View source for Bates method

{{short description|Ineffective alternative eyesight improvement therapy}}
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox alternative medicine
| image      = Bates and Assistant (higher res).jpg
| image_size =
| caption    = William Bates and his assistant
| claims     = The need for [[eyeglasses]] can be reversed by [[Relaxation technique|relaxation]].
| topics     = [[Ophthalmology]], [[optometry]]
| orig_year  = 1891
| orig_prop  = [[William Bates (physician)|William Horatio Bates]]<br />[[Bernarr Macfadden]]
}}
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}}

The '''Bates method''' is an ineffective and potentially dangerous [[alternative medicine|alternative therapy]] aimed at improving [[visual acuity|eyesight]]. Eye-care physician [[William Bates (physician)|William Horatio Bates]] (1860–1931) held the erroneous belief that the [[extraocular muscles]] caused changes in focus and that "mental strain" caused abnormal action of these muscles; hence he believed that relieving such "strain" would cure  defective vision.<ref name=qw>{{cite news |publisher=[[Quackwatch]] |vauthors=Worrall RS, Neyvas J, Barrett S |date=6 July 2018 |title=Eye-Related Quackery |url=https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/eyequack.html |access-date=30 June 2019 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522175058/https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/eyequack.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pollack">{{cite book |last = Pollack |first = Philip |title = The Truth about Eye Exercises |location = Philadelphia |publisher = [[Chilton Company]] |year = 1956 |chapter = Chapter 3: Fallacies of the Bates System |chapter-url = http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673;view=1up;seq=41 }}</ref> In 1952, optometry professor [[Elwin Marg]] wrote of Bates, "Most of his claims and almost all of his theories have been considered false by practically all visual scientists."<ref name="Chou">{{cite journal |journal = Review of Optometry |url = https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/exposing-the-secrets-of-fringe-eye-care |title = Exposing the Secrets of Fringe Eye Care |first = Brian |last = Chou |volume = 141 |number = 9 |date = 15 September 2004 |access-date = 3 September 2019 |archive-date = 30 June 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190630171622/https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/exposing-the-secrets-of-fringe-eye-care |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=Marg>{{cite journal |url=http://brain.berkeley.edu/pub/1952%20April%20Flashes%20of%20Clear%20Vision.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529152509/http://brain.berkeley.edu/pub/1952%20April%20Flashes%20of%20Clear%20Vision.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-05-29 |last = Marg |first = Elwin |title = Flashes of clear vision and negative accommodation with reference to the Bates Method of visual training |journal = American Journal of Optometry & Archives of American Academy of Optometry |date = April 1952 |volume = 29 |issue = 4 |pages = 167–84 |doi = 10.1097/00006324-195204000-00001 |pmid = 14923801 }}</ref>

No type of training has been shown to change the [[Optical power|refractive power]] of the eye.<ref name="AAO"/> Moreover, certain aspects of the Bates method can put its followers at risk: They may damage their eyes through overexposure to sunlight, not wear their corrective lenses when they need them (e.g., while driving), or neglect conventional eye care, possibly allowing serious conditions to develop.<ref name="Chou" /><ref name="Grierson">{{cite book |title = The Eye Book: Eyes and Eye Problems Explained |first = Ian |last = Grierson |publisher = [[Liverpool University Press]] |year = 2000 |chapter = Exercises for Eyes as an Alternative to Glasses |pages = 58–60 |isbn = 9780853237556 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YY0inTk-CEcC&pg=PA58 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610120431/https://books.google.com/books?id=YY0inTk-CEcC&pg=PA58 |url-status = live }}</ref>

== Early history ==

In 1891, Bates published an article in the ''New York Medical Journal'' claiming to have successfully reversed seven cases of [[Near-sightedness|nearsightedness]], or myopia.<ref>{{cite journal | journal = [[American Journal of Ophthalmology]] | year = 1891 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=19oAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA181 | pages = 181–183 | title = Improvement in the Vision of Myopia by Treatment Without Glasses | last = Bates | first = W.H. | access-date = 21 May 2020 | archive-date = 14 December 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141214074340/http://books.google.com/books?id=19oAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA181 | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1911, Bates published an article claiming to have taught myopic schoolchildren how to correctly focus in the distance. He recommended that schools post a [[Snellen chart]] in each classroom and encourage students to read it daily.<ref>{{cite journal | journal = New York Medical Journal | date = 29 July 1911 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZFMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA237 | pages = 237–238 | title = The Prevention of Myopia in School Children | last = Bates | first = W.H. | access-date = 2 June 2020 | archive-date = 8 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210308034402/https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_York_Medical_Journal/-ZFMAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA237 | url-status = live }}</ref>

