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My friend came running into my house. “Help Help” she said, “I think I’m going blind” She then proceed to show me this lump on her eyelid. Many people like my friend become concerned when one of their eyelids get a red & often painful lump on it… They may even fear loss of vision & eye disease. If you know what an eye sty is & how to take care of it, then the fear will diminish.

What exactly is an eye sty? Another name for eye sty is hordeolum; it’s an abscess of the oil gland that is around a hair follicle on either the top or bottom eyelid.

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for 90-95% of cases of eye styes. An eye sty can develop as a complication of blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelid).

The first sign of an eye sty is generally redness. Within hours you’ll have tenderness, & pain in the affected area. The eye may feel irritated or ’scratchy’. Later symptoms can include swelling, discomfort during blinking of the eye, watering of the eye, & sensitivity to light. A common sign of an eye sty is a small, yellowish spot at the center of the bump that develops as pus expands in the area.

As you can see from the above, knowing what it is, is at least ½ the solution. The other ½ is time & a variety of home help, such as moist warm cloth to bring the sty to a head.. Nothing prevents an eye sty, however good hygiene can diminish the number of infections.

Corinne Bridgewater is a licensed nurse who is passionate about doing research on any topic that touches her life.

Many of us are fond of driving bikes. Right. While driving the bike we must wear eyeglasses for the safety of our eyes. There is more. There’re many different small particles of stones, dust, & chemical pollutants that emerge from factories, always present in the environment.

When people drive the bike, the speed of bike is normally averaging between 60-80 km/hr & even more. Imagine what will happen if a small dust particle hit our eyes at speed of 60-80 km/hr. It may damage our eyes. So… Some times it may make us blind. So I request all people to wear eyeglasses with strong lens material while driving your motorbike.

One other use of Eyeglasses is in sunshine. Many people find direct sun light to bright to be comfortable. This specially occurs while people take sunbath in beach or attempt to read new paper in sunshine. There’re many such outdoor activities in which people find sun light is more than usual. It has been recommended to always wear the sunglasses in strong sunshine to protect eyes from ultraviolet ray, which can lead the development for cataract in eyes. So… Sunglasses have colored lenses, which prevents strong light from reaching our eyes.

One other use of eyeglasses for safety comes while working in front of the computers. If we work long hours of day in front of the computer, then at the end of the day we feel tiredness & sometimes pain in our eyes. Right. Wearing anti-glare eyeglasses reduce the tiredness & pain even if we work in front of computers for long hours.

Anti glare eyeglasses or less glare eyeglasses are also useful while driving in night.

Naresh Kumar

You can find the the quality eyeglasses at very reasonable price at http://www.globaleyeglasses.com/

You can find sunglasses at http://www.globaleyeglasses.com/cat/rxsunglasses.html

Your eyes speak about you; these are one of the most significant elements of your body. Eyes are truly expressive & they receive & give you information that is vital to your lifestyle. And so… So far so good. Why hide them behind glasses when it’s not necessary? Contact lenses open your eyes to beautiful vision & let you see yourself in a new way.

Today, there’re millions of people globally that wear either hard or soft contact lenses. Your eyes are your minds visual door to the world; you can use contact lenses to enhance the natural beauty of your eye. Lenses’ wearing is comfortable, accessible; they even allow you to change the color of your eyes as easily as you change the color of your wardrobe.

Contact lenses offer a tremendous amount of versatility, more self-confidence, can make you look better, so there is no reason why you can not wear them. Besides that, you’ll feel much more comfortable with lenses, than with glasses. If you’re planning to buy contact lenses, you should buy the best quality possible. Buying contacts lens on line has been easier worldwide.

The top market door for contact lens retailer is the Lens.com. Lens.com is the leading direct-to-consumer marketer of contact lenses supplying all the major brands & types of contact lenses at prices up to 70% below retail. Lens.com is the speediest growing direct-to-consumer contact lens supplier in the world. They offer quality service & the lowest prices on brand name contact lenses in the world.

Remember it is your eyes that are in your hands. Live the joy of seeing with contact lenses. Discover the lenses that are right for you!

Tony, is an associated author with the website CouponAlbum - http://www.couponalbum.com

Tony did his Ph.D. from the Honolulu University, Hawaii. After completing the doctral degree, Tony joined Hewlett Packard as an Design Engineer. He left HP in 2004 to do independent consulting & then in 2006 started couponalbum to help people save money.

