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Science Forum Index » Medicine - Vision Forum » Questions about different lens material, improving eyesight,
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| Author |
Message |
| Guest |
 Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:16 am |
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Hello. This post is a little long, and I apologize for the
inconvenience. Some of the stuff that I mention in this post is stuff
that I have already mentioned in a previous post very recently.
However, I must mention it again as background information for my new
questions. For those who read my earlier post, I apologize for the
repetition.
----------
I am a 33-year-old male.
Prior to 1997, I wore glasses that were -4.25 in the left eye and -4
in the right eye.
In 1997, my eye doctor said that my eyesight was -5, -5. So, I started
wearing -5 glasses for driving, seeing movies in a theater, etc., and
I used the -4.25, -4 glasses for computers, reading, etc.
In 2004, my doctor said that my eyesight was -5.25, -5.25. So, I
started wearing -5.25, -5.25 glasses for driving, and I continued to
use the -4.25, -4 glasses for reading, computers, etc. Also, I
continued to use the -5 glasses for the movie theater.
----------
In late 2006, my eye doctor said that my eyesight is currently -5.125,
-5.125. He said that my eyesight is fluctuating between -5 and -5.25.
He said that, for driving and the movie theater, I could use either
the -5 glasses or the -5.25 glasses (my choice). For reading and
computer use, he said that I could use -4, -4 glasses or -4.25, -4.25
glasses (again, my choice).
----------
Well, unfortunately, shortly after the eye exam of late 2006, I lost
my -5 glasses. In 2004, I had bought the -5.25 glasses at
Lenscrafters, and the material of the -5.25 lenses was comfortable for
me. So, I bought new -5 glasses at Lenscrafters, and I wanted the
exact same material for these new lenses.
The people at Lenscrafters have told me that the -5.25 lenses are
"photo flextint plastic", and the -5 lenses that Lenscrafters sold me
were made from "photo mid-index plastic". Lenscrafters said that
"photo flextint plastic" and "photo mid-index plastic" are the same
thing.
----------
Well, I tried wearing the new -5 glasses at a movie theater. I thought
that these glasses would be as comfortable as the -5.25 glasses (since
both pairs of glasses were of the same material). However, the -5
glasses produced something of a strain.
Lenscrafters told me that I have to get used to the new -5 glasses and
that I should wear them as much as possible. Well, since my eye doctor
said that my eyesight had improved from -5.25 to -5.125, I thought
that I could wear the new -5 glasses more often and improve my
eyesight even more. In other words, I would wear the -5 glasses, not
just for the theater, but also for driving. However, even though I've
worn them more often, I still feel some strain from time to time.
Putting on the -5.25 glasses alleviates the strain. So, how long
should it take me to get used to the -5 glasses? Have I already gotten
too used to the -5.25 glasses, such that the -5.25 glasses are
comfortable and the -5 glasses produce a strain? Also, if I keep
wearing the -5 glasses, will my eyesight keep improving?
Furthermore, when I bought the new -5 glasses, Lenscrafters did NOT
measure my pupil distance, whereas Lenscrafters had measured the pupil
distance in 2004 for the -5.25 glasses. When I bought the -5 glasses,
the guy at Lenscrafters told me that pupil distance was useless,
misleading, etc. So, is measuring pupil distance important?
Thanks for any information. |
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| Mark A |
| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:53 am |
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Guest
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<midwest_46@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1170044177.870134.31280@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Quote: Hello. This post is a little long, and I apologize for the
inconvenience. Some of the stuff that I mention in this post is stuff
that I have already mentioned in a previous post very recently.
However, I must mention it again as background information for my new
questions. For those who read my earlier post, I apologize for the
repetition.
----------
I am a 33-year-old male.
Prior to 1997, I wore glasses that were -4.25 in the left eye and -4
in the right eye.
In 1997, my eye doctor said that my eyesight was -5, -5. So, I started
wearing -5 glasses for driving, seeing movies in a theater, etc., and
I used the -4.25, -4 glasses for computers, reading, etc.
In 2004, my doctor said that my eyesight was -5.25, -5.25. So, I
started wearing -5.25, -5.25 glasses for driving, and I continued to
use the -4.25, -4 glasses for reading, computers, etc. Also, I
continued to use the -5 glasses for the movie theater.