In 1917, Bates teamed up with "'physical culture' faddist" [[Bernarr Macfadden]]<ref name="AMA 1923" /> on a "New Course of Eye Training" which was heavily advertised in the ''Physical Culture'' magazine. Bates' name was later dropped from the advertising, but Macfadden continued to market this correspondence course, which was renamed "Strengthening the Eyes". This course was criticized by the [[American Medical Association]]'s Bureau of Investigation as dangerous [[quackery]]. In July 1919, Bates began publishing ''[[s:Better Eyesight Magazine|Better Eyesight]]'', "A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Prevention and Cure of Imperfect Sight Without Glasses". This was also criticized "as it were the product of a psychopathic ward".<ref name="AMA 1923">{{cite journal|year=1923|title=The Optical Theories of W. H. Bates|journal=[[JAMA (journal)|Journal of the American Medical Association]]|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t5z685546&view=1up&seq=153|volume=81|issue=15|pages=1301–1302|access-date=6 May 2021|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308010659/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft5z685546&view=1up&seq=153|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1920, Bates self-published a book, ''[[s:Perfect Sight Without Glasses|The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses]]'' (or ''Perfect Sight Without Glasses''). In 1926, articles by his assistant Emily Lierman were re-printed in a book titled ''Stories From the Clinic''; some of these stories claimed that such methods had cured glaucoma and cataracts as well as refractive errors.<ref name="Gardner">{{cite book |last = Gardner |first = Martin |title = Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science |year = 1957 |chapter = Chapter 19: Throw Away Your Glasses! |pages = [https://archive.org/details/fadsfallaciesint00gard/page/230 230–41] |publisher = [[Courier Dover Publications]] |isbn = 0486203948 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TwP3SGAUsnkC&pg=PA230 |title-link = Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science }}</ref> In 1929, the [[Federal Trade Commission]] lodged a complaint against Bates for advertising "falsely or misleadingly".<ref name=qw/>

== Underlying concepts ==

=== Accommodation ===
{{Main|Accommodation (vertebrate eye)}}
[[Accommodation (vertebrate eye)|Accommodation]] is the process by which the vertebrate eye adjusts [[optical power]] to maintain [[focus (optics)|focus]] on the [[retina]] while the eye's gaze shifts to a point either closer or farther away. The long-standing medical consensus is that this is accomplished by action of the [[ciliary muscle]], a muscle ''within'' the eye, which adjusts the curvature of the eye's [[lens (anatomy)|crystalline lens]].<ref name=WebMD>{{cite web |url = http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/features/natural-vision-correction-does-it-work |title = Natural Vision Correction: Does It Work? |first = John |last = Donovan |publisher = [[WebMD]] |date = 17 November 2015 |access-date = 6 April 2020 |archive-date = 22 June 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080622193404/http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/features/natural-vision-correction-does-it-work |url-status = live }}</ref> This explanation is based in the observed effect of [[atropine]] temporarily preventing accommodation when applied to the ciliary muscle, as well as images reflected on the crystalline lens becoming smaller as the eye shifts focus to a closer point, indicating a change in the lens' shape. Bates rejected this explanation, and in his 1920 book presented photographs that he said showed that the image remained the same size even as the eye shifted focus, concluding from this that the lens was not a factor in accommodation. However, optometrist Philip Pollack in a 1956 work characterized these photographs as "so blurred that it is impossible to tell whether one image is larger than the other", in contrast to [[Timeline of photography technology|later photographs]] that clearly showed a change in the size of the reflected images, just as had been observed since the late 19th century.<ref name="pollack" />

Bates adhered to a different explanation of accommodation that had already been generally disregarded by the medical community of his time. Bates' model had the [[extraocular muscles|muscles ''surrounding'' the eyeball]] controlling its focus.<ref name="pollack" /> In addition to their known function of turning the eye, Bates maintained, they also affect its shape,<ref name="Time">{{cite news |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,884800,00.html |title = Exercise v. Eyeglasses |magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date = 15 March 1943 |access-date = 3 May 2008 |archive-date = 7 September 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080907023136/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,884800,00.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> elongating the eyeball to focus at the near-point or shortening it to focus at a distance.<ref name="BatesChap4">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 4: The Truth About Accommodation as Demonstrated by Experiments on the Eye Muscles of Fish, Cats, Dogs, Rabbits and other Animals |pages = 38–53 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA38 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610114925/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA38 |url-status = live }}</ref> Science author [[John Grant (author)|John Grant]] writes that many animals, such as fishes, accommodate by elongation of the eyeball, "it's just that humans aren't one of those animals."<ref name=Grant>{{cite book |first = John |last = Grant |title = Discarded Science |year = 2006 |publisher = FFF |location = Surrey, UK |isbn = 1904332498 }}</ref>

