How effective is the William Bates Method?!

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You must remember his works were written in the early 1920's when optometry was in it's infancy, and the actual function of vision wasn't all that well understood yet.

Still, his claims were outrageous even for his time, and none of his results could be duplicated by other Dr's at the time, or even by him in front of other Dr's.

He was using his ophthalmoscope for instance in ways it wasn't meant to be used, therefore giving him false readings that he swore by anyway. His work was just about all based on bad science, and a lack of proper understanding of how the eyes actually function. His claims, for the most part are medically impossible.

He may have had a few people his exercises worked for, but they were cases of pseudo myopia, which would have cleared up on their own anyway .

Being as they came out 90 years ago , and several other similar programs have come out since then to capitalize on his original works , there should be thousands of real success stories by now , but...where are they ?

Aside from claims on web sites that could be written by anyone, there are no real eye Dr's any where who can say that they have patients who have made any miraculous recoveries from myopia or hyperopia because of any programs like that.

In the pre-internet days of the early 80's, there were no other programs besides Bates, which was just a dusty book at the back of libraries. Then internet brought out a way to make big bucks with copies of it in slightly different forms , under different names.

Once you have studied the anatomy and physiology of the eyes and how vision functions, it is easy to see why exercises are all nothing but nonsense.

Some exercises are used as therapy for specific cases , like convergence problems in children , but that has nothing to do with reversing myopia.

BTW , if you are seeing well with your glasses on , you are no where near being legally blind. Your vision without your glasses on doesn't matter. If you can't be corrected to 20/200 or better with glasses ON , then you could be legally blind by definition.

Dr.Nice aka Dr. Evil likes to claim that the whole optical industry has been keeping it a secret for 90 years so it won't affect the sales of glasses and our living..how absurd is that ?

Optician

All of the people here: http://iblindness.org/forum see improvement.

yes its a vast, worldwide conspiracy among optometrists to force you all into glasses, when the Bates method would work instead if only it weren't suppressed [/sarcasm]

the Bates Method is *zero* effective. Z-E-R-O. as Footprintz said, it was quackery 100 years ago, and now its just absurd. it was written in a time when the leading ophthalmologists still considered it possible that the eyes PROJECTED light rays.

oh, by the way William Horatio Bates was an MD ophthalmologist...not an OD optometrist. for the record. ;)

"Well the one thing optometrists can't explain is how people out in the street with myopic/hyperopia are walking around with unusual shaped eyeballs"

completely false. we all explain it quite well: genetics.

"They admit they have elongated eyeballs etc. but they are as vague on the causes and theories of this as Dr.bates's book is"

nope. not vague. genetics. thats pretty straightforward.

"I am not convinced that any optometrist out there excels in knowledge on this subject area."

I do.

"But are people who developed myopia/hyperopia actually behaving normally in the first place?"

so now refractive error is a "behavioral" issue? wow. yes, thats logical [/sarcasm]

"This question does not feature in the typical optometrist's mind when he/she is dispensing glasses to customers."

and for good reason.

edit: haha, yes I'm a "liar" all right. i've "lied" my way to a top-5 rating here in optical. :D

optometrist
http://myeyepod.blogspot.com/

If optometrists didn't rely on the sale of glasses to make a living maybe they would be free to consider the bates method in a positive light. Dr. Bates decided to call his book "better eyesight without glasses." Can you think.of a more unnerving name for a book (from the point of view of a seller of glasses?). I don't think Dr.Bates has come across as pro-glasses really.

It's possible to read samples of the book and pick up parts of his exercises to see for yourself if it helps. But if this book was really the most useless nonsense ever written why would it rise up in conversation between optometrists? Is it because they think its the funniest book ever? Or is the existance of the book a perennial thorn in their side which makes them wish for its destruction?

Well the one thing optometrists can't explain is how people out in the street with myopic/hyperopia are walking around with unusual shaped eyeballs They admit they have elongated eyeballs etc. but they are as vague on the causes and theories of this as Dr.bates's book is. I am not convinced that any optometrist out there excels in knowledge on this subject area. What optometrist talk about usually is basic stuff that hasnt changed since the time Dr.bates was alive.

In a way it makes sense for an optometrist not to see logic in forcing people to do exercises or to try and change their sight/eyes. It could be seen as something going against the natural behaviour of these people. But are people who developed myopia/hyperopia actually behaving normally in the first place? This question does not feature in the typical optometrist's mind when he/she is dispensing glasses to customers.

By the way if the eye specialists that criticise the book on amazon.com are meant to be the most knowledgeable people out there then are just as lame as the accusations they lay on the book. Some of it is childish name calling and just misleading misquotes from the original book.