Getting Cured of Glaucoma

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Getting Cured of Glaucoma

By F. C. Stewart.
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This patient when first seen was able to read 20/50 with each eye, but
the right eye was absolutely blind on the nasal side, a vertical line
dividing the seeing from the blind area. The tension of the right eye
was usually greater than that of the left, but at times the reverse
was the case, and for short periods the tension of both eyes was
normal. He had been using myotics (drops which contract the pupil) for
some time, but had obtained no benefit from them. His age was fifty-
eight, and he was wearing the following glasses: distance, both eyes,
convex 2.75 D.S.; reading, both eyes, convex 5.00 D.S. The improvement
in his field since he has been under treatment has been very
remarkable, as the accepted methods of treatment, even when the
results are most favorable are not expected to enlarge the field, or
even to prevent a further loss.
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In the summer of 1917 I had the first symptoms of glaucoma in the form
of an attack of rainbow vision. I did not know what the symptoms
meant, and was not alarmed; but I went to an optician and had my
glasses changed, thinking the trouble was the consequence of
eyestrain. These symptoms continued, however, and I went to another
optician and had the glasses changed. Still I was no better. Then I
went to a succession of oculists, some six or seven, all of them being
men of considerable eminence in the profession. The first two put
drops in my eyes and examined my field, but did not tell me that I had
glaucoma. It was only from the third, about a year and a half after
the first symptoms appeared, that I learned what was the matter with
me. The last began to talk operation, but I let him talk. I think I
may claim to be as game as anyone about operations. When the doctors
told me that they wanted to take my stomach out and put it back again,
I said, "Go ahead." If they had told me that they wanted to take off
my leg, I would probably have said the same thing. But when it came to
letting anyone cut into my eye it was a different matter. About the
first of last July the oculist in whose care I then was told me that
my field was getting less. He asked me to come back in October, and
said if the field continued to contract he would talk operation again.

Sometime previous to this an acquaintance who said that Dr. Bates had
cured him of glaucoma gave me a copy of 'Better Eyesight'. I did not
become seriously interested at the time, but I asked the man for
details. He told me something about Dr. Bates' methods, and said he
not only had great faith in Dr. Bates, but that he was the only eye
specialist in whom he did have any faith.

Finally, on September 11, of this year, I went to Dr. Bates. He told
me to stop the eye drops and take off the glasses, which I did. Having
worn the latter for twenty-five years, I had considerable difficulty
at first in getting on without them; but after three or four days
things began to go better, and before the end of the month I read the
address on the Doctor's card without artificial aid. I could not have
done this when I took off my glasses if a hundred million dollars had
been at stake. I can now, six weeks after the beginning of the
treatment, read ordinary print at twelve inches, and under favorable
conditions can read diamond type at six inches or less. There has also
been a considerable improvement in my field.

My progress has been slow, but it is sure, and I see no reason why it
should not continue until I get a complete cure. I have spent many
hours a day palming, and this, when it is successful, softens the
eyeball and improves the sight very materially. I am also able to
soften the eyeball simply by thought—that is, by the memory of some
object or incident. A white cloud, the blue sky, some incident of my
boyhood, or of a more recent period—anything so long as it is
remembered perfectly—has this extraordinary effect. Often when I wake
in the morning my eyeballs are hard, but by the aid of my memory I am
always able to soften them. One morning I woke at two o'clock, and
went to the bathroom. There, in accordance with a habit of mine, I
washed my face with cold water. As I touched my eyeballs I was shocked
to find how hard they were. They were like two rocks. Immediately I
paid a mental visit to Van Cortland Park and began to examine the
trees, noticing the texture of the bark, the gum oozing out of it, the
outlines of the leaves, etc., and before I had reached the second tree
the eyeballs were soft. Often since I have resorted to the same
expedient, and always with the same result. Fortunately I know the
different kinds of trees very well, and my visits to the park are
interesting as well as profitable.

On the streets and elsewhere I try to imagine that everything is
moving, and as long as I am able to do this the eyeballs remain soft.
Since I have been under treatment I have been trying to learn to sleep
on my back, as the Doctor says that the body is always under a strain
unless the spine is straight. When I am able to do this I waken
without pain or hardness in the eyeballs.

Recently I sent one of Dr. Bates' reprints to the specialist who
wanted to operate on me, and he said he was much interested.
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Glaucoma Number
Better Eyesight
A monthly magazine devoted to the prevention and cure of imperfect
sight without glasses
Copyright, 1920, by the Central Fixation Publishing Company
Editor—W. H. Bates, M.D.
Publisher—Central Fixation Publishing Co.
$2.00 per year, 20 cents per copy
342 West 42nd Street, New York, N. Y.
Vol. III - December, 1920 - No. 6
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