Since children do not usually realize when they’re having vision problems, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that your child have a vision screening at age 3.

Dr. Thomas Soviar, O.D. of Sterling Heights, Michigan, recommends that kids have a complete eye exam at age 5 or 6, before they start school. Most states have free vision screening in school. If a child fails a screening, a referral to an eye care professional is sent home with the child.

If your child exhibits any of the following symptoms, at any age, they should be examined immediately:
? Squinting
? Rubbing the eyes
? Eyes crossing, in or out
? Tearing
? Headaches
? Holding reading material close to the face

A comprehensive exam, which shows how a child processes visual information, may be necessary if any learning issues surface.

If your child needs corrective lenses, eyeglasses are necessary, even if he or she wishes to use contact lenses. Right. When choosing your child’s eyeglasses, consider these points:

? All kids glasses should have polycarbonate lenses, which are shatterproof for safety. Ideally, the lenses should also be transitional (lenses that darken & lighten according to the sun) to protect eyes from the sun.
? Frames should be made of a flexible material. There’re different brand names for this type of frame. Ask your eye care professional for suggestions. There is more. The frames bend at the bridge & the temples, which reduces the risk of breakage.
? Sports goggles have polycarbonate lenses & are available with transitional lenses in prescription & nonprescription form.

A yearly eye exam is recommended for everyone, since eye problems are not always obvious. Your eye care professional can identify problems that can be corrected if detected early enough.

Karen Bianchi is a freelance writer & the editor/owner of http://www.AwesomeMomsNetwork.com To receive the free monthly Awesome Moms Network newsletter, send a blank email to subscribe@AwesomeMomsNetwork.com

The eye is like a camera. The natural lens of the eye lies immediately behind the pupil. It focuses incoming light on the retina, situated at the back of the eye. It also acts like a regulator for the eye & lets us see things clearly which are both far away & close.

The lens is made up of some protein & water. When we age, this protein content may form small lumps & cloud the lens. There is more. This is known as cataract & with time, the clouding can become bigger & cause more obstruction in our line of vision.

Cataract starts in the most innocuous way. You might not even notice its existence, except perhaps a slight blurring of vision. Sunlight or any bright light might seem too glaring. Cataract once detected, doesn’t immediately require surgical intervention for its removal. The doctor may suggest some enhanced aids for visual assistance, like more powerful bifocals, magnifying glasses or adequate lighting for your convenience. Cataract surgery becomes imminent when the disorder has progressed significantly & is causing serious problems with your vision.

There are many who believe that cataract is a normal phenomenon associated with aging ? but cataract surgery is very common & an otherwise simple & painless way to get back your normal vision. It’s also one of the most frequently-performed eye surgeries in the United States, with over 1.5 million procedures done annually. Ninety percent of the people who have undergone cataract surgery get back their vision.

Since cataract is caused by a cloudy vision, the objective of a cataract surgery is to get rid of the cloudy lens & replace the same with an artificial lens, which is made of silicone or plastic. These lenses are called intraocular lens or IOL. There has been significant research & developments in the field of IOL manufacture & today, thanks to the state-of-the art IOL available, cataract surgery has become easier for the surgeon & convenient for the patient. The different types of IOL available are the presbyopia correcting IOL which enables you to see things which are situated at varying distances. Another type of IOL creates a barrier for ultraviolet & blue light, which according to research, damages the retina.

During cataract surgery the natural lens of the eye can be replaced with a permanent IOL implant. The surgery involves breaking up the cloudy lens, or cataract, using the process of ultrasound. The process is called phacoemulsification, where the cloudy lens, after being broken down, is suctioned out of the eye. In another process called phacofracture, the broke-down cloudy lens is taken out of the eye through a small ut made in the eye.

Peter Rankin owns & operates http://www.maculardegenerationguide.com
Macular Degeneration

The basic definition of monovision is the adjustment of one eye for near vision & of the other for distance vision. This means that each eye is operating separately instead of working together. If you were to select monovision, your dominant eye, or the one that would be used to focus on a camera, would become the distance eye & the other would be used for near vision.

How Monovision is Achieved

The corrections used to create monovision can be done:
? Surgically with laser vision correction
? With IOLs (intraocular lenses)
? Traditionally with something like contact lenses

In most cases, your ophthalmologist may recommend trying contact lenses with monovision to see how you adapt to it before choosing permanent monovision through LASIK surgery. If monovision is created using laser vision correction & isn’t well tolerated, it may be reversed by having LASIK treatment on the other eye to make them the same.