----------
In late 2006, my eye doctor said that my eyesight is currently -5.125,
-5.125. He said that my eyesight is fluctuating between -5 and -5.25.
He said that, for driving and the movie theater, I could use either
the -5 glasses or the -5.25 glasses (my choice). For reading and
computer use, he said that I could use -4, -4 glasses or -4.25, -4.25
glasses (again, my choice).
----------
Well, unfortunately, shortly after the eye exam of late 2006, I lost
my -5 glasses. In 2004, I had bought the -5.25 glasses at
Lenscrafters, and the material of the -5.25 lenses was comfortable for
me. So, I bought new -5 glasses at Lenscrafters, and I wanted the
exact same material for these new lenses.
The people at Lenscrafters have told me that the -5.25 lenses are
"photo flextint plastic", and the -5 lenses that Lenscrafters sold me
were made from "photo mid-index plastic". Lenscrafters said that
"photo flextint plastic" and "photo mid-index plastic" are the same
thing.
----------
Well, I tried wearing the new -5 glasses at a movie theater. I thought
that these glasses would be as comfortable as the -5.25 glasses (since
both pairs of glasses were of the same material). However, the -5
glasses produced something of a strain.
Lenscrafters told me that I have to get used to the new -5 glasses and
that I should wear them as much as possible. Well, since my eye doctor
said that my eyesight had improved from -5.25 to -5.125, I thought
that I could wear the new -5 glasses more often and improve my
eyesight even more. In other words, I would wear the -5 glasses, not
just for the theater, but also for driving. However, even though I've
worn them more often, I still feel some strain from time to time.
Putting on the -5.25 glasses alleviates the strain. So, how long
should it take me to get used to the -5 glasses? Have I already gotten
too used to the -5.25 glasses, such that the -5.25 glasses are
comfortable and the -5 glasses produce a strain? Also, if I keep
wearing the -5 glasses, will my eyesight keep improving?
Furthermore, when I bought the new -5 glasses, Lenscrafters did NOT
measure my pupil distance, whereas Lenscrafters had measured the pupil
distance in 2004 for the -5.25 glasses. When I bought the -5 glasses,
the guy at Lenscrafters told me that pupil distance was useless,
misleading, etc. So, is measuring pupil distance important?
Thanks for any information.
Measuring PD is very important, and is absolutely critical if the lens
design is aspheric, which might have been dispensed for your moderately high
Rx. Aspheric is the design of the lens, and not necessarily the material.
Unfortunately, Lenscrafters rebrands their lenses so that it is very
difficult for consumers to comparison shop the same items at other stores.
So the terms they use for their lenses usually do not apply to anyone else,
even if they are just renaming another manufacturer's product. However, from
what I can determine, the Flextints are 1.56 index type of transition lens,
which gets darker when you are outside in the sun. They may be Essilor
Transitions Ormex 1.55 index (no guarantee that I am correct). But I have
also heard that Lenscrafters no longer carries Transition branded products,
so what you got may have been a knock off (and much lower quality) of the
real stuff you got before.
Since Lenscrafters offers a 30-day unconditional money back guarantee, I
suggest that return your lens and get a refund. Do not purchase any lenses
unless the optician can tell you the exact manufacturer and model of the
lens (not just their internal branded name). |
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| Mike Tyner |
| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:57 am |
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Guest
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<midwest_46@yahoo.com> wrote
Quote: He said that, for driving and the movie theater, I could use either
the -5 glasses or the -5.25 glasses (my choice). For reading and
computer use, he said that I could use -4, -4 glasses or -4.25, -4.25
glasses (again, my choice).
Since you tolerate -4 and -425, the difference between -500 and -525
shouldn't really bother you unless your old -500 theater glasses were blurry
for driving.
There must be some other cause if your complaint is _physical discomfort_.
You didn't say a word about blurry vision, just "strain".
If the guy really told you that "PD was useless" then you should let
somebody know. LC doesn't want anyone that stupid working for them. More
likely they had the PD on file from 2004 and it wasn't useful to repeat it.
