Eyesight

[Ron Nossaman]

>There are opposing muscles that manipulate the eye in its socket. Wearing
>eye glasses forces a specific focal point which makes some of these muscles
>work more & some work much less. 

Perhaps in some cases, but for the most part, general purpose glasses are
intended to re-center the range of focus and direction more toward normal.  


>Go outside......on the porch or backyard is a good place.
>Look at your hand & focus however well on it.....seeing your finger print
>clearly is probably a good goal.  Then look at something 5 feet away &
>focus. Then look at something a hundred feet away. Now reverse the process.
>By doing this you are putting the dormant muscles back in use.  The extreme
>ranges & the ones inbetween will slowly build these muscles stamina back up
>& improvements can be significant.

Only in cases where lack of eye movement and exercise is the cause of poor
vision in the first place. 



>The eye is shaped by the muscles in the eye socket.

Not exactly. The eye grows with the child, and doesn't always end up in the
correct shape. With farsightedness, for instance, the eye is too short
(front to back) and the natural focal point is slightly behind the retina.
With nearsightedness, the eye is too long, and the focal point is in front
of the retina. The eye grew this way "naturally", and no amount of exercise
will correct it. The loss of near focus as we age is something you haven't
come to yet at 28, but you will, exercise or not. Muscles around the lens
pull it into shape for distance vision, but close vision requires that the
natural elasticity of the lens pull it into the proper shape. As that
elasticity is lost with age, the close focal ability goes with it.  


>I'm currently 28, the only person in my family of 11 who doesn't wear
>glasses & I probably see better now than I did when I was 18 although this
>computer isn't helping....
>
>ra byn james


You got the lucky genes, that's all. I've worn glasses for nearsightedness
since I was about 6, that would be around 1954, and I guarantee it wasn't
the result of watching television, or too much time at the computer.

Regards,

Ron N