You cannot train your eyes not to be nearsighted

Jon Dishler, MD answers: Laser eye surgery or Bates method therapy for myopia?

Is there any different cure for curing myopia except for laser surgery and wearing glasses? I have heard of Bates method therapy but I have not practiced it yet. Is this method effective and does it have any side effect? What about laser surgery? Will I be better off if I have the surgery done instead? I am 22 years old and have -3.00 D for the right eye and -3.50 D for the left eye.


Jon Dishler, MD
2 months ago

There have been many false cures touted for all kinds of things, including the Bates method for fixing vision.  While vision training in children can be legitimate in certain circumstances, your situation can only be helped with an optical correction.

Nearsightedness is when the image at a distance is focused by the optics of the eye (the cornea and lens) in front of the retina which is the nerve layer that perceives vision.  Whether this is due to an eye that is too long, or a cornea that is too steep, or a combination of both, the result is an eye that can not see well at distance.  your eye is a -3.00 diopter which is perfect for vision up close, but anything further away than a few feet begin to get fuzzy.  The only treatments for this are optical and include glasses, contact lenses, LASIK, an intraocular lens of some sort, or surgery to shorten the length of your eyeball (the last is not a good solution).  From a practical "cure" standpoint a laser treatment like LASIK or a surface treatment like PRK are your best ooptions. 

The best place to start is to get recommendations from your eye doctor who has spent many years learning about this issue and will steer you in the right direction.

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