Going from one "mid-index" lens to another shouldn't cause pain. What is
"strain"?
PD errors can cause physical discomfort but so can too-tight temples. And
PDs are horizontal. It's the _vertical_ placement errors that cause
splitting headaches.
If they aren't comfortable, ask them to fix it or refund you.. that's the
deal. If you want, tell them you changed your mind and would they pretty
please remake them at -525. Sometimes it isn't worthwhile to figure out
what's wrong because making a new set of lenses takes care of it in about an
hour. And yes, they should double-check your PD.
At your age, your eyes don't care whether you wear -425 or -550. They'll do
what they'll do, so you should do what makes you comfortable.
-MT |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:38 am |
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On Jan 28, 11:53?pm, "Mark A" <nob...@nowhere.com> wrote:
Quote:
Unfortunately, Lenscrafters rebrands their lenses so that it is very
difficult for consumers to comparison shop the same items at other stores.
So the terms they use for their lenses usually do not apply to anyone else,
even if they are just renaming another manufacturer's product. However, from
what I can determine, the Flextints are 1.56 index type of transition lens,
which gets darker when you are outside in the sun. They may be Essilor
Transitions Ormex 1.55 index (no guarantee that I am correct). But I have
also heard that Lenscrafters no longer carries Transition branded products,
so what you got may have been a knock off (and much lower quality) of the
real stuff you got before.
The lenses I bought in 2004 (-5.25) are, indeed, transition lenses.
They do get darker when I am outside in the sun. Is "transition" the
brand name given by the manufacturer? Is "flextint" the brand name
given by Lenscrafters?
The lenses I bought recently (-5) also get darker when I am outside in
the sun. Wouldn't my -5 lenses also be "transition" lenses? Or are the
new -5 lenses some cheap knockoff of the "transition" brand name?
Quote: Since Lenscrafters offers a 30-day unconditional money back guarantee, I
suggest that return your lens and get a refund. Do not purchase any lenses
unless the optician can tell you the exact manufacturer and model of the
lens (not just their internal branded name).
If I ask Lenscrafters to tell me the exact manufacturer and model of
the lenses I bought in 2004 and of the lenses I bought recently, is
Lenscrafters obligated to tell me? If Lenscrafters does not give me
the information, is there any way in which I can find out
independently? |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:40 am |
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On Jan 29, 12:57?am, "Mike Tyner" <mty...@mindspring.com> wrote:
Quote: Since you tolerate -4 and -425, the difference between -500 and -525
shouldn't really bother you unless your old -500 theater glasses were blurry
for driving.
There must be some other cause if your complaint is _physical discomfort_.
You didn't say a word about blurry vision, just "strain".
By 2004, the old -5 glasses had become too weak for driving. So, I got
an eye exam. The exam revealed that my eyesight was -5.25, -5.25. So,
I started using the -5.25 glasses for driving and continued to use the
-5 glasses for the theater.
Quote: If the guy really told you that "PD was useless" then you should let
somebody know. LC doesn't want anyone that stupid working for them. More
likely they had the PD on file from 2004 and it wasn't useful to repeat it.
Quote: From what I recall, the Lenscrafters guy said that he wasn't using PD
at all. He simply took the frames that were in the store display
(Brooks Brothers model 363), had me wear the frames, saw that they
fit, and said that the frames that I would have would be based on the
display frames.
However, I just spoke to a different person at that Lenscrafters
store, and this person told me that my 2004 PD was used. So, now I'm
not sure what is going on.
Quote: Going from one "mid-index" lens to another shouldn't cause pain. What is
"strain"?
PD errors can cause physical discomfort but so can too-tight temples. And
PDs are horizontal. It's the _vertical_ placement errors that cause
splitting headaches.
By "strain", I mean some headaches, possibly minor headaches, near my
eyes.
What are "vertical placement" errors?
Quote: If they aren't comfortable, ask them to fix it or refund you.. that's the
deal.
But, if the glasses are not comfortable, is the discomfort only
temporary? I would hate to return the glasses after only 30 days if
the discomfort will go away in, say, 90 days.
