CASE STUDY

THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINEVolume 8 Number 3 2002 pp 371ndash377copy Mary Ann Liebert Inc

Approaching Myopia Holistically A Case Study and Theoretical Exploration

ANNA BAMBRIDGE MA MPhil

ABSTRACT

Introduction Myopia is a commonly occurring condition that in Western countries affects30ndash35 of the population At present the most common way of treating myopia is by opticalintervention by means of spectacles contact lenses or surgery

Background An exploration of the history of and scientific rationale for the current methodsof treatment are presented The concept of myopia as a holistic phenomenon and the idea of thepossibility of healing are introduced

Case study A case study of a patient reducing spectacle strength and using holistic healingtechniques to induce changes in myopia is presented together with a statement from the patient

Conclusion It is concluded that the contemporary model of vision that justifies the prescrip-tion of negative lenses in cases of myopia needs re-examining in light of the case study pre-sented

371

INTRODUCTION

Myopia has been described as ldquothe state ofrefraction in which parallel rays of light

entering the eye are brought to rest in front ofthe retinardquo (Curtin 1985) It is experienced asa blurring of distant vision the degree of blurand the distance at which it occurs varyingwith the degree of myopia The rate of myopiaincidence varies widely across the world Chil-dren raised in rural Nepal show an incidencerate of 3 (Garner et al 1999) and school-children in Hong Kong show an incidence rateof 62 (Lam et al 1999) The trend in Westerncountries is a rate of 30ndash35 (Grosvenor andGoss 1999) Conventional treatment alters therefractive state at the front of the eye allowing

light entering the eye to focus on the retina bymeans of spectacles contact lenses orthokera-tology (the procedure in which rigid contactlenses worn at night are fitted in such a way asto temporarily flatten the corneal apex) orsurgery on the cornea None of these methodschanges the myopic state of the eye that is themyopia remains but it is compensated for

BACKGROUND

History

The experience of myopia is in any culturewith an established optometry profession inti-mately linked with the experience of refractive

Department of Vision Sciences Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow United Kingdom

correction by the means described above(Where lenses or spectacles are referred to anyof the above techniques are also being referredto) Understanding myopia and questioningthe role of optical intervention means a widerhistorical and philosophical exploration of thereasons and justifications for this intervention(Bambridge 2001) This paper consists of an ex-ploration of the scientific reasoning for medicalintervention in the case of myopia and uses acase study methodology (Bromley 1986) Itconcludes that when myopia is viewed withina holistic model of health healing (that is a re-versal of the myopia and a change to clearer vi-sion) is possible making optical interventionunnecessary

Optical intervention and more specificallythe organized method of assigning a refractiveprescription as an optometrist does has grownfrom the scientific study of optics especiallythe late 19th century work of Helmholtz (1871)and Donders (1864) Insights into the nature oflight and the way it travels through differentmedia and the ability of glass lenses and prismsto bend and focus light were used to model theeye and its focusing system

The process of science is a collective activityin gathering organized knowledge This know-ledge is rooted in hypotheses that are continu-ally being tested with each observation andwith each experiment When the results of anexperiment or an observation are not compat-ible with the hypothesis then either the qual-ity of the experiment is called into question orthe hypothesis is rethought in order to harmo-nize theory and observation It is this tensionbetween theory and experiment or observationthat is the catalyst for the creativity of newideas and new experiments in the developmentof science (This relationship can be taken to thepoint where theory emerges from observationrather than observation or experiment testingtheoretical hypotheses [Glaser and Strauss1967]) Throughout the process however it isconducted there can be no apodictic certaintybeyond the reach of criticism (Medawar 1984)and hypotheses always remain hypothesesthat is suppositions to the complete certaintyof which we can never attain (Kant c 1790 citedin Medawar 1984) When the tense balance be-tween the information gathering and theoriz-

ing of science is lost then there can be an over-load of observations and information withoutany theoretical grounding to bind the informa-tion together to make sense of it Likewise hy-potheses can be taken as ldquotruthsrdquo and as suchany discrepancy between experiment or obser-vation and theory is always seen as a lack ofrigor in experimental technique It is at thispoint that science ceases and is overtaken bydogma It is an imbalance of this sort that hasled to a continuing general disbelief within theprofession of optometry that any improve-ments in vision are possible

Throughout the interweaving of theory andexperiment different methods of inquiry andanalysis can be used the most successful beingthose that most accurately describe the resultsof experiments and observations Examples ofchanges in methods of analysis are the use ofcalculus in describing curves and curved sur-faces (Kreiling 1968 Whiteside 1968) multi-fractal geometry in the modeling of clouds andtopography (Lovejoy et al 2001) and specialrelativity in the analysis of high-velocity astro-nomical observations (Bohm 1996) Each ofthese theoretical models has extended the abil-ity to make sense of experiment and observa-tion and as such can be deemed as successfulwith the proviso that should a theory that de-scribes the situation more accurately comeabout the current model would be superseded

The classical method of scientific analysiswhich is the most commonly used for opto-metric research involves a theoretical separa-tion of all the possible components of interac-tion Experimentation then takes place limitingas many variables as possible in order to es-tablish cause-and-effect relations When thenumber of variables is large and the interac-tions between them complex this method ofanalysis becomes inefficient and can breakdown or worse describe the phenomenon in-accurately The problem is that the contextstripping that worked reasonably well for theclassical physics of falling bodies has becomethe model of how to do every kind of science(Hubbard 1989) Biologic systems specificallyorganisms are an example of a multivariablesystem that classical reductionist techniques ofanalysis can often misdescribe A nonbiologicexample of this is a spiral If a spiral were to be

BAMBRIDGE372

sectioned into many small pieces for analysisit could be concluded that it is made up ofstraight lines because this is what each piecewould approximate This analysis misses manyimportant features of a spiral and is an exam-ple of the type of inaccuracies that can developif the most appropriate tool of analysis is notused and the scale and context of a situation isnot properly addressed Likewise giving opti-cal intervention for myopia while providingclarity of detail misses the context of a strug-gling visual system and the opportunities forhealing

As engineering and electronics are practicalapplications of physics that reinforce our con-fidence in the truths of the field (our under-standing of nature is only true to the extentthat it works [Keller 1989]) so medicine can beregarded as a practical application of our bio-logic understanding for the promotion ofhealthy functioning As scientific understand-ing shifts and changes so too do medicine andhealth care in reflection of these changes Thetools of analysis of biology have grown to re-flect the patterns of the systems involved andtheir contextual embedded and relational na-ture It has come to be recognized that it is arelational order between components that mat-ters more than material composition in livingprocesses (Goodwin 1994) The impact androle therefore of an individual part cannot beunderstood without the context and associa-tions of that part This is a holistic approach toscience and is an argument for a holistic ap-proach to medicine and health care Empha-sizing the relational order between compo-nents means that any symptom must beregarded within its system with all the inter-actions that entails