Laboratory tests have shown that the human eyeball is far too rigid to spontaneously change shape to a degree that would be necessary to accomplish what Bates described.<ref name="pollack" /> Exceedingly small changes in axial length of the eyeball (18.6–19.2 [[micrometre|μm]]) are caused by the action of the ciliary muscle during accommodation. However, these changes are far too small to account for the necessary changes in focus, producing changes of only −0.036 [[dioptre]]s.<ref name=Drexler>{{cite journal |journal = Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science |date = 1 October 1998 |volume = 39 |issue = 11 |pages = 2140–47 |title = Eye elongation during accommodation in humans: differences between emmetropes and myopes |last1 = Drexler |first1 = W |last2 = Findl |first2 = O |last3 = Schmetterer |first3 = L |last4 = Hitzenberger |first4 = CK |last5 = Fercher |first5 = AF |url = http://www.iovs.org/cgi/reprint/39/11/2140 |pmid = 9761293 |access-date = 20 January 2009 |archive-date = 3 February 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090203082909/http://www.iovs.org/cgi/reprint/39/11/2140 |url-status = live }}</ref>

=== Causes of sight problems ===

Medical professionals characterize [[refractive errors]] as consequences of the eye's shape and other basic anatomy, which no evidence shows any exercise can alter.<ref name=AllAboutVision>{{cite web |url = https://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm |title = Do eye exercises improve vision? |date = March 2021 |publisher = AllAboutVision.com |first = Gary |last = Heiting |access-date = 20 March 2021 |archive-date = 11 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210211094028/https://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> Bates, however, believed that these conditions are caused by tension of the muscles surrounding the eyeball, which he believed prevents the eyeball from sufficiently changing shape (per his explanation of accommodation) when gaze is shifted nearer or farther. Bates characterized this supposed muscular tension as the consequence of a "mental strain" to see, the relief of which he claimed would instantly improve sight.<ref name="Gardner" /><ref name="BatesChap9">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 9: The Cause and Cure of Errors of Refraction |pages = 89–105 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA89 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610115531/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA89 |url-status = live }}</ref> He also linked disturbances in the [[circulatory system|circulation]] of blood, which he said is "very largely influenced by thought", not only to refractive errors, but also to [[diplopia|double vision]], [[strabismus|crossed-eye]], [[amblyopia|lazy eye]], and to more serious eye conditions such as [[cataract]]s and [[glaucoma]].<ref name="pollack" /><ref name="BatesChap10">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 10: Strain |pages = 106–13 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA106 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610114931/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA106 |url-status = live }}</ref> His therapies were based on these assumptions.<ref name="Gardner" />

Bates felt that [[corrective lenses]], which he characterized as "eye crutches", are an impediment to curing poor vision. In his view, "strain" would increase as the eyes adjust to the correction in front of them. He thus recommended that [[glasses]] be discarded by anyone applying his method.<ref name="Gardner" />

== Treatments ==

In his writings, Bates discussed several techniques that he claimed helped patients to improve their sight. These techniques were all supposed to relieve "strain" to which Bates attributed sight problems.<ref name="Gardner" />

=== Palming ===
[[File:Batespalming.png|thumb|Photo of someone "palming", from ''Perfect Sight Without Glasses''.]]

Bates suggested closing the eyes for minutes at a time to help bring about relaxation.<ref name="BatesChap12" /> He asserted that the relaxation could be deepened in most cases by "palming", or covering the closed eyes with the palms of the hands, without putting pressure on the eyeballs.<ref name="Gardner" /> If the covered eyes did not strain, he said, they would see "a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see anything blacker", since light was excluded by the palms. However, he reported that some of his patients experienced "illusions of lights and colors" sometimes amounting to "kaleidoscopic appearances" as they "palmed", occurrences he attributed to his ubiquitous "strain" and that he claimed disappeared when one truly relaxed.<ref name="BatesChap12">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 12: Palming |pages = 123–35 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA123 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610115628/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA123 |url-status = live }}</ref> This phenomenon, however, was almost certainly caused by [[Eigengrau]] or "dark light". In fact, even in conditions of perfect darkness, as inside a cave, neurons at every level of the [[visual system]] produce random background activity that is interpreted by the brain as patterns of light and color.<ref name="pollack" />

If while palming one ends up applying pressure to the eyes, this may increase the risk of [[glaucoma]].<ref name=AllAboutVision/>{{Unreliable medical source|date=March 2024}}