My doctor (if I understand him correctly) said that my eyesight
improved from -5.25 (in 2004) to -5.125 (in 2006). So, if I use the -5
glasses instead of the -5.25 glasses for the theater AND driving, will
my eyesight improve even more? |
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| Mike Tyner |
| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:24 am |
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Guest
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<midwest_46@yahoo.com> wrote
Quote: However, I just spoke to a different person at that Lenscrafters
store, and this person told me that my 2004 PD was used. So, now I'm
not sure what is going on.
It'd be totally incompetent to make glasses without using a PD.
Quote: What are "vertical placement" errors?
PD is horizontal. Ideally the centers should be level - the vertical
difference should be zero. But human eyes aren't always level, and frames
don't always sit level, and just a little vertical difference can create a
lot of discomfort.
Quote: But, if the glasses are not comfortable, is the discomfort only
temporary? I would hate to return the glasses after only 30 days if
the discomfort will go away in, say, 90 days.
30 days is too long. If they aren't comfortable after a week, they aren't
going to get better.
Quote: My doctor (if I understand him correctly) said that my eyesight
improved from -5.25 (in 2004) to -5.125 (in 2006).
First, this "change" isn't enough to be significant. Refractions can vary by
0.125 over the course of a day, or from one examiner to another. Most of us
don't use 0.125 steps, for that reason.
Quote: So, if I use the -5
glasses instead of the -5.25 glasses for the theater AND driving, will
my eyesight improve even more?
It might, but not because of which glasses you wear. That doesn't happen in
adult humans. If it did, doctors would all under-prescribe.
-MT |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:23 am |
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On Jan 30, 6:24?am, "Mike Tyner" <mty...@mindspring.com> wrote:
Quote: So, if I use the -5
glasses instead of the -5.25 glasses for the theater AND driving, will
my eyesight improve even more?
It might, but not because of which glasses you wear. That doesn't happen in
adult humans. If it did, doctors would all under-prescribe.
Well, there is a doctor who practices in Chicago who *does* under-
prescribe. This doctor is Harry Sirota.
On June 13, 2006, the Chicago Tribune published an article on him.
The following few paragraphs of the article describe the "under-
prescribing" :
<<<<
The exam takes an unexpected turn when it comes time to choose the
correct lens strength. After using the retinoscope, Sirota asks the
patient to try on a variety of lenses, asking which "feels" best. With
their eyes closed.
"It's easier for the patient to know how the lenses feel with their
eyes closed," he says. "With the eyes open, the patients use their
intellect." With the eyes closed, light enters the eye though the
eyelids, he says, and patients can sense what is most comfortable.
"I think that there would be no value to testing lenses with the eyes
closed," Augsburger says. "This would provide no additional
information which the optometrist could use to write a final
prescription."
The prescription Dr. Sirota provides is almost always much weaker than
any previously prescribed standard lenses. This proves disconcerting,
even infuriating, to his patients when they first try on their new
glasses. "They all hate it at first," he says.
`I was reborn," says Leo Weese, a general contractor from Denver, of
the first day he wore a pair of Sirota-prescribed lenses. Weese, who
had worn glasses since age 2, describes experiencing a vivid new
clarity and depth perception and becoming instantly aware of the
"beauty and life in everything." Now 58, "I'm integrated seamlessly
into what's going on around me. I'm not putting out fires; I'm ahead
of the game." And, he adds, "my golf game got incredible."
Here is the full article, which I got from a website in the google
cache:
A different vision
Optometrist helps patients see the light about old traumas to improve
eyesight
Published June 13, 2006 - Chicago Tribune
The optometrist was in his office, on the phone.
On the other end was a woman whose husband was scheduled for glaucoma
surgery the next day, and she was frantic, looking for a last-minute
second opinion. The doctor, who had not treated the man before,
listened carefully and then asked a series of questions:
"Did he ever tell you what went on in his life when he was younger?"
"What was his relationship with his father?"
"Did he forgive his father?"
For more than 50 years, Dr. Harry Sirota has been practicing optometry
from the same unremarkable-looking storefront in Chicago's Uptown
neighborhood. The unadorned window holds only a few plants and a sign
that reads, "vision therapy." The plywood-paneled waiting room
contains a handful of orange plastic chairs, piles of magazines and
tottering stacks of mail.