How Monovision Works

Even though monovision may sound strange because we’re used to our eyes working together, it can have its advantages. Monovision works because the brain chooses whichever image is appropriate for the task at hand, & ignores or filters out the blurry image from the other eye. This method is one type of vision known as simultaneous vision. For example,
? If you’re reading & need near vision, the far vision image will be filtered out
? If you’re driving & need far vision, the near vision image will be filtered out Most people can easily adjust to monovision in time, but some people have difficulty with it.

Side Effects

There are some reported side effects of monovision, such as:
? Loss of sharpness,
? Decrease in depth perception
? Blurred near vision. People who require very sharp vision for a hobby or occupation may not actually be pleased with monovision results. Monovision may require people to give up a small amount of distance vision to gain close up vision. There’re also reports of seeing shadows when attempting to read small print. To correct some of these problems, people with monovision may need prescription glasses for things such as night driving.

However, the cost of monovision is lower than some other options like bifocal or multifocal implantable lenses.

Monovision may be the solution you’re searching for if you want to preserve both near vision & distance vision, especially if you’re over age 40-45. This is when presbyopia creeps up on us. Presbyopia is stiffening of the lens so that it can not change its curvature so readily in order to accommodate itself to near vision. Reading glasses become necessary.

As with other vision correction solutions, you should discuss monovision thoroughly with your ophthalmologist to determine whether or not you would benefit from it… Dr. Jonathan Davidorf in West Hills, California offers more information about monovision on his website.

If you or a family member is considering vision correction, monovision may be the choice for you… For lots more information about monovision, as well as other types of vision correction, contact Dr. Jonathan Davidorf & the Davidorf Eye Group in West Hills, California.

Most people are afraid of getting big eye bags since these can make a person look tired & awful. But cosmetic problems are not the only reason to shun baggy eyes. Doctors say they can cause a host of vision problems as well.

Indeed, eye bags not just affect your appearance; they can also interfere with your vision at the same time. This was revealed by eye experts who said baggy eyes can trouble you in more ways than one.

Eye bags have many causes. Morning puffiness is usually caused by fluid retention which normally occurs when one sleeps. Allergies likewise lead to water collecting under the eyes. Expect baggy eyes too if you cry a lot since the salt in tears irritates the skin. If you’re dehydrated or drunk, it will definitely show in your eyes. There is more. These two conditions can worsen your eye bags.

Fortunately, the above problems are short-lived & temporary. The eye bags almost virtually everyone hates are caused by the aging process. If you spend too much time in the sun, your skin becomes thinner, loses its elasticity, & eye bags form.

‘Over the years, too, the cushion of fat tucked cozily under each eye, called the orbital fat pad, protrudes as the muscle that holds it in place weakens. And the cheeks lose collagen, a protein that makes skin firm, so that a trough appears under the bags, accentuating their pouchiness,’ according to an article in The New York Times.

Eye bags that occur in the upper eyelid & appear as overhanging skin are worse than those that form under the eyes. Upper eyelid puffiness or sagging eyelids can cause vision problems or even total vision loss, according to Dr. John Ramocki of the Kresge Eye Institute at the Detroit Medical Center. This condition is known as ptosis & usually affects adults between the ages of 45 & 50.

‘The droop of the eyebrows & eyelids results in the build up of fat & extra tissue around the eyes. There is more. This extra tissue makes the eyes look smaller, sunken in, & gives a person’s face an overall tired, wrinkled appearance. And so… Saggy eyelids can affect more than just your appearance; they can also affect your vision. Ptosis can result in an obstruction of your vision & you may not even realize it,’ said the specialists at eyecarebasic.

One of the most famous victims of saggy & baggy eyelids was the English businessman & billionaire Sir Alan Michael Sugar who stars in the BBC TV series ‘The Apprentice’ which is based closely on the American TV show of the same name. And so… Sugar, whose net worth is estimated at about $1.7 billion, reportedly spent over $11,000 in cosmetic surgery to get rid of bags under his eyes & lift his eyelids.

‘The 59-year-old electronics tycoon had the operation because of ‘vision problems’. A qualified pilot, he explained that droopy skin overhanging his eyelids was threatening to block his sight & stop him pursuing his hobby of flying Learjets,’ said London’s ‘Daily Mail.’