=== Visualization ===

Bates placed importance on [[mental image]]s, as he felt relaxation was the key to clarity of imagination as well as of actual sight.<ref name="Biomed">{{cite book |title = Ethics in Biomedical Research: International Perspectives |first = Frank J. |last = Leavitt |publisher = [[Rodopi Publishers|Rodopi]] |year = 2007 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-Tr7WZd_GwQC&pg=PA203 |chapter = How to Save the World: Alternatives to Biomedical Research |pages = 203–07 |isbn = 978-9042021792 }}</ref> He claimed that one's poise could be gauged by the visual memory of black; that the darker it appeared in the mind, and the smaller the area of black that could be imagined, the more relaxed one was at the moment.<ref name="BatesChap13">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 13: Memory as an Aid to Vision |pages = 136–47 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA136 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610120514/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA136 |url-status = live }}</ref> He recommended that patients think of the top letter from an [[Snellen chart|eye chart]] and then visualize progressively smaller black letters, and eventually a period or comma.<ref name="Gardner" /> He cautioned against "concentrating" on such images, as he regarded an attempt to "think of one thing only" as a strain.<ref name="BatesChap12" />

While Bates preferred to have patients imagine something black, he also reported that some found objects of other colors easiest to visualize, thus were benefited most by remembering those, because, he asserted, "the memory can never be perfect unless it is easy."<ref name="Gardner" /><ref name="BatesChap13" /> Skeptics reason that the only benefit to eyesight gained from such techniques is ''itself'' imagined, and point out that familiar objects, including letters on an eye chart, can be recognized even when they appear less than clear.<ref name="pollack" />

=== Movement ===

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Bates thought that the manner of eye movement affected the sight. He suggested "shifting", or moving the eyes back and forth to get an illusion of objects "swinging" in the opposite direction. He believed that the smaller the area over which the "swing" was experienced, the greater was the benefit to sight. He combined this with visualization, advocating that patients close their eyes and imagine movement of objects. By alternating actual and mental shifting over an image, Bates wrote, many patients were quickly able to shorten the "shift" to a point where they could "conceive and swing a letter the size of a period in a newspaper".<ref name="BatesChap15">{{cite book |last = Bates |first = William H. |title = Perfect Sight Without Glasses |year = 1920 |chapter = Chapter 15: Shifting and Swinging |pages = 159–71 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA159 |isbn = 8890075635 |access-date = 27 January 2016 |archive-date = 10 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160610115624/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA159 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Gardner" />

Perhaps finding Bates' concepts of "shifting" and "swinging" too complicated, [[Bernarr Macfadden]] suggested simply moving the eyes up and down, from side to side, and shifting one's gaze between a near-point and a far-point.<ref name="Gardner" />
{{clear}}

=== Sunning ===

[[File:BurningGlass.png|thumb|A [[burning glass]] being used to focus sunlight on someone's eye, from ''Perfect Sight Without Glasses''.]]

Bates advocated [[sungazing]], characterizing ill effects as "always temporary". This is at odds with the well-known risk of [[Photic retinopathy|eye damage]] that can result from [[Sun#Observation by eyes|direct sunlight observation]].<ref name="pollack" /><ref name="Chou" /><ref name="Grierson"/>

In his magazine, Bates later suggested exposing only the white part of the eyeball to direct sunlight, and only for seconds at a time, after allowing the sun to shine on closed eyelids for a longer period.<ref>{{cite journal |journal = Better Eyesight |first = William H. |last = Bates |title = The Use of the Sun Glass |date = July 1929 |location = New York |publisher = Central Fixation Publishing Co |url = http://www.central-fixation.com/better-eyesight-magazine/better-eyesight-1929-07.php#sun-glass |access-date = 16 December 2008 |archive-date = 30 October 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081030075906/http://www.central-fixation.com/better-eyesight-magazine/better-eyesight-1929-07.php#sun-glass |url-status = live }}</ref> Posthumous publications of Bates' book omitted mention of the supposed benefits from direct sunlight shining on open eyes.<ref name="Marg" /> Even on closed eyes, direct sunlight exposure poses a risk of damage to the eyelids, including [[skin cancer]].<ref name=AllAboutVision/>
{{clear}}

== After Bates ==

After Bates died in 1931, his methods of treatment were continued by his widow Emily and other associates. In 1932, [[Gayelord Hauser]] published a book endorsing the Bates method but also adding new exercises and recommendations for his own dietary products.<ref name="Gardner" /> Most subsequent proponents did not stand by Bates' explanation of how the eye focused mechanically,<ref name="Gardner" /> but nonetheless maintained that relieving habitual "strain" was the key to improving sight.<ref name="Marg" />

=== Margaret Darst Corbett ===

[[File:Margaret Darst Corbett 1943.png|thumb|120px|[[Margaret Darst Corbett]]]]

