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'''Welcome to EndMyopia''', the prime place on the internet for regaining your own natural eyesight and reversing your [[myopia]].  
'''Welcome to EndMyopia''', the prime place on the internet for regaining your own natural eyesight and reversing your [[myopia]].  


Knowledge is really key when it comes to making long-term improvements in your eyesight. You should watch as many of the videos listed below as you can, and comprehensively review the [[EndMyopia YouTube channel]] and [{{em}} the blog] throughout your journey.
'''EndMyopia isn't a simple program of steps.  This page is just the entrance to the rabbit hole.''' Nobody here can tell you how well your eyes will react to a specific change, or what glasses are right for your eyes and your vision habits and your work requirements, we can just give you the tools to understand your own eyesight, what causes myopia progression and how to stop and reverse it.
==Why your myopia happened in the first place==
{{Main article|Why myopia gets worse over time}}
::''' Animated explanation'''
{{#ev:vimeo|370725217||inline}}
== Transcript ==
Myopia, also known as shortsightedness is not a disorder, a disease, or a lifetime sentence to expensive glasses slash contacts. It's actually your eyes doing their job properly. Our eyesight is an amazing dance between the software of our brains and the mechanisms of our eyeballs. It's a series of tiny unconscious adjustments made in response to the stimulus of looking at something.


If your glasses prescription has been getting stronger over the years, that's often the result of a feedback loop of stronger lens correction and your eyeballs compensating to deal with it. Thankfully, changes in eyesight are not a one way street. Let's talk about how your ability to see things clearly at a distance can get slowly better over time instead of worse.
==The Beginning Steps - Stop Myopia Progression==
# Measure your eyes - you can start with a professional refraction, but you should also learn to measure your own vision at home. 
#* If your refraction is better than -10, the [[Measurement#cm_Measurement|cm measurement]] is easy to do and compare values.  The cm measurement measures your myopia.
#* The [[Snellen chart]] measures all the combined factors of [[Visual acuity]] and is necessary for checking if your vision meets the legal requirements in your jurisdiction for driving.
#* Measuring your myopia and visual acuity regularly will tell you when the steps you are taking are working.
# Take breaks from near work (Follow the [[3 hour rule]] or the [[20-20-20 rule]] for starters)
# Don't wear glasses for near work if you don't need them.<ref>[https://endmyopia.org/day-57-myopia-progression-the-one-thing-you-have-to-stop-doing Myopia Progression: The One Thing You Have To Stop Doing]</ref>
# Get separate glasses for near work if you do need them. We call these [[Differentials]] if your doctor is willing to prescribe them, he may call them computer glasses or reading glasses.<ref>[https://endmyopia.org/day-67-differential-glasses-for-close-up-use Differential Glasses for CLOSE-UP Use]</ref>
# Give this a few weeks, you may be able to release [[Pseudomyopia]] with these steps alone, which will change your eye measurement that you will base your next pairs of glasses on.


First, the basics of eyeball mechanics. At some point, you probably learned what lenses do. Lenses change the direction of rays of light Positive lenses bend light towards a single point. Negative lenses spread that light out. Positive and negative lenses working together can adjust where that point of focus falls.
==Time to Learn==
{{gif fixer|[[File:Cute cat with glasses and tie reading laptop.gif]]|right}}
Experience has shown many times that without adequate knowledge of the process, people are really unlikely to make any improvements in their eyesight. There is always more to learn about vision improvement, and you should not be afraid to spend significant amounts of time reading the resources already available to you.  Arm yourself with knowledge to deal with any bumps in the road that come your way. The community won't answer your medical questions or diopter specific questions, take medical questions to your doctor, and do your own work to understand your specific diopter needs.  
# Get the [[seven day free email guide]] - This is a must, if you ask a question in the community that's answered in this guide, your thread will quite possibly be closed by a moderator.
# Consult the [https://endmyopia.org/faqs/ Blog Frequently Asked Questions] and [[Frequently Asked Questions| Wiki Frequently Asked Questions]]
# Read the [{{em}} the blog]
## Hover over (with your mouse) “Blog and How-to’s” and check the “Eyesight How-To’s” and any other  sections relevant to you.
## Search the blog. Do you know how to search the [https://endmyopia.org/ blog]? Hit the 🔍️ in the upper right corner and fill in the relevant search item there.
# Watch [[EndMyopia YouTube Channel]]
# Watch [[List:Community YouTubers]]
# Use the Wiki as a reference when you need an overview of a new topic.
# Read the [[Guide:How to ask for support]] then join the [[EndMyopia Forum]] and/or [[EndMyopia_Discord_Server | Discord]] Community.