For those who can not spend as much as Sugar & are afraid of going under the knife, a less threatening alternative is Eyevive. This product will help revitalize your eyes by eliminating eye bags, puffiness, dark circles, wrinkles, & other signs of aging. For details, visit http://www.eyevive.com

Janet Martin is an avid health & fitness enthusiast & published author. Many of her insightful articles can be easily found at the premier on line news magazine http://www.thearticleinsiders.com

First, what does computer work have to do with eye health?

* For one, computer-induced eyestrain could damage your vision. When your eyes get accustomed to focusing for long and extended periods of time at the same distance, the eye muscles become less flexible, & your vision can worsen, creating the need for stronger & stronger glasses.

* Focused computer work is a major cause of stress. So… Studies show that when people are concentrated on their screen, they stop breathing as much as they need to & blink about ½ as often as they should.

* Poor body positions create poor circulation, which means your eyes are getting less oxygen & nutrition than they need to stay healthy. The eyes & brain consume a third of the oxygen, & a ¼ of the nutrients our body takes in.

* Computer eyestrain could cause the need for reading glasses in middle age. Especially if you’re in your 30s & 40s, doing the exercises below can actually stop or slow down middle-aged vision loss, or presybyopia, that causes mid-lifers to need reading glasses. People with reading glasses or bifocals have a hard time at the computer, & often end up with chronic headaches & backaches. Reading glasses & computer work are a bad match.

So spare yourself the trouble by following these simple measures:

* Seven body positions. Most of us know these seven ergonomic Dos, but here they are, for review: (1) Line of sight should be 6 inches above the computer screen; (2) screen should be 18-24 inches from eyes; (3) feet flat on floor, no crossed legs; (4) knees slightly below hips; (5) shoulders down & relaxed; (6) wrists slightly below elbows; (7) fingers slightly below wrists.

* Use your lap. If your desk is too high & your shoulders scrunched, an easy way to give yourself relief, even if you do not do it all the time, is to put your keyboard directly on your lap. For most people, this will place their elbows, wrists, & fingers in the correct position. Remember: even doing this sometimes is better than never.

* Take micro breaks. Every 3-5 minutes, look up from your computer & focus on something across the room. Refocus on your screen, & shift back & forth 3 or 4 times. There is more. This only takes many seconds, which is why it is called a micro break.

* Look in the mirror. If you are working in a cubicle or study carrel, place a pocket mirror atop your computer & focus on the reflected image behind you, then focus on your screen. Do this many times.

* Nearsighted? Get computer glasses. If you’re nearsighted & wear glasses for driving, reading signs, & seeing faraway, you need special glasses to use at the computer. Get fitted for lenses that allow you to see clearly 18-24 inches away. Keep them with your computer at all times.

* See double. A simple exercise that prevents vision damage caused by eyestrain is to hold your finger 4-5 inches from your nose. Focus on an image at a distance. You should see two fingers. Now refocus on your finger, & you should see two images at a distance. And so… Shift back & forth 8-10 times. There is more. This flexes the muscles responsible for convergence, the process by which your two eyes work together to focus on one point.

* Be aware of your peripheral vision. When you’re focusing at the computer, 98 percent of your peripheral visual information is blocked out. Without moving your eyes away from the screen, do a mental exercise. And so… So far so good. What is above, below, & on both sides of your computer? Practice peripheral-vision awareness, which relieves tension associated with concentration.

* Do rapid blinking. Blink rapidly for a few seconds. You’ll be surprised how relieved your eyes will feel as they’re immediately lubricated. It is like giving your eyes a drink of water.

* Know the warning signs of computer eyestrain. After a long period of intense concentration, the computer screen goes out of focus. Or, you look up at the clock on the far wall & it takes your eyes a moment to focus. Other warning signs include headache, the screen getting blurry, stinging or dry eyes, pain in the neck, shoulders, or back, clenched jaws, & fatigue.

* Feed your eyes. A healthy diet with lots of water, fresh berries, & green leafy vegetables is the very best way to support eye health. In addition, Sussman recommends: bilberry & gingko biloba to increase circulation in the tiny capillaries that feed the eyes; vitamin C, lutein, & the trace minerals magnesium, selenium, chromium, & zinc. A comprehensive & powerful vision formula is EYEMAX-plus, available at http://www.bettervision.com

Martin Sussman is founder & president of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision, the world’s leader in natural solutions for eye care. To find out more tips, go straight to http://www.bettervision.com/thac_SALE.html You can also find a complete selection of different products & services for all different vision problems at http://www.bettervision.com

It’s an all too-familiar picture: a group of middle-aged people huddled in a restaurant struggling to read the menu. Some feeling their arms are too short; others squinting, moving their arms in & out in what’s been coined the “trombone syndrome.” Still others, rifling through purses or pockets for reading glasses.