[[Margaret Darst Corbett]] first met Bates when she consulted him about her husband's eyesight. She became his pupil, and eventually taught his method at her School of Eye Education in Los Angeles.<ref name=fullpollack7>{{cite book |last = Pollack |first = Philip |title = The Truth about Eye Exercises |year = 1956 |publisher = [[Chilton Company]] |location = Philadelphia |page = 7 |url = http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673 |access-date = 2 July 2016 |archive-date = 20 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170720205952/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673 |url-status = live }}</ref> She was of the stated belief that "the optic nerve is really part of the brain, and vision is nine-tenths mental and one-tenth only physical."<ref name="Marg" /><ref name="corbett">{{cite book |last = Corbett |first = Margaret Darst |title = How to Improve your Sight |year = 1954 |publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] |location = London |pages = 26–27 }}</ref>

In late 1940, Corbett and her assistant were charged with violations of the Medical Practice Act of California for treating eyes without a license. At the trial, many of her students testified on her behalf, describing in detail how she had enabled them to discard their glasses. One witness testified that he had been almost blind from cataracts, but that after working with Corbett, his vision had improved to such an extent that for the first time he could read for eight hours at a stretch without glasses. Corbett explained in court that she was practicing neither [[optometry]] nor [[ophthalmology]] and represented herself not as a doctor, but only as an "instructor of eye training". Describing her method, she said, "We turn vision on by teaching the eyes to shift. We want the sense of motion to relieve staring, to end the fixed look. We use light to relax the eyes and to accustom them to the sun."<ref name=fullpollack7 />

The trial attracted widespread interest, as did the "not guilty" verdict. The case spurred a bill in the Californian State Legislature that would have then made such vision "education" illegal without an optometric or medical license. After a lively campaign in the media, the bill was rejected.<ref name=fullpollack8>{{cite book |last = Pollack |first = Philip |title = The Truth about Eye Exercises |year = 1956 |publisher = [[Chilton Company]] |location = Philadelphia |page = 8 |url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673 |access-date = 23 May 2020 |archive-date = 12 November 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201112003110/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673 |url-status = live }}</ref>

=== Aldous Huxley ===

[[File:Aldous Huxley.JPG|thumb|120px|[[Aldous Huxley]]]]

Perhaps the most famous proponent of the Bates method was the British writer [[Aldous Huxley]]. At the age of 16, Huxley had an attack of [[keratitis]], which, after an 18-month period of near-blindness, left him with one eye just capable of light perception and the other with an unaided [[Snellen fraction]] of 10/200. This was mainly due to opacities in both [[cornea]]s, complicated by [[hyperopia]] and [[astigmatism]]. He was able to read only if he wore thick glasses and dilated his better pupil with [[atropine]], to allow that eye to see around an opacity in the center of the cornea.<ref name="Ceylon">{{cite journal |title = 'Fifty per cent terrific! fifty per cent non-existent': Aldous Huxley and medicine |journal = The Ceylon Medical Journal |volume = 49 |issue = 4 |pages = 142–43 |date = December 2004 |doi = 10.4038/cmj.v49i4.1932 |pmid = 15693459 |last1 = Basnayake |first1 = V |doi-access = free }}</ref>

In 1939, at the age of 45 and with eyesight that continued to deteriorate, he happened to hear of the Bates method and sought the help of Margaret Corbett, who gave him regular lessons.<ref name="Ceylon" /> Three years later, he wrote ''[[The Art of Seeing]]'', in which he related: "Within a couple of months, I was reading without spectacles, and what was better still, without strain and fatigue.... At the present time, my vision, though very far from normal, is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles."<ref>{{cite book |title = Aldous Huxley, Man of Letters: Thinker, Critic and Artist: Proceedings of the Third International Aldous Huxley Symposium, Riga 2004 |first = Bernfried |last = Nugel |publisher = LIT Verlag |location = Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year = 2008 |page = 250 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jkC0gvN12DMC&pg=PA250 |isbn = 978-3825890346 }}</ref> Describing the process, Huxley wrote, "Vision is not won by making an effort to get it: it comes to those who have learned to put their minds and eyes into a state of alert passivity, of dynamic relaxation." He expressed indifference regarding the veracity of Bates' explanation of how the eye focuses, stating, "my concern is not with the anatomical mechanism of accommodation, but with the art of seeing."<ref name=Marg />

His case generated wide publicity, as well as scrutiny. Ophthalmologist Walter B. Lancaster, for example, suggested in 1944 that Huxley had "learned how to use what he has to better advantage" by training the "cerebral part of seeing", rather than actually improving the quality of the image on the [[retina]].<ref name=Marg />

In 1952, 10 years after writing ''The Art of Seeing'', Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses, and according to [[Bennett Cerf]], apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty. In Cerf's words:
<blockquote>Then suddenly he faltered—and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory, he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch or so away, he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonizing moment.<ref name="Gardner" /></blockquote>

