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Eye Fitness
Natural Techniques to Improve Your Child's Vision
By Anat Cohen
Samantha is a perfectionist. The 8-year-old from White Plains, N.Y., loves to read books and isn't very interested in sports. For a long time, she was only seeing 20/100 visual acuity in both eyes and wearing prescription glasses. Samantha's nearsightedness, or myopia, continued to increase year after year, and so did her mother's worries.
Michael from New Paltz, N.Y., shares similarities with Samantha, but he also shares one critical difference. His eye doctor prescribed glasses – just like Samantha's. However, Michael received instructions for a special eye program, as well. The program included recommendations to look up from whatever he was reading every 10 minutes, to let his eyes relax into the distance, to palm his eyes every 20 minutes and to never wear distance glasses when reading. As a result, his prescription did not increase over the next four years.
"These two examples demonstrate that beyond the narrow physiological explanations of myopia in teens other factors cause the onset of this disorder and its progress," says Dr. Marc Grossman, a behavioral optometrist from Rye, N.Y. Aside from his degree in optometry, Dr. Grossman also has a degree in acupuncture and explores the influence of yoga practice on human vision.
Most people who develop nearsightedness get it in the first 18 years of life. By 10 years old, only about 10 percent of people are nearsighted. By 15 years old, that number increases to 25 percent, and by 18 years old, 40 percent of the population in the United States is nearsighted. These figures seem to correspond with the increase in "near work" that is given during school years.
"Myopia in teens is a prime example of function affecting structure," says Dr. Grossman. "As we read more or do more homework or computer work, the muscles in our eye are called on to work overtime in order to focus at a near distance. As it does this for longer and longer periods of time, it finds it hard to then relax into a position which enables it to focus again at a distance."