See Clearly Method

 The "See Clearly Method" is an eye exercise program developed by a team of optometrists and ophthalmologists intended to improve your vision and/or eliminate the need for corrective lenses. The See Clearly Method kit contains videos (or DVD), audio tapes, and an instruction manual which teach you how to do eye exercises like tromboning, hydrotherapy, eye rolls, palming, and more. Each exercise lasts around 1 - 3 minutes. The exercises help your eyes work together as a team, reduce visual stress, increase ability to see small details, improve control of extraocular muscles, and more.

The "See Clearly Method" is set up as a 12 week program with a 30 minute exercise session/day as shown on the videos. You need to do at least 5 minutes/day to get a significant result - consistency is key. You may still get results if you only do the exercises once in a while or less then 5 minutes/day, but they won't be as significant. Results vary.

I started the program in 2005; I did some of the exercise videos, but mostly just 5 minutes/day. The exercises are simple - you could do them while sitting on a bus or waiting in line at the grocery store. I had an eye exam in June 2006 just a few months after starting the program and my vision improved for the first time in many years! My vision span (what I can see without glasses) increased from 10 inches to 13.5 inches! I went from a -4 to a -3 sphere - wow!  Before that, my vision had gotten worse almost every year. After seeing that this stuff really works, I completed the entire 12 week program. After that, through August 2008, I still did 5-7 minutes every day. My vision then improved from a -3 to -2.75 in 2007 and then from -2.75 to -2.5 in 2008.

The eye exercises are also a great way to relax - they are calming and fun. The "See Clearly Method" also talks about other habits to improve your vision.  We can always do it together!  The kit is no longer for sale by Vision Improvement Technologies, but you may be able to locate it over the Internet.  

My optometrist and I agreed that my improvement is likely to be small from now on as I only improved my eye prescription sphere by 0.25 in each of the past 2 years.  So now, I will not continue doing 5-7 minutes/day as it requires too much effort for a small change, but I will still do 10 minutes/week to hopefully prevent my vision from regressing to its pre-See Clearly Method levels.

2010-2011 Update: In 2010, as I continued to do the "See Clearly Method" for 10 minutes/week, I started to experience flashing lights in the corner of one eye.  One of the exercises cautions that if this symptom occurs, one should discontinue the exercises.  Shortly afterwards, I had an opthamologist look at my eyes - luckily, he declared my eyes to be in good health without any damage.  I then quit the "See Clearly Method," after which the flashing ended.  Several months later in January 2011, I was examined by the optometrist, who found that my astigmatism had improved by a quarter.  Due to the flashing lights that I experienced, I had to discontinue the program and urge all to be cautious about it.  Yet, I remain proud of my discipline and results!