In response to this, Huxley wrote, "I often do use magnifying glasses where conditions of light are bad, and have never claimed to be able to read except under very good conditions."<ref>{{cite book |title = Letters of Aldous Huxley |first = Grover Cleveland |last = Smith |publisher = [[Harper & Row]] |year = 1970 |page = 815 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zcIZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22I+often+do+use+magnifying+glasses+where+conditions+of+light+are+bad%2C+and+have+never+claimed+to+be+able+to+read+except+under+very+good+conditions.%22 |isbn = 070111312X |access-date = 8 September 2020 |archive-date = 6 May 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210506052701/https://books.google.com/books?id=zcIZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22I+often+do+use+magnifying+glasses+where+conditions+of+light+are+bad%2C+and+have+never+claimed+to+be+able+to+read+except+under+very+good+conditions.%22 |url-status = live }}</ref> This underscored that he had not regained anything close to normal vision, and in fact never claimed that he had.<ref>{{cite book |title = Aldous Huxley: A Biography |first = Nicholas |last = Murray |publisher = Macmillan |year = 2003 |chapter = Sorrow |pages = [https://archive.org/details/aldoushuxleybiog00murr/page/421 421–22] |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ktDo9SCBfxoC&pg=RA1-PA421 |isbn = 0312302371 |url = https://archive.org/details/aldoushuxleybiog00murr/page/421 }}</ref>

=== Modern variants ===

"Natural vision correction" or "natural vision improvement" continues to be marketed by practitioners offering individual instruction, many of whom have no medical or optometric credentials. Most base their approach in the Bates method, though some also integrate [[vision therapy]] techniques.<ref name="WebMD" /> Also, many [[self-help]] books and programs, which have not been subjected to [[randomized controlled trials]], are aimed at improving eyesight naturally.<ref name="Harvard">{{cite journal |journal = Harvard Women's Health Watch |title = I can see clearly now … sort of |date = 1 July 2003 |url = http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2994518/I-can-see-clearly-now.html }}{{dead link|date=July 2016}}</ref> Purveyors of such approaches argue that they lack the funds to formally test them.<ref name="educators">{{cite news |first = Robyn E. |last = Bradley |title = Advocates see only benefits from eye exercises |work = The Boston Globe |date = 23 September 2003 |url = http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/09/23/advocates_see_only_benefits_from_eye_exercises/ |access-date = 24 March 2008 |archive-date = 3 February 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090203185913/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/09/23/advocates_see_only_benefits_from_eye_exercises/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

The heavily advertised "[[See Clearly Method]]" (of which sales were halted by a court order in November 2006, in response to what were found to be dishonest marketing practices)<ref name=Shin>{{cite news |first = Annys |last = Shin |url = http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2006/11/hold_onto_those_eyeglasses.html |title = Seeing the See Clearly Method for What It Is |date = 6 November 2006 |newspaper = The Washington Post |access-date = 14 March 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061110130445/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2006/11/hold_onto_those_eyeglasses.html |archive-date = 10 November 2006 }}</ref> included "palming" and "light therapy", both adapted from Bates.<ref name=AllAboutVision2009>{{cite web |url = https://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100306020747/https://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm |url-status = dead |archive-date = 2010-03-06 |title = The See Clearly Method & Other Programs: Do Eye Exercises Improve Vision? |date = May 2009 |publisher = AllAboutVision.com |first1 = Rob |last1 = Murphy |first2 = Marilyn |last2 = Haddrill |first3 = Gary |last3 = Heiting |access-date = 14 May 2009 }}</ref> The creators of the program, however, emphasized that they did not endorse Bates' approach overall.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Steven M. |last1=Beresford |first2=David W. |last2=Muris |first3=Mara |last3=Tableman |first4=Francis A. |last4=Young |url=http://www.strong-eyes.com/RESEARCH%20MASTER.pdf |title=Clinical Evaluation of the See Clearly Method |page=13 |access-date=14 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224053114/http://www.strong-eyes.com/RESEARCH%20MASTER.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>

In his 1992 book ''The Bates Method, A Complete Guide to Improving Eyesight—Naturally'', "Bates method teacher" Peter Mansfield was very critical of [[eye care professional]]s for prescribing corrective lenses. The book included accounts of 12 "real cases", but did not report any information about [[refractive error]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi = 10.1097/00006324-199711000-00020 |title = The Bates Method, A Complete Guide to Improving Eyesight—Naturally [Review] |year = 1997 |last1 = Grosvenor |first1 = Theodore |journal = Optometry and Vision Science |volume = 74 |issue = 11 |page = 880 }}</ref>