Working from a holistic viewpoint lifestylerelationships emotions and the body are allsignals reflections part of and all of the stateof health Local symptoms expressions of painor disease can only be addressed in this con-text by a broad view of the needs and wants ofthe individual and his or her community Heal-ing then becomes an emotional process as wellas a physical one There is no thought feelingor perception without molecular and chemicalreaction and change What one seeks to treat isultimately the chemicalmolecular manifesta-

tion of the way someone sees and interpretsthings (Jobst et al 1999)

Myopia as a holistic phenomenon

The blurred vision that accompanies myopiais in this context just one aspect of its mani-festation Myopia can also be described as apattern of pronounced tension in the foreheadjaw neck shoulders upper arms and lowerback It can be described as a reduced periph-eral awareness and a prolonged central fixationtime (staring) (Schneider et al 1994) Myopiacan be construed as a ldquostate of compressed anxiety and unconscious apprehensionrdquo(Goodrich 1985) and ldquointrovertedness over-control of emotions and a high tolerance foranxietyrdquo (Lanyon and Giddings 1974) Whenspectacles are worn the myopia is locked inplace and the conscious vulnerability that blur-ring brings about is lost help and interactionare not requested or received and a sense ofsubconscious loneliness and distancing can oc-cur The world as projected through lenses isnarrow stark and shallow and for the personwearing the lenses the only world that existsLenses as a physical intervention have an im-pact on the body thoughts feelings and per-ceptions

Healing myopia then becomes a process ofchange a relaxation of body tension increas-ing peripheral awareness an expansion of asense of context and an increase in the fluidityand depth of movement of eyes body thoughtand feeling (It should also be noted that al-though myopia is the topic of this paper therehave also been reports of healing other visiondifficulties using these techniques eg congen-ital cataracts and nystagmus [Schneider 1987])The following quotation is from a paper by Or-field who followed a program of vision ther-apy over a time span of 7 years

I saw space visibly expandingmdashpeoplegrew taller and the volume of space ex-panded enormously Seeing space verydifferent from having 2020 sight is the vi-sion thing which is lost with strong lenseswhen central sight is all that is prescribedfor Regaining it is what makes reducingand controlling my myopia worthwhile

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 373

The ldquoapparent motionrdquo of the trees andhedges where I walked caused me to per-ceive distances in new ways I noted thatthe apparent speed of the stationary ob-jects that seemed to move past me andaround each other was all related to theirdistance from me as I walked past themI felt as if the pillars were whizzing by thepavement rolled under my feet It wasquite different from the telescopic sight inmy strong lenses (Orfield 1994)

Another description tells of experiencespracticing the Bates method of vision therapy(see below for a description)

My imagination became strong andclear and I was able to picture whatever Iwanted to see The world began to lightup with a new found resonance and myresistance to the urban landscape Los An-geles and to the world in general dimin-ished I became more receptive to seeingthe whole of what lay before my eyes Andso I discovered that the lessons includedrelinquishing my fears and defenses andlooking directly at what was keeping mefrom fully facing the world After a monthor so I suddenly glimpsed sharp razor-like edges and neon colours With timemore glimpses came now teasing me likeinsights slipping in and out of view As Ibecame more practised glimpses becamelong moments of rich perception Soonfabulous shapes and vibrant colours sig-nalled to me edges were sharp all thetime and whole stories revealed them-selves on street corners (Sewall 1999)

These experiences illustrate the intensity ofsensation that is reported when vision therapyis attempted

CASE STUDY

Optometric report

At the age of 3 the patient had minus lensesprescribed for myopia and a divergent squintThe squint ceased but throughout childhood

the strength of the spectacle lenses was in-creased until in 1995 when the patient was 21years old the prescription was 2975ndash175 3 80for the right eye and 2950 2 075 3 90 for theleft Unaided vision at this time was of the or-der 203000 In 1996 the patient started usingholistic techniques to work with vision andstarted changing the strength of the lensesworn The strength of the first reduced pre-scription lenses were 2725 2 175 3 80 for theright eye and 2775 2 150 3 85 for the left (in1996 spectacle lenses prescribed by and acuitymeasures taken by A Kirshner OD FAAOMontreal Quebec Canada) On June 12 1996when these were first worn the acuity as mea-sured through them was 2040 On July 121996 it was measured as 2020 and the strengthof the lenses reduced to 2650 2 175 3 80 forthe right eye and 2650 2 150 3 85 for the leftthrough which the acuity was again measuredas 2040 By August 21 1996 the patientrsquos acu-ity through these new lenses was measured as2020 and again they were changed this timeto 2550 2 175 3 80 for the right eye and2550 2 150 3 85 for the left In November1996 the patient was spending from a few min-utes to several hours each day without specta-cles and in June 1997 the acuity as measuredthrough the new spectacles was 2020 In Sep-tember 1997 the strength of the spectacle lenseswas changed to 2450 in both eyes The amountof time that the patient spent without specta-cles was also steadily increasing so that some-times a full day would be spent without themIn January 1998 unaided binocular vision wasrecorded as 2060 (this measurement wasrecorded by an optometrist at Glasgow Cale-donian University who also assisted in pro-viding the changing prescriptions) In February1998 the strength of part time wear lenses wasreduced to 2350D in both eyes and in April1998 the patient stopped wearing spectacles al-together

Treatment

The time the patient spent without spectaclesand in reduced strength lenses was supportedby a variety of holistic techniques These arelisted below with a brief description of each

CranioSacral therapy is an unforced light

BAMBRIDGE374

touch form of bodywork reported to help ac-cess embodied trauma (Milne 1995) Aro-matherapy massage as received by the patientwas full-body manipulative massage using es-sential oils (Vickers 2000) The self-healingmethods of Meir Schneider involve breathingexercises body stretching and moving partic-ularly in ways unfamiliar to the patient(Schneider 1994) The Alexander technique isa bodywork technique that brings attention tohabits of body use and facilitates new aware-ness of posture and movement In a session theteacher will move the client through subtleposture changes particularly of the neck(Chance 1999) The components of palmingswinging swaying shifting and sunning arecollectively known as the Bates method (Mans-field 1992) Palming is the name given to thetechnique of covering onersquos own eyes with thepalms of the hands This gentle cupping of theeyes is recommended to be done in the darkSwinging is the technique of rotating the bodythrough 180deg while standing and maintainingthe line of sight in the direction of the nose andshoulders Swaying is the technique of stand-ing and rocking the weight from one foot toanother while observing the apparent motionbetween near and far objects Shifting is thename given to the practice of observing detailsby shifting the focus of attention smoothly andrapidly from one point to another Gazing atthe sun through closed eyelids is known assunning The vision therapy that the patienttook part in with a vision therapist was a mix-ture of the Bates method psychotherapy andcounseling