Your eyeballs contain a flexible positive lens. This lens is framed by a ring of muscle called the ciliary muscle. When the ciliary muscles relaxed, your lens is at its thinnest. When the ciliary muscle contracts, it pushes inward causing your lens to bulge more. This basically happens without your conscious control. Amazing. Your eyeball has one almighty directive from the brain. Focus the light from the object you're looking at onto your retina at the back of your eyeball. When it hits perfectly, you get a clear image. If it falls short or long of the retina, you'll experience blurriness. The amount of work Your eyes have to do depends on how far away the object is. If you experience myopia, you know that things in the distance are more blurry than things that are nearer to your face.
==Future Steps - Reverse Your Myopia==


Let's compare the task of focusing at different distances to the task of hand picking apples from a tree. You want to be able to reach the maximum number of apples and you have two mechanisms with which to accomplish this, your arm and the ladder. Your arm is like your ciliary muscle, it can move quickly to make slight adjustments, and zero in on the apple of your choice. The ladder in this metaphor is the length of your eyeball. The ladder determines the larger range within which your arm can work. How do you choose the right ladder height for apple picking? The best ladder is the one that positions your arm to reach the most apples. Now I want you to imagine the apples towards the top of the tree or your close up eyesight tasks. Things like reading, computer and phone use, sewing, drawing, etc. The apples towards the bottom of the tree are the things that require distance vision, like playing sports, driving, and generally navigating the outdoors. Let's say that the apples at the top seemed like the best to you, you're really going after those, your arm is getting tired of stretching most of the time though, so you adjust your ladder to be taller. And now you can comfortably work in that top Apple range. But you can only reach down so far, and there's no way you'll get those bottom apples unless your ladder gets shorter, or unless you step down on the ladder. It's not a perfect metaphor, but now you know how your ciliary muscle and the length of your eyeball work together.
# Get slightly reduced glasses for other times when you don't need perfect vision.  We call these [[normalized]].  They give a slight blur challenge at a distance.  Because glasses are generally rounded off to the nearest quarter diopter, full strength lenses are likely to be slightly over prescribed even if your [[optometrist]] follows the best practices and procedures of his profession.  A quarter diopter low would put your distance to blur at 4m, or about 13 feet, and allow your [[ciliary muscle]] to relax when viewing at that distance and beyond. <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI9JphYXQ6A 20/50 Rule For Improving Eyesight]</ref>
# Find Active Focus, a way of getting your eyes to see slightly further than their normal distance to blur. [[Guide:How_to_find_Active_Focus|Guide: How to find Active Focus]] <ref>[https://endmyopia.org/active-focus-links/ There is a category of blog posts about Active Focus here.]</ref>
# When you're ready, do your first [[reduction]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzrQb4pCFkQ Reduce Normalized Diopters]</ref>


Let's take this back to the realm of eyesight, you're having trouble seeing things far away. Your eye doctor gives you glasses. You can see far away now fabulous. Then you go home and read for a few hours with your new glasses on. While you're doing that your ciliary muscle is working extra hard to cancel out the strong new negative lens that's making this close up image, the book, fall behind your retina.
==Keep Learning==
This page is just the entrance to the rabbit hole. Keep referring to the learning resources above even after you've made your first successful reductions.