It is an unlikely destination, yet patients from around the country
travel here for Sirota's own particular brand of optometry.
Sirota does not see himself as a technician who, after conducting a
series of tests, provides patients with corrective eyeglasses.
Instead, he says, "I work with individuals with emotional problems
that cause eye problems."
"Emotions have the biggest effect on the eyes," he stresses. "When I
look at someone's retina, what I see is how they chose to survive."
Harry Sirota is an unlikely proponent of the unorthodox method he has
developed. Born and raised in New York City, he came to Chicago to
study at the Chicago College of Optometry (later the Illinois College
of Optometry) for a career his father favored. There he learned the
standard method of optometry, which meant fitting patients with lenses
that provided 20/20 sight.
It was while working at the school clinic that he says he started to
notice the complaints of those being fitted for glasses. Many patients
said they just did not feel comfortable with their new glasses. The
instructors' response was invariably the same: "Tell them they'll get
used to them!"
After serving in the Army, Sirota settled here and soon rented the
office on North Sheridan Road. He decided to try to discover why so
many of his patients said they were unhappy with their glasses. If he
couldn't, he resolved, he'd change professions. That was in 1954.
The eye is bound by six muscles. The muscles affect the shape of the
eye, and the eye's shape affects the way we see.
It is Sirota's opinion that muscles are most often constricted because
of old, unresolved traumas as well as the tensions of everyday life.
In his view -- and that of massage therapists everywhere -- "muscles
have memory," and the developing eye is especially vulnerable to the
stresses of trauma. Constricted muscles alter the shape of the eye,
not only affecting our ability to "see" clearly, but also, he says,
altering the way we perceive others, perceive ourselves in relation to
others, and move through space.
However idiosyncratic Sirota's views may appear, they fall broadly
within the field known as vision therapy, which is widely practiced in
the U.S. Just as there is a spectrum of treatment within medical
science, from more traditional to more alternative perspectives, there
is a similar range within optometry, and among vision therapists as
well. Mainstream vision therapists largely work with children to help
them with focusing or perception problems. Other vision therapists
have a more "holistic" approach, working from the premise that
behavioral changes affect eyesight. Harry Sirota would be off to one
end of this group.
As Sirota and other behavioral optometrists see it, traditional
optometry treats the symptoms of eye problems -- poor eyesight --
instead of examining the root of the problem: namely, why are the
muscles around the eye constricted? Further, by using lenses that
provide 20/20 sight (technically called "acuity"), they believe,
patients' problems then become "locked in."
While some see Sirota as an unheralded maverick on the cutting edge of
optometric treatment, others dismiss him as an aging crank.
"Harry is on the fringe," says Bob Williams, the executive director of
the Optometric Extension Program, the oldest and largest organization
of vision therapists. "His approach and philosophy are extremely
unique," but "he seems to get results."
Sirota pins much of patients' vision problems on early childhood
stresses.
Lack of proper nutrition and exercise, poor posture, improper
breathing, lack of sleep, and the stressful nature of our lives also
contribute to symptoms that may manifest as vision problems, but are
in reality expressions of something much deeper. In this view,
providing patients eyeglasses that offer 20/20 acuity is not a
solution and instead becomes part of the problem.
"We want to get the tension off the muscles" of the patients' eyes, he
says. "It's a matter of clearing up the stuff that's troubled them all
these years."
The larger purpose is to allow the brain and eye to function smoothly
together, and the prescribed lenses are meant to facilitate that freer-
flowing movement. Further, that greater ease of movement, he believes,
allows for change in other areas of a patient's life that feel stuck
or blocked.
"Perfect eyesight is not the same as perfect vision!" he'll remind
you.
Sirota sees only one patient a day now. Currently, most of his
patients travel here from out of state. It's not cheap: an exam, which
lasts about three hours, costs $175 an hour and does not include the
cost of the new glasses.
Some of the exam feels like a standard eye exam, such as looking at
eye charts and being examined with the retinoscope (the instrument
used to see the retina with a beam of light). However, Sirota examines
the eye from different angles with the retinoscope "to see what is
going on in the eye, to see what the patient has gone through and the
possibility of change." In a standard exam, optometrists examine the
retina directly in front of the patient only.