Initially (June to September 1996) the patientdid a daily full-body relaxation exercise andsplashed cold water on the eyes In the autumnof 1996 the patient started monthly sessions witha vision therapist This support continuedthroughout the process although the session fre-quency was reduced to once every 3 monthsduring 1998 and 1999 From September 1997 andthroughout 1998 and 1999 the patient learnedtechniques of stretching breathing and periph-eral vision stimulation using the self-healingtechniques of Meir Schneider These were prac-ticed daily at home During the autumn of 1998 the patient had CranioSacral therapy anAlexander technique lesson or an aromather-

apy massage once a week These sessions con-tinued through 1999 with a decreased frequencyof one session (massage craniosacral therapy orAlexander technique) every 6 weeks

Patientrsquos statement

It is hard for me now to imagine mylevel of dependency on my glasses I didnot exist without them they were a partof my identity that I had never questionedLearning to change my vision was an en-tirely new experience and one which I wasbringing about From the optometrist whointroduced me to the techniques I receivedenthusiasm praise and encouragementbut it was I who was undertaking and im-plementing the changes even if I did notquite understand them The feelings ofpower and change were overwhelmingand as my prescription changed so mysense of identity had to shift I began to feel things I had never felt

sensations around my eyes and in my faceAn uncovering through which I wouldweep I could see in a way I had never seenbefore the leaves moving on trees thecolour of the sky Things I knew but hadnever felt before The intensity was shock-ing and I could not deal with it and wouldoften retreat to bed to recover from the ex-perience Movement and depth were alsonew and expanding and walking along astreet felt like being on a rollercoaster withall the fear and excitement that accompa-nies such a ride There was a new depththe like of which I had not known and Icould feel how far away objects were andhow far away I was As I began to see moreand in different ways I also began to feeldifferent There was a feeling of filling mybody from the inside and my circulationimproved so that icy hands and feet werenot so common I became more aware ofmy emotional state and that of other peo-ple a change which was at first bewil-dering and confusing A room full of peo-ple with its cacophony of interactionswould leave me dizzy feeling the need forretreat feeling ill-equipped for the inten-sity of it

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 375

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

correction by the means described above(Where lenses or spectacles are referred to anyof the above techniques are also being referredto) Understanding myopia and questioningthe role of optical intervention means a widerhistorical and philosophical exploration of thereasons and justifications for this intervention(Bambridge 2001) This paper consists of an ex-ploration of the scientific reasoning for medicalintervention in the case of myopia and uses acase study methodology (Bromley 1986) Itconcludes that when myopia is viewed withina holistic model of health healing (that is a re-versal of the myopia and a change to clearer vi-sion) is possible making optical interventionunnecessary

Optical intervention and more specificallythe organized method of assigning a refractiveprescription as an optometrist does has grownfrom the scientific study of optics especiallythe late 19th century work of Helmholtz (1871)and Donders (1864) Insights into the nature oflight and the way it travels through differentmedia and the ability of glass lenses and prismsto bend and focus light were used to model theeye and its focusing system

The process of science is a collective activityin gathering organized knowledge This know-ledge is rooted in hypotheses that are continu-ally being tested with each observation andwith each experiment When the results of anexperiment or an observation are not compat-ible with the hypothesis then either the qual-ity of the experiment is called into question orthe hypothesis is rethought in order to harmo-nize theory and observation It is this tensionbetween theory and experiment or observationthat is the catalyst for the creativity of newideas and new experiments in the developmentof science (This relationship can be taken to thepoint where theory emerges from observationrather than observation or experiment testingtheoretical hypotheses [Glaser and Strauss1967]) Throughout the process however it isconducted there can be no apodictic certaintybeyond the reach of criticism (Medawar 1984)and hypotheses always remain hypothesesthat is suppositions to the complete certaintyof which we can never attain (Kant c 1790 citedin Medawar 1984) When the tense balance be-tween the information gathering and theoriz-

ing of science is lost then there can be an over-load of observations and information withoutany theoretical grounding to bind the informa-tion together to make sense of it Likewise hy-potheses can be taken as ldquotruthsrdquo and as suchany discrepancy between experiment or obser-vation and theory is always seen as a lack ofrigor in experimental technique It is at thispoint that science ceases and is overtaken bydogma It is an imbalance of this sort that hasled to a continuing general disbelief within theprofession of optometry that any improve-ments in vision are possible

Throughout the interweaving of theory andexperiment different methods of inquiry andanalysis can be used the most successful beingthose that most accurately describe the resultsof experiments and observations Examples ofchanges in methods of analysis are the use ofcalculus in describing curves and curved sur-faces (Kreiling 1968 Whiteside 1968) multi-fractal geometry in the modeling of clouds andtopography (Lovejoy et al 2001) and specialrelativity in the analysis of high-velocity astro-nomical observations (Bohm 1996) Each ofthese theoretical models has extended the abil-ity to make sense of experiment and observa-tion and as such can be deemed as successfulwith the proviso that should a theory that de-scribes the situation more accurately comeabout the current model would be superseded

The classical method of scientific analysiswhich is the most commonly used for opto-metric research involves a theoretical separa-tion of all the possible components of interac-tion Experimentation then takes place limitingas many variables as possible in order to es-tablish cause-and-effect relations When thenumber of variables is large and the interac-tions between them complex this method ofanalysis becomes inefficient and can breakdown or worse describe the phenomenon in-accurately The problem is that the contextstripping that worked reasonably well for theclassical physics of falling bodies has becomethe model of how to do every kind of science(Hubbard 1989) Biologic systems specificallyorganisms are an example of a multivariablesystem that classical reductionist techniques ofanalysis can often misdescribe A nonbiologicexample of this is a spiral If a spiral were to be

BAMBRIDGE372

sectioned into many small pieces for analysisit could be concluded that it is made up ofstraight lines because this is what each piecewould approximate This analysis misses manyimportant features of a spiral and is an exam-ple of the type of inaccuracies that can developif the most appropriate tool of analysis is notused and the scale and context of a situation isnot properly addressed Likewise giving opti-cal intervention for myopia while providingclarity of detail misses the context of a strug-gling visual system and the opportunities forhealing

As engineering and electronics are practicalapplications of physics that reinforce our con-fidence in the truths of the field (our under-standing of nature is only true to the extentthat it works [Keller 1989]) so medicine can beregarded as a practical application of our bio-logic understanding for the promotion ofhealthy functioning As scientific understand-ing shifts and changes so too do medicine andhealth care in reflection of these changes Thetools of analysis of biology have grown to re-flect the patterns of the systems involved andtheir contextual embedded and relational na-ture It has come to be recognized that it is arelational order between components that mat-ters more than material composition in livingprocesses (Goodwin 1994) The impact androle therefore of an individual part cannot beunderstood without the context and associa-tions of that part This is a holistic approach toscience and is an argument for a holistic ap-proach to medicine and health care Empha-sizing the relational order between compo-nents means that any symptom must beregarded within its system with all the inter-actions that entails

Working from a holistic viewpoint lifestylerelationships emotions and the body are allsignals reflections part of and all of the stateof health Local symptoms expressions of painor disease can only be addressed in this con-text by a broad view of the needs and wants ofthe individual and his or her community Heal-ing then becomes an emotional process as wellas a physical one There is no thought feelingor perception without molecular and chemicalreaction and change What one seeks to treat isultimately the chemicalmolecular manifesta-

tion of the way someone sees and interpretsthings (Jobst et al 1999)