What’s going on? They’ve hit their mid-40s or early 50s. There is more. That’s when the eyes start to lose the ability to see clearly up close. Commonly known as middle-aged sight, the medical term for the condition is called presbyopia, from the Greek word for “aging eye,” or “old eye.”

Presbyopia affects over 100 million adults in the U.S. This year, according to presbyopia.org, over nine million more Americans will start holding their books & newspapers a little farther away from their faces in order to see them clearly.

“Reduced vision,” it turns out, is women’s third top health concern after heart disease & aging, a Varilux Boomer Watch survey reported. Another survey, by the U.S. National Eye Institute, showed vision “the most highly valued of the senses,” but concluded most people take better care of their cars than their eyes.

Most eye doctors will tell you that there is no remedy for presbyopia except surgery or corrective lenses.

Julie-Ann Zilavy, a New York businesswoman, found herself struggling to see print clearly about six months ago. Her gut feeling was that once she started using glasses, her eyes would get more & more dependent on them. And she was not interested in the risk of surgery.

Surgical remedies for presbyopia include conductive keratoplasty (CK), which costs up to $2,500 & isn’t covered by health insurance. Performed on one eye only, an FDA panel warned that CK “may affect [a patient’s] depth perception” & thus could present a driving hazard. For 99% of CK patients, results only last between three & five years, then wear off, & the procedure needs to be repeated, up to a maximum of three times.

Behavioral optometrist Dr. Carl F. Gruning, of Southport, Connecticut, a full clinical professor at SUNY College of Optometry & one of the world’s leading practitioners in the field of vision therapy, isn’t recommending CK surgery yet. He tells his patients, “it’s relatively new, & not to rush in.”

Ms. Zilavy sought a natural alternative. And so… She found The Read Without Glasses Method.

Originated by Dr. Ray Gottlieb, O.D., Ph.D., F.C.O.V.D., a Rochester, New York, vision therapy optometrist, The Read Without Glasses Method challenges conventional thinking about aging eyes.

“I’ve seen my patients improve their near vision, avoid reading glasses, get free of them or need weaker ones,” says Dr. Gottlieb, who is also Dean of the College of Syntonic Optometry.

Dr. Gottlieb discovered the genesis of what would become The Read Without Glasses Method almost 30 years ago when he was seeking to help a 52-year-old patient recover his ability to read without bifocals.

“The mechanism that causes the eyes to focus clearly at near is called accommodation,” he says. “In young people, when an image becomes blurred, the eyes sharpen focus easily & automatically. But with age, accommodation loses power & the blurred image isn’t enough to stimulate accommodation on its own.”

It occurred to Dr. Gottlieb that another ocular action - convergence - also stimulates accommodation. “In order to see up close, we turn, or converge, both eyes inward, so that together they point at what we’re trying to see,” he says. “Turning our eyes inward also stimulates their ability to focus clearly at near, which happens through a different mechanism known as convergence-accommodation.”

So, Dr. Gottlieb designed a carefully made chart which caused his patient’s eyes to converge strongly & found that this allowed his patient to see clearly at near. With practice, in just a few weeks, his patient returned to announce that his problem had been solved, & he no longer needed glasses to see clearly at near. “The improvement lasted for years,” he says.

The Read Without Glasses Method was co-developed by Martin Sussman, president of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision (http://www.withoutglasses.com). Sussman, an internationally respected expert in the field of holistic vision care & author of The Program for Better Vision, helped Dr. Gottlieb take a practice that was only applicable in a one-to-one doctor-patient setting & develop it into a method that can be learned at home by watching an instructional video, & then be used anywhere - even on the go - at almost any time.

“Now it’s much easier to see,” Ms. Zilavy says, “I can read a lot more of the smaller print. The method is simple to learn. Practice is easy. I spend about four minutes a day with it, usually when I am eating breakfast. I’m getting good results with a minimum of time.”

Just as we stretch, flex & exercise our bodies to fend off aging, Ms. Zilavy found that her eyes - like the rest of her body - can benefit from exercise, re-training & relaxation.