Sirota says that if the eyes do not receive the correct amount of
light the brain then receives faulty information, which then sends the
wrong signals to the body. The results, he says, are patients who do
not feel fully integrated in their bodies; for example, they may feel
off balance, or report feeling "fragmented" or uncomfortable looking
at others at a close distance, or have trouble following a moving
target.
Is there research to back up his ideas on the effects of light? "I
don't think so," he says. His theories are based on his own
observations built over the length of his career, he admits.
This is the kind of stuff that makes standard optometrists crazy. "We
value evidence-based optometry" and "theories that are based on
research," says Dr. Arol Augsburger, president of the Illinois College
of Optometry.
"He's either a total crackpot or a total innovator who is so far ahead
that no one knows what he is saying," says Williams.
The exam takes an unexpected turn when it comes time to choose the
correct lens strength. After using the retinoscope, Sirota asks the
patient to try on a variety of lenses, asking which "feels" best. With
their eyes closed.
"It's easier for the patient to know how the lenses feel with their
eyes closed," he says. "With the eyes open, the patients use their
intellect." With the eyes closed, light enters the eye though the
eyelids, he says, and patients can sense what is most comfortable.
"I think that there would be no value to testing lenses with the eyes
closed," Augsburger says. "This would provide no additional
information which the optometrist could use to write a final
prescription."
The prescription Dr. Sirota provides is almost always much weaker than
any previously prescribed standard lenses. This proves disconcerting,
even infuriating, to his patients when they first try on their new
glasses. "They all hate it at first," he says.
`I was reborn," says Leo Weese, a general contractor from Denver, of
the first day he wore a pair of Sirota-prescribed lenses. Weese, who
had worn glasses since age 2, describes experiencing a vivid new
clarity and depth perception and becoming instantly aware of the
"beauty and life in everything." Now 58, "I'm integrated seamlessly
into what's going on around me. I'm not putting out fires; I'm ahead
of the game." And, he adds, "my golf game got incredible."
Sirota sums up his work matter-of-factly, with more than a trace of
the native New Yorker: "Listen, if you change your eyes, you change
your life."
A different vision
Optometrist helps patients see the light about old traumas to improve
eyesight
Published June 13, 2006 - Chicago Tribune
The optometrist was in his office, on the phone.
On the other end was a woman whose husband was scheduled for glaucoma
surgery the next day, and she was frantic, looking for a last-minute
second opinion. The doctor, who had not treated the man before,
listened carefully and then asked a series of questions:
"Did he ever tell you what went on in his life when he was younger?"
"What was his relationship with his father?"
"Did he forgive his father?"
For more than 50 years, Dr. Harry Sirota has been practicing optometry
from the same unremarkable-looking storefront in Chicago's Uptown
neighborhood. The unadorned window holds only a few plants and a sign
that reads, "vision therapy." The plywood-paneled waiting room
contains a handful of orange plastic chairs, piles of magazines and
tottering stacks of mail.
It is an unlikely destination, yet patients from around the country
travel here for Sirota's own particular brand of optometry.
Sirota does not see himself as a technician who, after conducting a
series of tests, provides patients with corrective eyeglasses.
Instead, he says, "I work with individuals with emotional problems
that cause eye problems."
"Emotions have the biggest effect on the eyes," he stresses. "When I
look at someone's retina, what I see is how they chose to survive."
Harry Sirota is an unlikely proponent of the unorthodox method he has
developed. Born and raised in New York City, he came to Chicago to
study at the Chicago College of Optometry (later the Illinois College
of Optometry) for a career his father favored. There he learned the
standard method of optometry, which meant fitting patients with lenses
that provided 20/20 sight.
It was while working at the school clinic that he says he started to
notice the complaints of those being fitted for glasses. Many patients
said they just did not feel comfortable with their new glasses. The
instructors' response was invariably the same: "Tell them they'll get
used to them!"
After serving in the Army, Sirota settled here and soon rented the
office on North Sheridan Road. He decided to try to discover why so
many of his patients said they were unhappy with their glasses. If he
couldn't, he resolved, he'd change professions. That was in 1954.