Myopia as a holistic phenomenon

The blurred vision that accompanies myopiais in this context just one aspect of its mani-festation Myopia can also be described as apattern of pronounced tension in the foreheadjaw neck shoulders upper arms and lowerback It can be described as a reduced periph-eral awareness and a prolonged central fixationtime (staring) (Schneider et al 1994) Myopiacan be construed as a ldquostate of compressed anxiety and unconscious apprehensionrdquo(Goodrich 1985) and ldquointrovertedness over-control of emotions and a high tolerance foranxietyrdquo (Lanyon and Giddings 1974) Whenspectacles are worn the myopia is locked inplace and the conscious vulnerability that blur-ring brings about is lost help and interactionare not requested or received and a sense ofsubconscious loneliness and distancing can oc-cur The world as projected through lenses isnarrow stark and shallow and for the personwearing the lenses the only world that existsLenses as a physical intervention have an im-pact on the body thoughts feelings and per-ceptions

Healing myopia then becomes a process ofchange a relaxation of body tension increas-ing peripheral awareness an expansion of asense of context and an increase in the fluidityand depth of movement of eyes body thoughtand feeling (It should also be noted that al-though myopia is the topic of this paper therehave also been reports of healing other visiondifficulties using these techniques eg congen-ital cataracts and nystagmus [Schneider 1987])The following quotation is from a paper by Or-field who followed a program of vision ther-apy over a time span of 7 years

I saw space visibly expandingmdashpeoplegrew taller and the volume of space ex-panded enormously Seeing space verydifferent from having 2020 sight is the vi-sion thing which is lost with strong lenseswhen central sight is all that is prescribedfor Regaining it is what makes reducingand controlling my myopia worthwhile

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 373

The ldquoapparent motionrdquo of the trees andhedges where I walked caused me to per-ceive distances in new ways I noted thatthe apparent speed of the stationary ob-jects that seemed to move past me andaround each other was all related to theirdistance from me as I walked past themI felt as if the pillars were whizzing by thepavement rolled under my feet It wasquite different from the telescopic sight inmy strong lenses (Orfield 1994)

Another description tells of experiencespracticing the Bates method of vision therapy(see below for a description)

My imagination became strong andclear and I was able to picture whatever Iwanted to see The world began to lightup with a new found resonance and myresistance to the urban landscape Los An-geles and to the world in general dimin-ished I became more receptive to seeingthe whole of what lay before my eyes Andso I discovered that the lessons includedrelinquishing my fears and defenses andlooking directly at what was keeping mefrom fully facing the world After a monthor so I suddenly glimpsed sharp razor-like edges and neon colours With timemore glimpses came now teasing me likeinsights slipping in and out of view As Ibecame more practised glimpses becamelong moments of rich perception Soonfabulous shapes and vibrant colours sig-nalled to me edges were sharp all thetime and whole stories revealed them-selves on street corners (Sewall 1999)

These experiences illustrate the intensity ofsensation that is reported when vision therapyis attempted

CASE STUDY

Optometric report

At the age of 3 the patient had minus lensesprescribed for myopia and a divergent squintThe squint ceased but throughout childhood

the strength of the spectacle lenses was in-creased until in 1995 when the patient was 21years old the prescription was 2975ndash175 3 80for the right eye and 2950 2 075 3 90 for theleft Unaided vision at this time was of the or-der 203000 In 1996 the patient started usingholistic techniques to work with vision andstarted changing the strength of the lensesworn The strength of the first reduced pre-scription lenses were 2725 2 175 3 80 for theright eye and 2775 2 150 3 85 for the left (in1996 spectacle lenses prescribed by and acuitymeasures taken by A Kirshner OD FAAOMontreal Quebec Canada) On June 12 1996when these were first worn the acuity as mea-sured through them was 2040 On July 121996 it was measured as 2020 and the strengthof the lenses reduced to 2650 2 175 3 80 forthe right eye and 2650 2 150 3 85 for the leftthrough which the acuity was again measuredas 2040 By August 21 1996 the patientrsquos acu-ity through these new lenses was measured as2020 and again they were changed this timeto 2550 2 175 3 80 for the right eye and2550 2 150 3 85 for the left In November1996 the patient was spending from a few min-utes to several hours each day without specta-cles and in June 1997 the acuity as measuredthrough the new spectacles was 2020 In Sep-tember 1997 the strength of the spectacle lenseswas changed to 2450 in both eyes The amountof time that the patient spent without specta-cles was also steadily increasing so that some-times a full day would be spent without themIn January 1998 unaided binocular vision wasrecorded as 2060 (this measurement wasrecorded by an optometrist at Glasgow Cale-donian University who also assisted in pro-viding the changing prescriptions) In February1998 the strength of part time wear lenses wasreduced to 2350D in both eyes and in April1998 the patient stopped wearing spectacles al-together

Treatment

The time the patient spent without spectaclesand in reduced strength lenses was supportedby a variety of holistic techniques These arelisted below with a brief description of each

CranioSacral therapy is an unforced light

BAMBRIDGE374

touch form of bodywork reported to help ac-cess embodied trauma (Milne 1995) Aro-matherapy massage as received by the patientwas full-body manipulative massage using es-sential oils (Vickers 2000) The self-healingmethods of Meir Schneider involve breathingexercises body stretching and moving partic-ularly in ways unfamiliar to the patient(Schneider 1994) The Alexander technique isa bodywork technique that brings attention tohabits of body use and facilitates new aware-ness of posture and movement In a session theteacher will move the client through subtleposture changes particularly of the neck(Chance 1999) The components of palmingswinging swaying shifting and sunning arecollectively known as the Bates method (Mans-field 1992) Palming is the name given to thetechnique of covering onersquos own eyes with thepalms of the hands This gentle cupping of theeyes is recommended to be done in the darkSwinging is the technique of rotating the bodythrough 180deg while standing and maintainingthe line of sight in the direction of the nose andshoulders Swaying is the technique of stand-ing and rocking the weight from one foot toanother while observing the apparent motionbetween near and far objects Shifting is thename given to the practice of observing detailsby shifting the focus of attention smoothly andrapidly from one point to another Gazing atthe sun through closed eyelids is known assunning The vision therapy that the patienttook part in with a vision therapist was a mix-ture of the Bates method psychotherapy andcounseling

Initially (June to September 1996) the patientdid a daily full-body relaxation exercise andsplashed cold water on the eyes In the autumnof 1996 the patient started monthly sessions witha vision therapist This support continuedthroughout the process although the session fre-quency was reduced to once every 3 monthsduring 1998 and 1999 From September 1997 andthroughout 1998 and 1999 the patient learnedtechniques of stretching breathing and periph-eral vision stimulation using the self-healingtechniques of Meir Schneider These were prac-ticed daily at home During the autumn of 1998 the patient had CranioSacral therapy anAlexander technique lesson or an aromather-

apy massage once a week These sessions con-tinued through 1999 with a decreased frequencyof one session (massage craniosacral therapy orAlexander technique) every 6 weeks