Czech native John Slavicek claims to have created an "eye cure" that improves eyesight in three days, borrowing from ancient yogic eye exercises, visualizations from the [[Seth Material]], and the Bates method. Although he has testimonials from his neighbor and others, several of his students indicate that he has greatly exaggerated their cases. Slavicek's self-published manual, ''Yoga for the Eyes'', was rejected by an ophthalmologist who evaluated it, and evinced no interest from the [[World Health Organization]] and St. Erik's Eye Foundation in Sweden, as he had not conducted [[double-blind]] tests.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Prague Post |location=Czech Republic |title=Blind faith |first=Kristin |last=Barendsen |date=20 November 2003 |url=http://www.praguepost.com/archivescontent/38282-blind-faith.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603051744/http://www.praguepost.com/archivescontent/38282-blind-faith.html |archive-date=3 June 2013 |df=dmy }}</ref>

== Possible reasons for claimed improvements ==

Some eye conditions may naturally change for the better with age or in cycles (ophthalmologist [[Stewart Duke-Elder]] suggested that this happened with Aldous Huxley's keratitis<ref name="DukeElder">{{cite journal |first = Stewart |last = Duke-Elder |journal = British Medical Journal |date = 22 May 1943 |title = Aldous Huxley on Vision |pages = 635–36 |pmc = 2282772 |volume = 1 |issue = 4298 |doi = 10.1136/bmj.1.4298.635-a }}</ref>). A [[cataract]] when first setting in sometimes results in much improved eyesight for a short time. One who has been practicing the Bates method will likely credit it for any improvement experienced regardless of the actual cause.<ref name="Gardner" />

When corrective lenses are removed, vision can adapt to lessen the initial perceived blur, sometimes by more than two lines on an eye chart.<ref name=Elliot>{{cite journal | title = The Bates method, elixirs, potions and other cures for myopia: how do they work? | first = David B. | last = Elliott | date = 13 February 2013 | journal = Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 75–77 | doi = 10.1111/opo.12034 | pmid = 23406487 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This phenomenon is known as blur adaptation.<ref name=Khan>{{cite journal | title = The time course of blur adaptation in emmetropes and myopes | first = Kiren A. | last = Khan | date = 12 May 2013 | journal = Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics | volume = 33 | issue = 3 | pages = 305–310 | doi = 10.1111/opo.12031 | pmid = 23662962 | s2cid = 206233931 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=Cuffin>{{cite journal | title = Blur adaptation: clinical and refractive considerations | first1 = Matthew P | last1 = Cufflin | first2 = Edward AH | last2 = Mallen | journal = Clinical and Experimental Optometry | year = 2020 | volume = 103 | issue = 1 | pages = 104–111 | doi = 10.1111/cxo.13033 | pmid = 31801179 | s2cid = 208641956 | url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cxo.13033 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Some studies have suggested that a learned ability to interpret blurred images may also account for perceived improvements in eyesight.<ref name="AAO">{{cite web |date = August 2013 |url = http://www.aao.org/complimentary-therapy-assessment/visual-training-refractive-errors-cta--october-200 |title = Complementary Therapy Assessments: Visual Training for Refractive Errors |last1 = Harris |first1 = Jennifer K. |last2 = Emptage |first2 = Nicholas P. |last3 = Lum |first3 = Flora C. |work = American Academy of Ophthalmology |access-date = 20 March 2014 |archive-date = 8 January 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160108053815/http://www.aao.org/complimentary-therapy-assessment/visual-training-refractive-errors-cta--october-200 |url-status = live }}</ref>

== General research ==
{{See also|Vision therapy}}

In 2004 the [[American Academy of Ophthalmology]] (AAO) published a review of various research regarding "visual training",<ref name="WebMD" /> which consisted of "eye exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, biofeedback, eye patches, or eye massages", "alone or in combinations". No evidence was found that such techniques could [[Objectivity (science)|objectively]] benefit eyesight, though some studies noted changes, both positive and negative, in the [[visual acuity]] of nearsighted subjects as measured by a [[Snellen chart]]. In some cases noted improvements were maintained at subsequent follow-ups. However, these results were not seen as actual reversals of nearsightedness, and were attributed instead to factors such as "improvements in interpreting blurred images, changes in mood or motivation, creation of an artificial contact lens by tear film changes, or a pinhole effect from [[miosis]] of the pupil."<ref name="AAO" />

In 2005 the Ophthalmology Department of New Zealand's [[Christchurch Hospital]] published a review of forty-three studies regarding the use of [[eye exercises]]. They found that "As yet there is no clear scientific evidence published in the mainstream literature supporting the use of eye exercises" to improve visual acuity, and concluded that "their use therefore remains controversial."<ref name="Rawstron">{{cite journal |last1 = Rawstron |first1 = JA |last2 = Burley |first2 = CD |last3 = Elder |first3 = MJ |journal = Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus |year = 2005 |volume = 42 |issue = 2 |pages = 82–88 |title = A systematic review of the applicability and efficacy of eye exercises |doi = 10.3928/01913913-20050301-02 |pmid = 15825744 }}</ref>

