"See Clearly Method"

[dauerbach]

I have lately heard numerous radio ads for what is called the See Clearly Method for improving vision. Allegedly doctor developed. As I can think of no physiologic posibility that anything short of surgery could improve your vision (except for contacts and glasses of course) I was wondering if anyone has any idea what this method entails.

[astro]

Eye-Related Quackery

Many self-help books are aimed at people who want to improve their eyes “naturally” without glasses. They include Dr. Friedman’s Vision Training Program, Lisette Scholl’s Visionetics: The Holistic Way to Better Eyesight, Taber’s Eye-Robics, and Dr. Salov’s Hidden Secrets for Better Vision. Similar claims are made on the Web site of the American Vision Institute (AVI), which markets the See Clearly Method “to help you” “eliminate or reduce” nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia, and eyestrain. The program is based on Bates and other vision training methods. The See Clearly claims are peppered with “may” and “it depends” and supported by testimonials preceded by the disclaimer “(Results not typical; individual results will vary.)” The first sentence of the See Clearly research page states that “No formal research studies have been done yet on the See Clearly Method.” This is despite the fact that AVI, founded in 1979, describes itself as "dedicated to research."All of these programs are long on claims and short on evidence that any of them will actually improve the user’s vision.

[MannyL]

Here are some links I found on google.

Do Eye Exercises Really Improve Vision?

http://www.fhradio.org/fm/archives/2003/2610(FM).html

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=robinxjoy-DA76C0.01045423052002%40news.west.cox.net&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26q%3D%22See%2BClearly%2BMethod%22%2B%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwg
Hope this helps and isn’t a drive by

[dauerbach]

No, it’s not a drive by, although I don’t know what one is. Seems like this “method” is just a bunch of crap. Thanks for the links. It’s amazing that anyone actually shells out money for something like this.

[stpauler]

Well, speaking solely of a personal anecdote.
When I was about 12 I did eye exercises for 6 weeks per my optometrist . I had a card in my hand with letters and numbers and a poster 25 feet away with the identical letters and numbers. I’d sit for about 20 minutes a day and look from card to poster and back. Well, I’ve got 20/12 vision now and the rest of my family wears glasses. It could be a fluke or it could work or it could just work for some.