This article is a summary of how to reverse myopia. Here are the components of the process, some of which are done at the same time.
- Get a pair of differentials, which are reduced prescription concave glasses for closeup activities, such as reading books and using a computer. If your vision is good enough to where you can sit up straight with good posture and comfortably read text on a computer monitor without any glasses, then you can skip this step. One diopter off of your full prescription or 0.75 off of your normalized are rough estimates of what your differential prescription is. You should be able to sit with good posture while doing your usual closeup activities. For this reason, the difference between normalized and differential varies from person to person. Some recommend a difference of 1.5 diopters, but I have found that I need a stronger pair of differentials to comfortably read from my computer monitor in an office environment, so my difference is only about 0.75 diopters.
- Learn how to active focus, which is looking at something, preferably text in the distance, in a relaxed manor. Calmly let your eyes clear up the blur, which may take about five seconds, though the amount of time depends on the situation.
- Get a slightly reduced pair of concave glasses mainly for distance viewing activities, including recreational activities, for example, going for walks or playing tennis, and commuting. You should see roughly 20/30 with these glasses. These glasses are called normalized glasses. If you see 20/20 out of the glasses you are wearing now, you can try glasses with the prescription reduced by 0.25 diopters. Leave the astigmatism prescription as is, or just reduce the astigmatism prescription and not the spherical (nearsightedness) prescription. Sometimes a new pair of normalized glasses works right away, while other times you may have to use them for two months before you notice improvement.
- Keep a stronger pair for situations in which the normalized glasses are inadequate, mainly nighttime driving.
- Partake in hobbies that involve you looking over distances of at least twenty feet. Golf, tennis, and going for walks are good examples. Wear your normalized glasses while doing these activities.
- While walking around, look at text from far enough away to where it is initially readable though a little blurry, but if you look at it in a relaxed manner, the text becomes clearer after a few seconds. Street signs are a good source of text for doing this with.
- Measure your eyesight in centimeters with a ruler or tape measure about once every three weeks. Hopefully you see progress each time, but don’t panic if you lose a little bit or stagnate from time to time. Basically hold up a business card at various places along a ruler and measure where it becomes blurry. It is okay to give your eyes a few seconds to adjust at different distances. Measure your eyes one at a time. An eyepatch is helpful for this.
- Keep using the same normalized and differentials as long as your vision is improving. You may improve to where you can see 20/20 with that pair of normalized, or maybe you will stall out at 20/25. This stall out typically happens when based on centimeter measurements your vision is within 0.1 diopters of what the normalized prescription is. A stall out after your vision has been improving for a few months is a good thing and can indicate that it is time to reduce your prescriptions. A three plus month stall out when you have never made any progress indicates that you are not wearing a good pair of normalized, or that you basically never go outside.
- Join an online forum, whether on this website (coming soon), the EndMyopia Facebook group, endmyopia.org, or on some other website. This way you can ask questions and help others.
Those are the “steps” to reverse myopia. Be patient yet active in your endeavor to improve your eyesight, and relaxed but focused when active focusing.