Patientrsquos statement

It is hard for me now to imagine mylevel of dependency on my glasses I didnot exist without them they were a partof my identity that I had never questionedLearning to change my vision was an en-tirely new experience and one which I wasbringing about From the optometrist whointroduced me to the techniques I receivedenthusiasm praise and encouragementbut it was I who was undertaking and im-plementing the changes even if I did notquite understand them The feelings ofpower and change were overwhelmingand as my prescription changed so mysense of identity had to shift I began to feel things I had never felt

sensations around my eyes and in my faceAn uncovering through which I wouldweep I could see in a way I had never seenbefore the leaves moving on trees thecolour of the sky Things I knew but hadnever felt before The intensity was shock-ing and I could not deal with it and wouldoften retreat to bed to recover from the ex-perience Movement and depth were alsonew and expanding and walking along astreet felt like being on a rollercoaster withall the fear and excitement that accompa-nies such a ride There was a new depththe like of which I had not known and Icould feel how far away objects were andhow far away I was As I began to see moreand in different ways I also began to feeldifferent There was a feeling of filling mybody from the inside and my circulationimproved so that icy hands and feet werenot so common I became more aware ofmy emotional state and that of other peo-ple a change which was at first bewil-dering and confusing A room full of peo-ple with its cacophony of interactionswould leave me dizzy feeling the need forretreat feeling ill-equipped for the inten-sity of it

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 375

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

sectioned into many small pieces for analysisit could be concluded that it is made up ofstraight lines because this is what each piecewould approximate This analysis misses manyimportant features of a spiral and is an exam-ple of the type of inaccuracies that can developif the most appropriate tool of analysis is notused and the scale and context of a situation isnot properly addressed Likewise giving opti-cal intervention for myopia while providingclarity of detail misses the context of a strug-gling visual system and the opportunities forhealing

As engineering and electronics are practicalapplications of physics that reinforce our con-fidence in the truths of the field (our under-standing of nature is only true to the extentthat it works [Keller 1989]) so medicine can beregarded as a practical application of our bio-logic understanding for the promotion ofhealthy functioning As scientific understand-ing shifts and changes so too do medicine andhealth care in reflection of these changes Thetools of analysis of biology have grown to re-flect the patterns of the systems involved andtheir contextual embedded and relational na-ture It has come to be recognized that it is arelational order between components that mat-ters more than material composition in livingprocesses (Goodwin 1994) The impact androle therefore of an individual part cannot beunderstood without the context and associa-tions of that part This is a holistic approach toscience and is an argument for a holistic ap-proach to medicine and health care Empha-sizing the relational order between compo-nents means that any symptom must beregarded within its system with all the inter-actions that entails

Working from a holistic viewpoint lifestylerelationships emotions and the body are allsignals reflections part of and all of the stateof health Local symptoms expressions of painor disease can only be addressed in this con-text by a broad view of the needs and wants ofthe individual and his or her community Heal-ing then becomes an emotional process as wellas a physical one There is no thought feelingor perception without molecular and chemicalreaction and change What one seeks to treat isultimately the chemicalmolecular manifesta-

tion of the way someone sees and interpretsthings (Jobst et al 1999)

Myopia as a holistic phenomenon

The blurred vision that accompanies myopiais in this context just one aspect of its mani-festation Myopia can also be described as apattern of pronounced tension in the foreheadjaw neck shoulders upper arms and lowerback It can be described as a reduced periph-eral awareness and a prolonged central fixationtime (staring) (Schneider et al 1994) Myopiacan be construed as a ldquostate of compressed anxiety and unconscious apprehensionrdquo(Goodrich 1985) and ldquointrovertedness over-control of emotions and a high tolerance foranxietyrdquo (Lanyon and Giddings 1974) Whenspectacles are worn the myopia is locked inplace and the conscious vulnerability that blur-ring brings about is lost help and interactionare not requested or received and a sense ofsubconscious loneliness and distancing can oc-cur The world as projected through lenses isnarrow stark and shallow and for the personwearing the lenses the only world that existsLenses as a physical intervention have an im-pact on the body thoughts feelings and per-ceptions

Healing myopia then becomes a process ofchange a relaxation of body tension increas-ing peripheral awareness an expansion of asense of context and an increase in the fluidityand depth of movement of eyes body thoughtand feeling (It should also be noted that al-though myopia is the topic of this paper therehave also been reports of healing other visiondifficulties using these techniques eg congen-ital cataracts and nystagmus [Schneider 1987])The following quotation is from a paper by Or-field who followed a program of vision ther-apy over a time span of 7 years

I saw space visibly expandingmdashpeoplegrew taller and the volume of space ex-panded enormously Seeing space verydifferent from having 2020 sight is the vi-sion thing which is lost with strong lenseswhen central sight is all that is prescribedfor Regaining it is what makes reducingand controlling my myopia worthwhile

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 373

The ldquoapparent motionrdquo of the trees andhedges where I walked caused me to per-ceive distances in new ways I noted thatthe apparent speed of the stationary ob-jects that seemed to move past me andaround each other was all related to theirdistance from me as I walked past themI felt as if the pillars were whizzing by thepavement rolled under my feet It wasquite different from the telescopic sight inmy strong lenses (Orfield 1994)

Another description tells of experiencespracticing the Bates method of vision therapy(see below for a description)

My imagination became strong andclear and I was able to picture whatever Iwanted to see The world began to lightup with a new found resonance and myresistance to the urban landscape Los An-geles and to the world in general dimin-ished I became more receptive to seeingthe whole of what lay before my eyes Andso I discovered that the lessons includedrelinquishing my fears and defenses andlooking directly at what was keeping mefrom fully facing the world After a monthor so I suddenly glimpsed sharp razor-like edges and neon colours With timemore glimpses came now teasing me likeinsights slipping in and out of view As Ibecame more practised glimpses becamelong moments of rich perception Soonfabulous shapes and vibrant colours sig-nalled to me edges were sharp all thetime and whole stories revealed them-selves on street corners (Sewall 1999)

These experiences illustrate the intensity ofsensation that is reported when vision therapyis attempted