If you do something like this every day for months and years, your ciliary muscle is going to get so overworked that your eyeball will grow a tiny bit in length to give it a break. But now, your glasses don't seem to be working quite as well as they used to. And you can't see as far as the distance anymore. So you go to the eye doctor, they prescribe you some stronger lenses, and the cycle continues. In the next video, we'll look at ways to break this cycle and introduce habits that can restore your distance vision over time.
You are likely to make mistakes along this journey: there is trial and error as you perfect the approach taken to improving vision.  If at any time you have discomfort or disfunction in your new glasses, step back to the previous pair you were comfortable in. The basic ideas are really simple to understand, but there is a lot of nuance in how to apply them, and this can take time to understand fully.


==Starting out==
==Beginner's Guide to Vision Improvement==
<!--For a summary : https://endmyopia.org/how-to-eyesight-improve-five-steps/ article commented out because it does not mention normalised, which are super important-->
<youtube>XPIGDSY_xBs</youtube>
'''Start Here: Improve your Eyesight'''


<youtube>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU6mJr16huk</youtube>
==Translations==
 
This guide has been translated to Polish. See [[EndMyopia Translated]]
 
==Good resources and articles for newcomers==
[[File:Cute cat with glasses and tie reading laptop.gif|right]]
 
Experience has shown many times that without adequate knowledge of the process, people are really unlikely to make any improvements in their eyesight. There is always more to learn about vision improvement, and you should not be afraid to spend significant amounts of time reading the resources already available to you.
 
The [[seven day free email guide]], [[EndMyopia YouTube channel]] and [{{em}} the blog] are invaluable resources for improving your eyesight.
 
You are likely to make mistakes along this journey: there is trial and error as you perfect the approach taken to improving vision. The basic ideas are really simple to understand, but there is a lot of nuance in how to apply them, and this can take time to understand fully.
 
====Good vision habits to get started with====
* Follow the [[20-20-20 rule]]
* [https://endmyopia.org/day-57-myopia-progression-the-one-thing-you-have-to-stop-doing If you can see your phone/tablet screen '''clearly''' without glasses, you should do so].
 
====[[Differentials]]====
* [https://endmyopia.org/day-67-differential-glasses-for-close-up-use Proper differentials for starters]
 
====[[Normalized]]====
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI9JphYXQ6A Super Simple 20/50 Rule For Improving Eyesight]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzrQb4pCFkQ (How To) Reduce Normalized Diopters (The Guru Way)]
====[[Active Focus]]====
 
*[[Guide:How_to_find_Active_Focus|Guide: How to find Active Focus]]
 
*[https://endmyopia.org/active-focus-links/ There is a category of blog posts about Active Focus here.]
 
====[[Measurement tools]]====
* [https://endmyopia.org/focal-calculator/calc.html EndMyopia cm calculator]
* [https://endmyopia.org/measure/ Measurement]
* [https://testflight.apple.com/join/wuAvRvdL The iOS Sight Meter App]
* [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.endmyopia.calc The Android Diopter Calculator]
* [[Varakari's Vision Log Tool]]
 
====[[Low myopia]]====
* [https://endmyopia.org/low-myopia/ Blog posts about dealing with low myopia]
 
==Troubleshooting==
Consult the [https://endmyopia.org/faqs/ FAQ] (Frequently Asked Questions). They are very extensive and may very well answer your questions.
Did you see endmyopia's [https://endmyopia.org/ blog section]? Hover over (with your mouse) “Blog and How-to’s” and check the “Eyesight How-To’s” and any other  sections relevant to you.
Search the blog. Do you know how to search the [https://endmyopia.org/ blog]? Hit the 🔍️ in the upper right corner and fill in the relevant search item there.
 
Here are some search terms to help you get started:
 
* “first differentials” and “first normalized”.
* For astigmatism: “(reducing) prescription complexity”, “Astigmatism”, “Cylinder”, “diopter ratio”,
* Do you have one “weaker/stronger” eye? Search for: “(reducing) prescription complexity”, “dominant eye” and “diopter ratio”.
==Community==
* [[List:Community YouTubers|Community YouTubers]]


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Seven day free email guide]]
* [[Student content for new members]]
 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU6mJr16huk Video Version of Getting Started]
* [https://endmyopia.org/how-to-eyesight-improve-five-steps/ How To Improve Your Eyesight: Just 5 Steps]


[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Guides]]

Revision as of 18:01, 16 February 2022

EMBoxLogoTransparent.png

Welcome to EndMyopia, the prime place on the internet for regaining your own natural eyesight and reversing your myopia.