And just as convergence is a key element, so is its opposite - divergence, which allows the eye muscles to relax so the eyes straighten for distance viewing. “Conscious relaxation of your body, including your neck & shoulders, & your breathing are important elements of The Read Without Glasses Method,” Sussman says.

The method will not work for the small percentage of people who have only one functioning eye, lazy eye, eye-turning problems or severe low vision.

Dr. Jacob Liberman, author of Take Off Your Glasses & See & Light: Medicine of the Future, who has used it, says “The Read Without Glasses Method (available at http://www.withoutglasses.com) combines the best of optometric vision therapy & natural vision exercises to create a simple & effective way to sharpen your vision.”

“We want to counter the prevailing belief,” Sussman says, “that the only solution to this problem is stronger & stronger reading glasses, bifocals or surgery.” Adds Dr. Gottlieb, 63, who has never needed reading glasses, “I guess you could say I am a testimonial myself.”

Martin Sussman is the founder & president of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision, the world’s leader in providing natural solutions for eye care for the last 30 years. There is more. The Read Without Glasses Method is based closely on a technique originally developed by eye doctor, Dr. Ray Gottlieb. You can find out more about the Read Without Glasses Method at http://www.withoutglasses.com For a complete listing of all the eye exercise & vision improvement materials offered by the Cambridge Institute, visit http://www.bettervision.com

More than ½ of the people in the United States need glasses or contacts to see clearly. And the other ½ expects that as they get older, they will, too.

Even though poor vision is the largest health-related epidemic affecting Americans today, even though younger & younger children are needing glasses & even though more middle-age people are needing bifocals & reading glasses, nearly virtually everyone thinks that it is all perfectly normal & acceptable.

Poor vision is, quite simply, the problem that nobody wants to sees.

Yet, doctors & researchers are at a loss to explain its exact cause. (1) Even though some still cling to the old belief that vision problems are inherited research dispels this myth: only 3 people out of every 100 are actually born with vision problems. (2)

A REVEALING CONNECTION

From a holistic point of view, not seeing clearly means more than not being able to see across the desk, across the room or across the street.

Being nearsighted is an expression of how a person views & responds to the world. Being nearsighted is a way of seeing - or not seeing - that goes beyond being able to see the bottom line on the eye chart.

We understand this subconsciously, if not directly. Take the movies, for example. And so… So far so good. When a screenwriter wants to portray a character who is timid, shy, or unsure of him or herself, invariably that character wears glasses. And we in the audience get the message that wearing glasses conveys.

Behavior & personality studies on nearsighted people have been done since the early 1900s. Richard Lanyon. Ph.D., of the Harvard Medical School, co-authored a journal article reviewing the many studies that clearly document the relationship between personality & vision. (3) Nearsighted people consistently test as being more introverted, shy & lacking in confidence than their clear-seeing counterparts.

Spiritual teachers also recognize this relationship. Louise Hay, author of the classic You Can Heal Your Life, suggests that nearsighted people have a fear of seeing their future & of not trusting what’s ahead in their lives.

Seth Speaks author, Jane Roberts, notes that for many, nearsightedness was a physical manifestation of something that they did not want to see - on an emotional, psychological and/or spiritual level.

I’ve pent the last thirty years teaching holistic vision care, working one-on-one with people & conducting hundreds of work shops & seminars.

My experience confirms this relationship between the inner & outer aspects of seeing. My experience also shows me that it’s not just nearsightedness that has a mind/body connection: farsightedness, astigmatism, eye imbalances - even some medical eye problems - also do.

The eyes are more than a camera. And not seeing clearly means more - much more - than only that the camera being out of focus.

Our eyes are also sensitive emotional receptors through which we relate to others. Right. We express our feelings through our eyes. Right. We can often tell what somebody is thinking by the ‘look’ in their eyes. And, in many ways, how we feel tempers how & what we see.

All of us have been in situations where we see things we do not like or that have hurt us in some way. Perhaps we imagine, ‘If I pretend not to see it, it will disappear,’ or ‘I do not want to see this part of myself or what’s going on around me.’ Pretending not to see or not to know is one coping strategy that may be a useful protection at certain times.

The difference is that those who do not see clearly have ingrained this response into their consciousness, most often in response to particularly stressful situations that occurred prior to needing glasses the first time.