CASE STUDY

Optometric report

At the age of 3 the patient had minus lensesprescribed for myopia and a divergent squintThe squint ceased but throughout childhood

the strength of the spectacle lenses was in-creased until in 1995 when the patient was 21years old the prescription was 2975ndash175 3 80for the right eye and 2950 2 075 3 90 for theleft Unaided vision at this time was of the or-der 203000 In 1996 the patient started usingholistic techniques to work with vision andstarted changing the strength of the lensesworn The strength of the first reduced pre-scription lenses were 2725 2 175 3 80 for theright eye and 2775 2 150 3 85 for the left (in1996 spectacle lenses prescribed by and acuitymeasures taken by A Kirshner OD FAAOMontreal Quebec Canada) On June 12 1996when these were first worn the acuity as mea-sured through them was 2040 On July 121996 it was measured as 2020 and the strengthof the lenses reduced to 2650 2 175 3 80 forthe right eye and 2650 2 150 3 85 for the leftthrough which the acuity was again measuredas 2040 By August 21 1996 the patientrsquos acu-ity through these new lenses was measured as2020 and again they were changed this timeto 2550 2 175 3 80 for the right eye and2550 2 150 3 85 for the left In November1996 the patient was spending from a few min-utes to several hours each day without specta-cles and in June 1997 the acuity as measuredthrough the new spectacles was 2020 In Sep-tember 1997 the strength of the spectacle lenseswas changed to 2450 in both eyes The amountof time that the patient spent without specta-cles was also steadily increasing so that some-times a full day would be spent without themIn January 1998 unaided binocular vision wasrecorded as 2060 (this measurement wasrecorded by an optometrist at Glasgow Cale-donian University who also assisted in pro-viding the changing prescriptions) In February1998 the strength of part time wear lenses wasreduced to 2350D in both eyes and in April1998 the patient stopped wearing spectacles al-together

Treatment

The time the patient spent without spectaclesand in reduced strength lenses was supportedby a variety of holistic techniques These arelisted below with a brief description of each

CranioSacral therapy is an unforced light

BAMBRIDGE374

touch form of bodywork reported to help ac-cess embodied trauma (Milne 1995) Aro-matherapy massage as received by the patientwas full-body manipulative massage using es-sential oils (Vickers 2000) The self-healingmethods of Meir Schneider involve breathingexercises body stretching and moving partic-ularly in ways unfamiliar to the patient(Schneider 1994) The Alexander technique isa bodywork technique that brings attention tohabits of body use and facilitates new aware-ness of posture and movement In a session theteacher will move the client through subtleposture changes particularly of the neck(Chance 1999) The components of palmingswinging swaying shifting and sunning arecollectively known as the Bates method (Mans-field 1992) Palming is the name given to thetechnique of covering onersquos own eyes with thepalms of the hands This gentle cupping of theeyes is recommended to be done in the darkSwinging is the technique of rotating the bodythrough 180deg while standing and maintainingthe line of sight in the direction of the nose andshoulders Swaying is the technique of stand-ing and rocking the weight from one foot toanother while observing the apparent motionbetween near and far objects Shifting is thename given to the practice of observing detailsby shifting the focus of attention smoothly andrapidly from one point to another Gazing atthe sun through closed eyelids is known assunning The vision therapy that the patienttook part in with a vision therapist was a mix-ture of the Bates method psychotherapy andcounseling

Initially (June to September 1996) the patientdid a daily full-body relaxation exercise andsplashed cold water on the eyes In the autumnof 1996 the patient started monthly sessions witha vision therapist This support continuedthroughout the process although the session fre-quency was reduced to once every 3 monthsduring 1998 and 1999 From September 1997 andthroughout 1998 and 1999 the patient learnedtechniques of stretching breathing and periph-eral vision stimulation using the self-healingtechniques of Meir Schneider These were prac-ticed daily at home During the autumn of 1998 the patient had CranioSacral therapy anAlexander technique lesson or an aromather-

apy massage once a week These sessions con-tinued through 1999 with a decreased frequencyof one session (massage craniosacral therapy orAlexander technique) every 6 weeks

Patientrsquos statement

It is hard for me now to imagine mylevel of dependency on my glasses I didnot exist without them they were a partof my identity that I had never questionedLearning to change my vision was an en-tirely new experience and one which I wasbringing about From the optometrist whointroduced me to the techniques I receivedenthusiasm praise and encouragementbut it was I who was undertaking and im-plementing the changes even if I did notquite understand them The feelings ofpower and change were overwhelmingand as my prescription changed so mysense of identity had to shift I began to feel things I had never felt

sensations around my eyes and in my faceAn uncovering through which I wouldweep I could see in a way I had never seenbefore the leaves moving on trees thecolour of the sky Things I knew but hadnever felt before The intensity was shock-ing and I could not deal with it and wouldoften retreat to bed to recover from the ex-perience Movement and depth were alsonew and expanding and walking along astreet felt like being on a rollercoaster withall the fear and excitement that accompa-nies such a ride There was a new depththe like of which I had not known and Icould feel how far away objects were andhow far away I was As I began to see moreand in different ways I also began to feeldifferent There was a feeling of filling mybody from the inside and my circulationimproved so that icy hands and feet werenot so common I became more aware ofmy emotional state and that of other peo-ple a change which was at first bewil-dering and confusing A room full of peo-ple with its cacophony of interactionswould leave me dizzy feeling the need forretreat feeling ill-equipped for the inten-sity of it

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 375

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

The ldquoapparent motionrdquo of the trees andhedges where I walked caused me to per-ceive distances in new ways I noted thatthe apparent speed of the stationary ob-jects that seemed to move past me andaround each other was all related to theirdistance from me as I walked past themI felt as if the pillars were whizzing by thepavement rolled under my feet It wasquite different from the telescopic sight inmy strong lenses (Orfield 1994)

Another description tells of experiencespracticing the Bates method of vision therapy(see below for a description)

My imagination became strong andclear and I was able to picture whatever Iwanted to see The world began to lightup with a new found resonance and myresistance to the urban landscape Los An-geles and to the world in general dimin-ished I became more receptive to seeingthe whole of what lay before my eyes Andso I discovered that the lessons includedrelinquishing my fears and defenses andlooking directly at what was keeping mefrom fully facing the world After a monthor so I suddenly glimpsed sharp razor-like edges and neon colours With timemore glimpses came now teasing me likeinsights slipping in and out of view As Ibecame more practised glimpses becamelong moments of rich perception Soonfabulous shapes and vibrant colours sig-nalled to me edges were sharp all thetime and whole stories revealed them-selves on street corners (Sewall 1999)

These experiences illustrate the intensity ofsensation that is reported when vision therapyis attempted

CASE STUDY

Optometric report

At the age of 3 the patient had minus lensesprescribed for myopia and a divergent squintThe squint ceased but throughout childhood

the strength of the spectacle lenses was in-creased until in 1995 when the patient was 21years old the prescription was 2975ndash175 3 80for the right eye and 2950 2 075 3 90 for theleft Unaided vision at this time was of the or-der 203000 In 1996 the patient started usingholistic techniques to work with vision andstarted changing the strength of the lensesworn The strength of the first reduced pre-scription lenses were 2725 2 175 3 80 for theright eye and 2775 2 150 3 85 for the left (in1996 spectacle lenses prescribed by and acuitymeasures taken by A Kirshner OD FAAOMontreal Quebec Canada) On June 12 1996when these were first worn the acuity as mea-sured through them was 2040 On July 121996 it was measured as 2020 and the strengthof the lenses reduced to 2650 2 175 3 80 forthe right eye and 2650 2 150 3 85 for the leftthrough which the acuity was again measuredas 2040 By August 21 1996 the patientrsquos acu-ity through these new lenses was measured as2020 and again they were changed this timeto 2550 2 175 3 80 for the right eye and2550 2 150 3 85 for the left In November1996 the patient was spending from a few min-utes to several hours each day without specta-cles and in June 1997 the acuity as measuredthrough the new spectacles was 2020 In Sep-tember 1997 the strength of the spectacle lenseswas changed to 2450 in both eyes The amountof time that the patient spent without specta-cles was also steadily increasing so that some-times a full day would be spent without themIn January 1998 unaided binocular vision wasrecorded as 2060 (this measurement wasrecorded by an optometrist at Glasgow Cale-donian University who also assisted in pro-viding the changing prescriptions) In February1998 the strength of part time wear lenses wasreduced to 2350D in both eyes and in April1998 the patient stopped wearing spectacles al-together

