The word astigmatism by itself makes you feel as if you have some sort of hopeless disease in your eye. Helpful facts to know is that astigmatism is often related to simple eye strain and lower degrees of astigmatism come and go throughout the day! In fact, studies have proven that 1.5 to 3 diopters of astigmatism can be produced by inducing eye strain.
Another good news is that astigmatism is usually the first one to disappear when you practice simple Bates Method of Natural Vision Improvement. Astigmatism can also originate not only from the physical source but also from the mental and emotional sources. At HappyEyesight, we cover all these aspects, if necessary.
What Is Astigmatism?
Astigmatism is when the focus of an eye is clear at certain angles but focus at other angles are not as clear. The line in focus looks solid whereas the blurry lines seem to have ghost lines, doubled, or tripled. This happens when the light rays converge unequally on the retina which is on the back of the eye. The brain then tries to make sense out of unfocused image and makes an attempt to sharpen it by configuring a second or third set of fake lines parallel to the real one.
In other words, the brain analyzes the blur and reconfigures the information to make sense of the image.
Possible Causes
- Eye strain (glasses, contacts, prolonged close-up work) can produce astigmatism.
- You have imbalanced posture by habitually tilting your head to one side. This bad posture can cause extraocular muscles pulling in an imbalanced way, which may deform and warp the cornea, resulting in astigmatism.
- Astigmatism can be caused by wearing bifocal, trifocal, and progressive lenses. When you wear these lenses, you have to frequently tilt your head back to read or look at the computer screen with the lower reading part. This posture can cause uneven muscle tension pattern, producing astigmatism.
- Neck injury or whiplash in automobile accidents can develop spontaneous astigmatism.
- Constant downward gaze by looking down to read a book, your laptop or mobile device, or other visual tasks involving downward can produce eyelid pressure, causing corneal distortion related astigmatism.
- Physically, there is a warp across the cornea (less often across the lens).
- According to Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, renowned pediatrician, astigmatism in babies and children can come from the birth trauma including forcep deliveries, glaring hospital lights, or antibiotic eye drops or ointments for newborns.
- Severe mental shock can introduce long record of astigmatism.
- Internal conflict caused by your thoughts and belief that you are not suitable or not good enough can increase astigmatism.
- Seeing the world as painful, exhausting, or hurtful (what do you want from me?) can develop astigmatism.
Reduce Your Astigmatism Naturally
Astigmatism is usually the first one to disappear when you practice simple Bates Method of Natural Vision Improvement. Natural vision students who lower the power of their corrective lenses are also able to take the astigmatism off their prescription and experience much more relaxed seeing.
My students have removed their astigmatism completely if it was 2.0 diopter or below; if above -2D, cut it by half. They report less eye strain not having astigmatism correction on their lenses. This suggestion was made by previous vision teachers, especially Dr. Janet Goodrich who had strong astigmatism and bad eyesight, which was all healed with the Bates Method. Natural vision improvement is the way to go, wouldn’t you say?
Testimonial:
“After I spoke with you, I stopped wearing glasses, except for driving. Just not wearing glasses for 3 weeks, I felt my vision was improving enough to lower my prescription. Practicing the techniques you showed me further improved my vision that my glasses felt way too strong when I put them on. I just ordered (very cheap online thru zennioptical.com) 2 pairs of glasses – 6D and -5D with the same strength for both eyes with no astigmatism, as you said I’ll go thru these pairs very quickly. This is totally awesome as mine was -7.5 Left and -7.0 Right with -1.75 astigmatism before I spoke with you. I’m so encouraged and determined to discard these glasses that I have worn since I was a child. Thanks, Mimi.”
–Richard E., St Charles, IL
If you’d like to learn more about reducing your astigmatism naturally, contact us at HappyEyesight.
with love and seeing,
Mimi Shekoski, PhD, Natural Vision teacher | Holistic Natural Health Doctor
References:
“The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses” by W.H.Bates, M.D.
“Natural Vision Improvement” by Dr. Janet Goodrich
“Improve Your Vision” by Dr. Steven M. Beresford, et. al.
Note: Nothing in this blog post is to be construed as medical advice, nor is it intended to replace the recommendations of a medical professional. For specific questions, please see your eye care practitioner.