regimen of successfully stronger lenses until I was at -6. I’ve been able to work myself down to -4 through progressive under correction over the past several years but plateaued there. This book has the information and techniques that I know would help me to break through the -4 barrier – if I had 60 minutes/day to diligently devote to the process. Unfortunately I have a high stress job and many other demands on my time and it is not practical for me to follow this regimen. It is easier for me to put my -4 glasses on and get on with my overscheduled day that I seem to have little control over, as unhappy as I am about it. Perhaps I should buy a book on time management or getting control of your life.
…

This really, really works!
April 9, 2008
After buying this book I was very excited to try the exercises, but realized it would be necessary for my optometrist to work with me to provide me with lower power contact lenses. I was doubtful that she would agree, but when I showed her the book she surprised me by enthusiastically agreeing. She told me that the idea of vision therapy is well-known among professionals, but not often used for a variety of reasons, many explained in this book. She herself uses it with children but told me she doesn’t usually suggest it for adults because they won’t do the work! So I followed the exercises and in 3 months went from 20/30 vision with -6.00 lenses to 20/20 with -5.00! I am continuing to do the exercises and can’t wait for my next exam.

Finally, one negative comment that offers perfect advice to end this article with:

there’s more out there
July 23, 2001
Just discarding glasses and actually beginning to use your vision a little differently can be enough to improve your vision a little, but I believe that complete relief of blurred vision will be obtained only rarely by just the methods described in this book. And the descriptions of the methods are very brief, leaving much open to guesswork and luck.

This book is a component of the See Clearly Method, which includes aspects of the Bates method but this book is more mechanical and physically-oriented than the Bates method. The See Clearly Method has been advertised heavily and attracted a relatively large amount of attention compared to the Bates method, and this book has become popular as well, but there is a great deal more information about vision improvement out there than is contained in this book, and I invite you to research the subject further.

Bottom line:

This book seems to work for some. It is NOT the Bates Method. It was a good starting point that got me excited to try a few things out and to continue on researching into “freely available” (i.e. Bates Method) material on natural vision improvements.

Do not pay any money for “kits”, “videos”, or “training programs”. It is one thing to buy a used book to see what it has to offer than commit any substantial money. You don’t need to.

Always be skeptical of heavily advertised things, this AVI program was at some point highly advertised. The Bates Method is available online for free, no one makes money off it, no one advertises it, but many swear by it. If you want to learn it, you got nothing to loose but some time and hopefully your glasses.

While the AVI methods is reported to have helped some (based on the comments posted above), what this could mean is that these positive improvements are an indication that any effort put towards naturally improving vision (including under-correction and spending time with no glasses) may reap rewards.

If you have or buy the book, make sure you read chapter 7 titled “you can make a difference“.

Based on my (for now) basic knowledge of the Bates Method I believe the Bates Method to be more effective. I will personally place all my learning effort on the Bates Method. Future articles on this website will provide you with free Bates Method info.

A chapter of this book can be found on Google Books

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