== General criticisms ==

=== Dead-end ===

A frequent criticism of the Bates method is that it has remained relatively obscure, which is seen as proof that it is not truly effective. Writer Alan M. MacRobert concluded in a 1979 article that the "most telling argument against the Bates system" and other [[Alternative medicine|alternative therapies]] was that they "bore no fruit". In regards to the Bates method, he reasoned that "If palming, shifting, and swinging could really cure poor eyesight, glasses would be as obsolete by now as horse-drawn carriages."<ref name=MacRobert>{{cite news |date = 28 March 1979 |newspaper = [[San Diego Reader]] |first = Alan M. |last = MacRobert |url = http://www.skeptically.org/thinkersonreligion/id1.html |title = Hocus Focus: modern spiritualism |access-date = 24 March 2008 |archive-date = 10 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071010025318/http://skeptically.org/thinkersonreligion/id1.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

Philosopher Frank J. Leavitt has argued that the method Bates described would be [[Testability|difficult to test]] scientifically due to his emphasis on relaxation and visualization. Leavitt asked, "How can we tell whether someone has relaxed or imagined something, or just thinks that he or she has imagined it?" Regarding the possibility of a [[Placebo-controlled study|placebo trial]], Leavitt commented, "I cannot conceive of how we could put someone in a situation where he thinks he has imagined something while we know that he has not."<ref name="Biomed" />

=== Corrective lenses and safety ===
Discarding one's corrective lenses, as Bates recommended, or wearing lenses weaker than one's prescribed correction, as some Bates method advocates suggest, poses a potential safety hazard in certain situations, especially when one is operating a motor vehicle.<ref name="Grierson" /> [[James Randi]] related that his father, shortly after discarding glasses for this reason, wrecked his car.<ref name='J.Randi Bates'>{{cite web |url=http://www.randi.org/jr/2006-11/111706rampa.html#i3 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20110224220929/http://randi.org/jr/2006-11/111706rampa.html#i3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 February 2011 |title=Swift: the weekly newsletter of the JREF |access-date=6 April 2009 |last=Randi |first=James |date=17 November 2006 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Bates method teachers often caution that when driving, one should wear the correction legally required.<ref name="Grierson" />

=== Avoidance of conventional treatment ===

A follower of the Bates method may neglect urgently needed medical treatment for a condition such as [[glaucoma]], which can lead to blindness.<ref name="Chou" /> Also, children with vision problems may require early attention by a professional in order to successfully prevent [[amblyopia|lazy eye]]. Such treatment may include exercises, but which are different from those associated with the Bates method, and parents who subscribe to Bates' ideas may delay seeking conventional care until it is too late.<ref name="Grierson" /> It may further be necessary for a child at risk of developing lazy eye to wear the proper correction.<ref name=Donahue>{{cite journal |title = Prescribing Spectacles in Children: A Pediatric Ophthalmologist's Approach |last = Donahue |first = Sean P. |journal = Optometry and Vision Science |date = February 2007 |volume = 84 |pages = 110–14 |doi = 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318031b09b |pmid = 17299340 |issue = 2 }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Medicine}}

* [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]
* [[Iridology]]
* [[Pinhole glasses]]
* [[Tibetan eye chart]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last = Grosvenor |first = TP |work = Primary Care Optometry |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uEmQKPAOwccC&pg=PA370 |year = 2007 |publisher = Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn = 978-0750675758 |page = 370 |title = Nonsurgical Methods of Myopia Control or Reduction |edition = 5th |quote = There has never been any clinical or scientific evidence that these procedures are of any help in controlling myopia. }}

== External links ==
* {{cite news |magazine = [[Life (magazine)|Life]] |title = The Unending Search for 'Normal' Vision |date = 27 May 1957 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Mj8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA126 }}
* {{cite journal |title = Seeing Space: Undergoing Brain Re-Programming to Reduce Myopia |journal = Journal of Behavioral Optometry |volume = 5 |year = 1994 |pages = 123–31 |url =https://oepf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Seeing-Space_1.pdf |first= Antonia | last = Orfield M.A. O.D. |issue = 5 }}
* {{cite news |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/east/series6/vision_correction.shtml |title = To See or Not to See–Natural Vision Correction |publisher = BBC |date = 27 September 2004 }}
* {{cite news |work = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |title = Seeing eye to eye |first= Kate | last = Robertson |url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/seeing-eye-to-eye/2007/10/11/1191696080943.html?page=fullpage |date = 14 October 2007 }}

{{Naturopathy}}
{{Pseudoscience}}
{{authority control}}
{{Good article}}

[[Category:Bates method| ]]
[[Category:Ophthalmology]]
[[Category:Optometry]]
[[Category:Manual therapy]]
[[Category:Naturopathy]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]