The eye is bound by six muscles. The muscles affect the shape of the
eye, and the eye's shape affects the way we see.
It is Sirota's opinion that muscles are most often constricted because
of old, unresolved traumas as well as the tensions of everyday life.
In his view -- and that of massage therapists everywhere -- "muscles
have memory," and the developing eye is especially vulnerable to the
stresses of trauma. Constricted muscles alter the shape of the eye,
not only affecting our ability to "see" clearly, but also, he says,
altering the way we perceive others, perceive ourselves in relation to
others, and move through space.
However idiosyncratic Sirota's views may appear, they fall broadly
within the field known as vision therapy, which is widely practiced in
the U.S. Just as there is a spectrum of treatment within medical
science, from more traditional to more alternative perspectives, there
is a similar range within optometry, and among vision therapists as
well. Mainstream vision therapists largely work with children to help
them with focusing or perception problems. Other vision therapists
have a more "holistic" approach, working from the premise that
behavioral changes affect eyesight. Harry Sirota would be off to one
end of this group.
As Sirota and other behavioral optometrists see it, traditional
optometry treats the symptoms of eye problems -- poor eyesight --
instead of examining the root of the problem: namely, why are the
muscles around the eye constricted? Further, by using lenses that
provide 20/20 sight (technically called "acuity"), they believe,
patients' problems then become "locked in."
While some see Sirota as an unheralded maverick on the cutting edge of
optometric treatment, others dismiss him as an aging crank.
"Harry is on the fringe," says Bob Williams, the executive director of
the Optometric Extension Program, the oldest and largest organization
of vision therapists. "His approach and philosophy are extremely
unique," but "he seems to get results."
Sirota pins much of patients' vision problems on early childhood
stresses.
Lack of proper nutrition and exercise, poor posture, improper
breathing, lack of sleep, and the stressful nature of our lives also
contribute to symptoms that may manifest as vision problems, but are
in reality expressions of something much deeper. In this view,
providing patients eyeglasses that offer 20/20 acuity is not a
solution and instead becomes part of the problem.
"We want to get the tension off the muscles" of the patients' eyes, he
says. "It's a matter of clearing up the stuff that's troubled them all
these years."
The larger purpose is to allow the brain and eye to function smoothly
together, and the prescribed lenses are meant to facilitate that freer-
flowing movement. Further, that greater ease of movement, he believes,
allows for change in other areas of a patient's life that feel stuck
or blocked.
"Perfect eyesight is not the same as perfect vision!" he'll remind
you.
Sirota sees only one patient a day now. Currently, most of his
patients travel here from out of state. It's not cheap: an exam, which
lasts about three hours, costs $175 an hour and does not include the
cost of the new glasses.
Some of the exam feels like a standard eye exam, such as looking at
eye charts and being examined with the retinoscope (the instrument
used to see the retina with a beam of light). However, Sirota examines
the eye from different angles with the retinoscope "to see what is
going on in the eye, to see what the patient has gone through and the
possibility of change." In a standard exam, optometrists examine the
retina directly in front of the patient only.
Sirota says that if the eyes do not receive the correct amount of
light the brain then receives faulty information, which then sends the
wrong signals to the body. The results, he says, are patients who do
not feel fully integrated in their bodies; for example, they may feel
off balance, or report feeling "fragmented" or uncomfortable looking
at others at a close distance, or have trouble following a moving
target.
Is there research to back up his ideas on the effects of light? "I
don't think so," he says. His theories are based on his own
observations built over the length of his career, he admits.
This is the kind of stuff that makes standard optometrists crazy. "We
value evidence-based optometry" and "theories that are based on
research," says Dr. Arol Augsburger, president of the Illinois College
of Optometry.
"He's either a total crackpot or a total innovator who is so far ahead
that no one knows what he is saying," says Williams.
The exam takes an unexpected turn when it comes time to choose the
correct lens strength. After using the retinoscope, Sirota asks the
patient to try on a variety of lenses, asking which "feels" best. With
their eyes closed.