Treatment

The time the patient spent without spectaclesand in reduced strength lenses was supportedby a variety of holistic techniques These arelisted below with a brief description of each

CranioSacral therapy is an unforced light

BAMBRIDGE374

touch form of bodywork reported to help ac-cess embodied trauma (Milne 1995) Aro-matherapy massage as received by the patientwas full-body manipulative massage using es-sential oils (Vickers 2000) The self-healingmethods of Meir Schneider involve breathingexercises body stretching and moving partic-ularly in ways unfamiliar to the patient(Schneider 1994) The Alexander technique isa bodywork technique that brings attention tohabits of body use and facilitates new aware-ness of posture and movement In a session theteacher will move the client through subtleposture changes particularly of the neck(Chance 1999) The components of palmingswinging swaying shifting and sunning arecollectively known as the Bates method (Mans-field 1992) Palming is the name given to thetechnique of covering onersquos own eyes with thepalms of the hands This gentle cupping of theeyes is recommended to be done in the darkSwinging is the technique of rotating the bodythrough 180deg while standing and maintainingthe line of sight in the direction of the nose andshoulders Swaying is the technique of stand-ing and rocking the weight from one foot toanother while observing the apparent motionbetween near and far objects Shifting is thename given to the practice of observing detailsby shifting the focus of attention smoothly andrapidly from one point to another Gazing atthe sun through closed eyelids is known assunning The vision therapy that the patienttook part in with a vision therapist was a mix-ture of the Bates method psychotherapy andcounseling

Initially (June to September 1996) the patientdid a daily full-body relaxation exercise andsplashed cold water on the eyes In the autumnof 1996 the patient started monthly sessions witha vision therapist This support continuedthroughout the process although the session fre-quency was reduced to once every 3 monthsduring 1998 and 1999 From September 1997 andthroughout 1998 and 1999 the patient learnedtechniques of stretching breathing and periph-eral vision stimulation using the self-healingtechniques of Meir Schneider These were prac-ticed daily at home During the autumn of 1998 the patient had CranioSacral therapy anAlexander technique lesson or an aromather-

apy massage once a week These sessions con-tinued through 1999 with a decreased frequencyof one session (massage craniosacral therapy orAlexander technique) every 6 weeks

Patientrsquos statement

It is hard for me now to imagine mylevel of dependency on my glasses I didnot exist without them they were a partof my identity that I had never questionedLearning to change my vision was an en-tirely new experience and one which I wasbringing about From the optometrist whointroduced me to the techniques I receivedenthusiasm praise and encouragementbut it was I who was undertaking and im-plementing the changes even if I did notquite understand them The feelings ofpower and change were overwhelmingand as my prescription changed so mysense of identity had to shift I began to feel things I had never felt

sensations around my eyes and in my faceAn uncovering through which I wouldweep I could see in a way I had never seenbefore the leaves moving on trees thecolour of the sky Things I knew but hadnever felt before The intensity was shock-ing and I could not deal with it and wouldoften retreat to bed to recover from the ex-perience Movement and depth were alsonew and expanding and walking along astreet felt like being on a rollercoaster withall the fear and excitement that accompa-nies such a ride There was a new depththe like of which I had not known and Icould feel how far away objects were andhow far away I was As I began to see moreand in different ways I also began to feeldifferent There was a feeling of filling mybody from the inside and my circulationimproved so that icy hands and feet werenot so common I became more aware ofmy emotional state and that of other peo-ple a change which was at first bewil-dering and confusing A room full of peo-ple with its cacophony of interactionswould leave me dizzy feeling the need forretreat feeling ill-equipped for the inten-sity of it

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 375

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

touch form of bodywork reported to help ac-cess embodied trauma (Milne 1995) Aro-matherapy massage as received by the patientwas full-body manipulative massage using es-sential oils (Vickers 2000) The self-healingmethods of Meir Schneider involve breathingexercises body stretching and moving partic-ularly in ways unfamiliar to the patient(Schneider 1994) The Alexander technique isa bodywork technique that brings attention tohabits of body use and facilitates new aware-ness of posture and movement In a session theteacher will move the client through subtleposture changes particularly of the neck(Chance 1999) The components of palmingswinging swaying shifting and sunning arecollectively known as the Bates method (Mans-field 1992) Palming is the name given to thetechnique of covering onersquos own eyes with thepalms of the hands This gentle cupping of theeyes is recommended to be done in the darkSwinging is the technique of rotating the bodythrough 180deg while standing and maintainingthe line of sight in the direction of the nose andshoulders Swaying is the technique of stand-ing and rocking the weight from one foot toanother while observing the apparent motionbetween near and far objects Shifting is thename given to the practice of observing detailsby shifting the focus of attention smoothly andrapidly from one point to another Gazing atthe sun through closed eyelids is known assunning The vision therapy that the patienttook part in with a vision therapist was a mix-ture of the Bates method psychotherapy andcounseling

Initially (June to September 1996) the patientdid a daily full-body relaxation exercise andsplashed cold water on the eyes In the autumnof 1996 the patient started monthly sessions witha vision therapist This support continuedthroughout the process although the session fre-quency was reduced to once every 3 monthsduring 1998 and 1999 From September 1997 andthroughout 1998 and 1999 the patient learnedtechniques of stretching breathing and periph-eral vision stimulation using the self-healingtechniques of Meir Schneider These were prac-ticed daily at home During the autumn of 1998 the patient had CranioSacral therapy anAlexander technique lesson or an aromather-

apy massage once a week These sessions con-tinued through 1999 with a decreased frequencyof one session (massage craniosacral therapy orAlexander technique) every 6 weeks