THE VISION TRANSITION PERIOD

I surveyed 583 people before they began using The Program for Better Vision, a vision improvement audio course I developed. I found that 63% of them were able to remember at least one significant change that occurred in their life during the 12 to 18 month period before first noticing a limitation in their vision. I call this period the Vision Transition Period.

The changes they noticed fell into one or more of these three categories.

1. Personal: Changes in self image usually (but not always) accompanied by physical changes during adolescence (reaching puberty) or during middle age (aging), or changes in the fundamental ways in which other people & life are perceived.

2. Emotional: Changes in significant relationships. (Parents divorce, another child is born or a loved one dies.)

3. Situational: Changes in the environment. (Moving to another town & having to make new friends or staying in the same town but switching careers, homes or schools.)

Whatever the specific external changes may have been, they’re merely a catalyst. The key is that the emotional response of not wanting to see or be seen, of pulling away or hiding from the world, develops first on the inner levels before it manifests physically.

RELEASING INNER BARRIERS TO SEEING

For the healing of vision to occur, it is necessary to release the habitual, inner barriers to seeing that first developed during the Vision Transition Period.

Notes one woman, Ruth G., after using The Program for Better Vision, “I found that I was intentionally blurring people once they came into seeing range…This observation has carried the process to new areas & probed the deeper question of why I’ve hidden behind blurred vision.”

One middle-aged stockbroker, Ralph P., who had been unable to see anything without his reading glasses, looked back at his Vision Transition Period - a time when he was losing money in the stock market. He recalled that he had finally reached the point where he was afraid to look at the stock tables for ‘fear of seeing’ how much he had lost that day. The tables had become the ‘proof’ that he was a failure & he did not want to see this image of himself as ‘being a failure.’

As he let go of that false image, he saw himself as much more than his temporary successes or failures. Very soon, his vision returned to normal and, for the first time in five years, he began to read & work without glasses.

Not seeing clearly is, at least to some degree, an expression of one or more of the following inner decisions:

1. An emotional decision that we do not want to see some aspect of our self, our life, or our relationship with others.

2. A desire to pull away or hide from the parts of the world that we find either threatening, confusing or overwhelming.

3. Negative messages & beliefs that we may have absorbed about seeing. By example, the young child who sees her mother upset & is told, “Nothing’s the matter” might learn the subconscious message “I can not trust what I see” or “It’s not okay to see the truth of what’s going on.”

4. A shutting down of one’s intuition or perceptiveness, which also limits our ability to sense what lays ahead in our lives.

THE TOTAL PICTURE

Glasses & contacts only deal with the symptoms of not seeing clearly. Using them doesn’t address any of the underlying factors that may have led to their need in the first place. They do not change the underlying patterns that caused the problem in the first place.

I have witnessed many powerful healings as people explore & release their inner barriers to seeing & being seen. As people move beyond their habitual way of seeing, something extraordinary emerges - an expanded view of who they’re & of the deeper potential that lies within.

Along with this inner clarity comes the outer clarity: people improve their eyesight, reduce the strength of their prescriptions or discard their glasses & lenses altogether.

This inner healing is a crucial element. That’s why I have found that people who only do eye exercises can be frustrated by their lack of improvement. (Go to http://www.bettervision.com for more.) Along with releasing the inner barriers to seeing, the other elements of a comprehensive approach to better vision are re-training the brain & eyes to work together properly, reducing stress in the visual system & supplying the visual system with the proper nutrients & supplements.

Better vision means seeing the world in the clearest, most relaxed, easiest & most efficient way possible. Better vision also means having a positive image of yourself, a clear sense of purpose & emotional clarity.

The first step to better vision begins with the inner desire that says, “I want to see!”

REFERENCES:

1. Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D., Ph.D., “The Myopia Debate,” Review of Optometry, Sept. 15, 2006

2. Richard S. Kavner, O.D., & Lorraine Dusky, Total Vision, New York: A & W Publishers, 1978

3. Richard I. Lanyon, Ph.D., et. al., “Psychological Approaches to Myopia: A Review.” American Journal of Optometry & Physiological Optics: Vol. 51, No. 4.

Martin Sussman, an internationally known expert in holistic vision care, is the author of five books, audio courses & DVDs, including the #1 best-selling The Program for Better Vision & the Read Without Glasses Method (for middle age sight). He is the founder & president of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision which he established in 1977. Information about improving vision can be easily found at http://www.bettervision.com