"It's easier for the patient to know how the lenses feel with their
eyes closed," he says. "With the eyes open, the patients use their
intellect." With the eyes closed, light enters the eye though the
eyelids, he says, and patients can sense what is most comfortable.
"I think that there would be no value to testing lenses with the eyes
closed," Augsburger says. "This would provide no additional
information which the optometrist could use to write a final
prescription."
The prescription Dr. Sirota provides is almost always much weaker than
any previously prescribed standard lenses. This proves disconcerting,
even infuriating, to his patients when they first try on their new
glasses. "They all hate it at first," he says.
`I was reborn," says Leo Weese, a general contractor from Denver, of
the first day he wore a pair of Sirota-prescribed lenses. Weese, who
had worn glasses since age 2, describes experiencing a vivid new
clarity and depth perception and becoming instantly aware of the
"beauty and life in everything." Now 58, "I'm integrated seamlessly
into what's going on around me. I'm not putting out fires; I'm ahead
of the game." And, he adds, "my golf game got incredible."
Sirota sums up his work matter-of-factly, with more than a trace of
the native New Yorker: "Listen, if you change your eyes, you change
your life." |
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| Mike Tyner |
| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:44 am |
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Guest
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<midwest_46@yahoo.com> wrote
Quote: Well, there is a doctor who practices in Chicago who *does* under-
prescribe. This doctor is Harry Sirota.
Thank you very much.. I particularly liked the part about refracting with
the eyes closed.
P.T. Barnum was right.
-MT |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:44 am |
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A few days ago, I went to a movie theater. First, I tried to wear my
-5 glasses. However, I felt some kind of headache. So, I then put on
the -5.25 glasses. At first, the discomfort was alleviated. However, I
soon felt a headache with the -5.25 glasses as well. So, I put on the
-4.25, -4 glasses.
I don't know how many times I switched between my three pairs of
glasses at the theater. However, for the last half hour of the movie,
I was able to wear the -5 glasses without discomfort.
Right after the movie, I went to a Lenscrafters store. This was not
the Lenscrafters where I had purchased the -5 and the -5.25 glasses.
The people at the store told me the following: For any given lens, the
prescription of that lens occurs only at the ocular center of the
lens.
For example, if I have a -5 lens, only the ocular center of the lens
is at -5. As you travel away from the lens's ocular center, the
prescription becomes different from -5. At the edges of the lens, you
may get some distortion. So, the objective is to make sure that the
pupil's center is at the ocular center of the lens.
So, the people at the store took the -5 glasses and had some machine
mark spots on the lenses to indicate the ocular centers of the lenses.
I then put on the glasses so that we could see where my pupils were
relative to the ocular centers. My left pupil seemed to be at the
ocular center of the left lens. However, my right pupil seemed to be 1
millimeter to the right of the ocular center of the right lens. The
people at the store told me that the 1 mm distance between my pupil
and the ocular center should not be enough to cause headaches.
We tried the same process with the -5.25 glasses. My left pupil was
somewhat above the left lens's ocular center, and my right pupil was 1
mm to the right of the right lens's ocular center and a little above
the center. I was told that the glasses could always be adjusted to
make sure that my pupils were not above the ocular centers, and I was
told again that my pupil's being 1 mm to the right of the center was
not enough to cause a headache.
The people at the store advised me to keep trying to wear the -5
glasses. These people said that, if I still felt discomfort, I should
go back to my eye doctor for a re-examination. These people said that,
if a re-examination is done within 3 months of the original eye exam,
the doctor will probably not charge anything for the re-exam.
So, is a 1 mm difference between my pupil and the ocular center a
significant difference? Also, should I go in for a re-examination?
I should also point out that the frames of the -5 glasses are smaller
than the frames of the -5.25 glasses. In the -5 glasses, each lens is
50 mm long, and the bridge is 19 mm long (total length = 119 mm). In
the -5.25 glasses, each lens is 53 mm long, and the bridge is 18 mm
long (total length = 124 mm). The people at the store said that, the
fact that the -5 glasses have shorter lenses and have a shorter total
length, should not be the cause of any headaches. The store people
said that the shorter lenses should cause less distortion. However, I
believe that the shorter lenses and the shorter total length may be
partially responsible for the headaches. |
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