Patientrsquos statement

It is hard for me now to imagine mylevel of dependency on my glasses I didnot exist without them they were a partof my identity that I had never questionedLearning to change my vision was an en-tirely new experience and one which I wasbringing about From the optometrist whointroduced me to the techniques I receivedenthusiasm praise and encouragementbut it was I who was undertaking and im-plementing the changes even if I did notquite understand them The feelings ofpower and change were overwhelmingand as my prescription changed so mysense of identity had to shift I began to feel things I had never felt

sensations around my eyes and in my faceAn uncovering through which I wouldweep I could see in a way I had never seenbefore the leaves moving on trees thecolour of the sky Things I knew but hadnever felt before The intensity was shock-ing and I could not deal with it and wouldoften retreat to bed to recover from the ex-perience Movement and depth were alsonew and expanding and walking along astreet felt like being on a rollercoaster withall the fear and excitement that accompa-nies such a ride There was a new depththe like of which I had not known and Icould feel how far away objects were andhow far away I was As I began to see moreand in different ways I also began to feeldifferent There was a feeling of filling mybody from the inside and my circulationimproved so that icy hands and feet werenot so common I became more aware ofmy emotional state and that of other peo-ple a change which was at first bewil-dering and confusing A room full of peo-ple with its cacophony of interactionswould leave me dizzy feeling the need forretreat feeling ill-equipped for the inten-sity of it

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 375

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

When I first saw clearly for a few mo-ments my knees went weak my heartpounded and it was a relief when my vi-sion blurred back again It felt so new andthere was something about the clarity thatwas more frightening than the precedingblur I was scared with an intensity thatcould leave me doubled over clutching mystomach not moving not daring to lookMy muscles ached in my face and therewas often a sensation of tightness Angerwould consume me but its expressionlaughing and crying always brought meclarity

Having felt the fluidity connectednessand ease of seeing when I put glasses backon a retreated sadness came over me and Ifelt myself curl my shoulders hunch upmy discomfort revealed in snide snips andmy lack of communication Each step intothe blur has been a step into the unknownbut through the bewilderment of thechanges it has all made sense There was arelaxing reassuring feeling amidst an emo-tional chaos I could write draw hear mu-sic look at pictures and feel the emotionalcontent not just understand it from a dis-tance The same is true of my communica-tion with other people It became easier

My experience of wearing a refractivecompensation for myopia is that it was in-flexible constrained narrow and numbdriven forward with an inability to changeComing out of it was difficult SometimesI felt caught half-way up a cliff with noway down and no choice but to cling andkeep climbing It is at these times that fam-ily friends therapists being outdoorsmusic and art have not just eased theprocess of healing but been the instrumentof it and the very reason for it I discov-ered that change was possible I found Ihad the capability for an independence ofvision and the idea of putting lenses backon now fills me with desolation

CONCLUSION

In this paper the scientific justifications be-hind the contemporarily dominant theory of vi-

sion that underpins the profession of optome-try were explored The contextual relevance andappropriateness of scientific models was dis-cussed and the emergence of holistic models inbiology presented as a rationale for experi-menting with holistic models in health care Acase study that involves a holistic approach tomyopia was presented The results of this studywere an increase in acuity a loosening of ten-sion and a heightening of sensations of per-ception This study of a holistic approach to my-opia interprets myopia as being intrinsicallypart of the human process and as such any at-tempt at changing it involves an interactionwith that process From this perspective anysuccessful healing entails paying attention to adeep embedded world of symbolism andmetaphor and a commitment to the textured in-teraction such attention brings about

This case study and the experience of un-dergoing the changes described are offered asevidence that the contemporary model of vi-sion that justifies the prescribing of negativelenses for myopia needs to be reexamined Be-cause the case study presented is an experimentwith holistic health techniques this also impliesan engagement with the question of validity ofa holistic model of health

REFERENCES

Bambridge A An Investigation of Myopic Visual Func-tion and the Effect of Holistic Vision Therapy [MPhilthesis] Glasgow Glasgow Caledonian University2001

Bohm D The Special Theory of Relativity London Rout-ledge 1996

Bromley DB The Case Study Methodology in Psychologyand Related Disciplines London John Wiley and Sons1986

Chance J Thorsons Principles of the Alexander Tech-nique London Thorsons 1999

Curtin B The Myopias Philadelphia Harper and Row1985

Donders F On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Re-fraction of the Eye London The New Sydenham Soci-ety 1864

Garner L Owens H Kinnear R Frith M Ocular dimen-sions and refraction in Tibetan children Optom Vis Sci199972266ndash271

Glaser BG Strauss AL The Discovery of Grounded The-ory Strategies for Qualitative Research New York Al-dine Publishing Company 1967

BAMBRIDGE376

Goodrich J Natural Vision Improvement Berkeley CACelestial Arts 1985

Goodwin B How the Leopard Changed Its Spots TheEvolution of Complexity London Pheonix 1994

Grosvenor T Goss D Clinical Management of MyopiaLondon Butterworth Heineman 1999

Helmholtz H Helmholtzrsquos Treatise on Physiological Op-tics New York Dover Publications 1871

Hubbard R Science Facts and Feminism In Tuana Ned Feminism and Science Bloomington Indiana Uni-versity Press 1989119ndash131

Jobst KA Shostak D Whitehouse PJ Diseases of mean-ing Manifestations of health and metaphor J AlternComplement Med 19995495ndash502

Keller EF The GenderScience System In Tuana N edFeminism and Science Indiana University Press198933ndash44

Kreiling FC Leibniz GW In Kline M ed MathematicsAn Introduction to its Spirit and Use San FanciscoWH Freeman and Company 196833ndash38

Lam C Edwards M Millodot M Goh W A 2-year longi-tudinal study of myopia progression and optical com-ponent changes among Hong Kong schoolchildren Op-tom Vis Sci 199976370ndash380

Lanyon R Giddings J Psychological approaches to my-opia A review Am J Ophthalmal Physiol Optics197451271ndash281

Lovejoy S Schertzer D Tessier Y Gaonacrsquoh H Multi-fractals and resolution-independent remote sensing al-gorithms The example of ocean colour Int J RemoteSensing 2001221191ndash1234

Mansfield P The Bates Method London MacDonald Op-tima UK 1992

Medawar P The Limits of Science Oxford Oxford Uni-versity Press 1984

Milne H The Heart of Listening A Visionary Approachto Craniosacral Work Berkeley CA North AtlanticBooks 1995

Orfield A Seeing space Undergoing brain re-program-ming to reduce myopia J Behav Optom 19945123ndash131

Schneider M Self-Healing My Life and Vision LondonPenguin Arkana 1987

Schneider M Larkin M Schneider D The Handbook ofSelf-Healing London Penguin Arkana 1994

Sewall L Introduction Sight and Sensibility The Ecopsy-chology of Perception New York Tarcher Putnam19993

Vickers A Why aromatherapy works (even if it doesnrsquot)and why we need less research Br J Gen Prac200050444ndash445

Whiteside DT The Mathematical Papers of Isaac NewtonVolume I 1664ndash1666 In Kline M ed Mathematics AnIntroduction to its Spirit and Use San Fancisco WHFreeman and Company 196829ndash32

Address reprint requests toAnna Bambridge MA MPhilDepartment of Vision Sciences

Glasgow Caledonian UniversityCowcaddens RoadGlasgow G4 0BA

ScotlandUnited Kingdom

E-mail annapowernetcouk

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MYOPIA 377