EndMyopia isn't a simple program of steps. This page is just the entrance to the rabbit hole. Nobody here can tell you how well your eyes will react to a specific change, or what glasses are right for your eyes and your vision habits and your work requirements, we can just give you the tools to understand your own eyesight, what causes myopia progression and how to stop and reverse it.

The Beginning Steps - Stop Myopia Progression

  1. Measure your eyes - you can start with a professional refraction, but you should also learn to measure your own vision at home.
    • If your refraction is better than -10, the cm measurement is easy to do and compare values. The cm measurement measures your myopia.
    • The Snellen chart measures all the combined factors of Visual acuity and is necessary for checking if your vision meets the legal requirements in your jurisdiction for driving.
    • Measuring your myopia and visual acuity regularly will tell you when the steps you are taking are working.
  2. Take breaks from near work (Follow the 3 hour rule or the 20-20-20 rule for starters)
  3. Don't wear glasses for near work if you don't need them.[1]
  4. Get separate glasses for near work if you do need them. We call these Differentials if your doctor is willing to prescribe them, he may call them computer glasses or reading glasses.[2]
  5. Give this a few weeks, you may be able to release Pseudomyopia with these steps alone, which will change your eye measurement that you will base your next pairs of glasses on.

Time to Learn

Cute cat with glasses and tie reading laptop.gif

Experience has shown many times that without adequate knowledge of the process, people are really unlikely to make any improvements in their eyesight. There is always more to learn about vision improvement, and you should not be afraid to spend significant amounts of time reading the resources already available to you. Arm yourself with knowledge to deal with any bumps in the road that come your way. The community won't answer your medical questions or diopter specific questions, take medical questions to your doctor, and do your own work to understand your specific diopter needs.

  1. Get the seven day free email guide - This is a must, if you ask a question in the community that's answered in this guide, your thread will quite possibly be closed by a moderator.
  2. Consult the Blog Frequently Asked Questions and Wiki Frequently Asked Questions
  3. Read the the blog
    1. Hover over (with your mouse) “Blog and How-to’s” and check the “Eyesight How-To’s” and any other sections relevant to you.
    2. Search the blog. Do you know how to search the blog? Hit the 🔍️ in the upper right corner and fill in the relevant search item there.
  4. Watch EndMyopia YouTube Channel
  5. Watch List:Community YouTubers
  6. Use the Wiki as a reference when you need an overview of a new topic.
  7. Read the Guide:How to ask for support then join the EndMyopia Forum and/or Discord Community.

Future Steps - Reverse Your Myopia

  1. Get slightly reduced glasses for other times when you don't need perfect vision. We call these normalized. They give a slight blur challenge at a distance. Because glasses are generally rounded off to the nearest quarter diopter, full strength lenses are likely to be slightly over prescribed even if your optometrist follows the best practices and procedures of his profession. A quarter diopter low would put your distance to blur at 4m, or about 13 feet, and allow your ciliary muscle to relax when viewing at that distance and beyond. [3]
  2. Find Active Focus, a way of getting your eyes to see slightly further than their normal distance to blur. Guide: How to find Active Focus [4]
  3. When you're ready, do your first reduction[5]

Keep Learning

This page is just the entrance to the rabbit hole. Keep referring to the learning resources above even after you've made your first successful reductions.

You are likely to make mistakes along this journey: there is trial and error as you perfect the approach taken to improving vision. If at any time you have discomfort or disfunction in your new glasses, step back to the previous pair you were comfortable in. The basic ideas are really simple to understand, but there is a lot of nuance in how to apply them, and this can take time to understand fully.

Beginner's Guide to Vision Improvement

Translations

This guide has been translated to Polish. See EndMyopia Translated

See also