Doctor William Horatio Bates (1860 - 1930) – in his time, one of the best eye doctors of the renowned hospitals in New York; lecturer of ophthalmology; also the private medical practitioner. Spent his entire life on studying the functioning of the eyes and visual process.

In 1919, he published the book entitled The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses in which he went so far that he disagreed with the generally accepted Helmholtz theory of vision (which in fact has prevailed until today). This theory is based on the thesis that the acute vision is conditioned by the small ciliary muscles located in the inside of the eye, which reputedly “control” the thickness of the lens. Helmholtz attributed them a main role in the process of accommodation. Doctor Bates came to the conclusion that the main accommodation tool is not the lens, but the external eyeball muscles responsible not only for the eyes movement, but also lengthening and shortening of the whole eye in its front-rear axle (in a similar way to the lens of the camera or binoculars). The experiments conducted by Bates proved that this theory was legitimate.

He explained the clear seeing of near objects by the work of the two (external) oblique muscles flattening (lengthening) the eyeball (just as when sitting on a ball), and the process of seeing clearly the distanced objects – by the work of four (external) rectus muscles pulling (“shortening”) the eye in the opposite direction. The Bates’ beliefs that the eye functions in this way (through the eyeball external muscles) are supported by the unexplained cases of clear seeing by the persons who have lost their lens due to this or that reason (for example, the cataract) or were born without it.

The thing that seems to be most characteristic for Bates is his approach to the patient and his/her disease. Bates would not ponder like almost all eye doctors on the optimal glasses for the patient. He rather thought how to really help the patient, that is, how to cure him/her from the defects so that the patient could see normally. The main assumptions of Bates theory are as follows:

1. Recovery of good vision is possible

   One of the main assumptions of Dr. Bates was the ascertainment that just as a broken limb can be brought back to normal functioning as a result of rehabilitation exercises and treatment, the organ of vision can be brought back to the full functioning in terms of acuity in the same way, not having to use the glasses.

2. Abandoning artificial lenses and glasses

   According to the assumptions of Dr. Bates, the artificial lenses and glasses are the same thing for the eyes as crutches for a person whose broken leg has knitted. If a person with the visual defect does not abandon the peculiar crutches for the eyes (the glasses) and take up rehabilitation treatment, that is reeducation and improvement of the organ of vision, he/she will not improve the vision, but quite the contrary, has to be prepared for the deterioration of vision and the use of even stronger glasses prescribed by the eye doctor.

3. Acuity is variable

   One of the assumptions of Dr. Bates was the thesis that the acuity varies from high to low and vice versa according to the physical and emotional state of a person. Bates found that the vision does not stay permanently at one level of quality but changes all the time.

4. Reeducation of vision, that is, the abandonment of bad habits

   Dr. Bates came to the conclusion that most visual defects are due to the incorrect use of the organ of vision. Bad habits related to the use of the eyes are always closely linked to their strain and stress. The stress affects the whole body in the same way. Dr. Bates found that with the adoption of good vision techniques (including especially the relaxation techniques), the stress in our eyes and the whole body is lower. Such was the effect of the adoption of methods of eyes and mind relaxation, which resulted directly in the improvement of sight and lower refraction error.

5. Relax as the key to success

   In Bates method, the ability of passive and dynamic relaxation is the first and basic technique improving the vision. By relaxation, I mean not only the general ability to relax the muscles, but also the relaxation of mind which is a condition for the process of vision to occur. In many cases, the relaxation techniques used by Bates turned out to be sufficient for the improvement of sight.

6. The basic techniques used by Bates

   I am going to limit myself to give only the names of the basic techniques used by Bates among his patients, which gave good unexpectedly good results in the treatment of visual defects. The techniques are specifically explained on this website in its appropriate sections. These are: the relaxation of body and eyes, palming, central fixation, light exposure, swinging, visualization, blinking, micromovement of the eyes, flash technique, analytic seeing and many others that we will try to discuss here.

You should visit the eye doctor for many reasons. First of all, he is able to identify your visual defect, which makes the choice of exercises easier and promises the improvement of vision. A visit at the specialist further allows to identify the abnormal changes in the eye, degeneration, cancer or other eye diseases that may be the contraindications to the exercises.

The portal BatesEyeExercises.com shall not be held responsible for the results of the presented exercises. In all cases, you should consult the eye doctor as to whether these exercises are safe for your health.

You should know about the further visits for assessing the improvement of vision. The eye doctor should be consulted not earlier than after about one year. This is caused, among others, by a significant measurement error of the so-called “computer vision test”. To determine your progress, simply use a Snellen chart.

In order for the eye to perform the exercises, it needs to be active, and it will not be if we put a well-fitted “prosthesis” on it, such as the glasses. Generally, I advise the following approach:

1. For a defect < = 1 diopter, the exercises should be performed without the glasses. The individuals with such a defect should abandon completely the use of glasses. Exception: during driving we should wear the glasses recommended by the eye doctor.
2. For a defect > 1 diopter, you should buy the glasses smaller by about 1 diopter, and use them both for the practice and in daily activities. Exception: during driving we should wear the glasses recommended by the eye doctor.
3. The individuals wearing the contact lenses should abandon them (since the lenses are not good for the efficient practice) and buy the glasses (see item a and b). As an alternative, we can practice in the morning and evening when we have not put the contact lenses on yet, and perform mainly relaxation exercises during the day.

The use of glasses of lower capacity than our defect will induce our eyes to work. At first, it is inevitably going to be a certain effort, but a week or two, and your eyes will be invigorated. You will then begin to see what was very blurred and practically invisible before.

So, remove your eye "prosthesis" and start to practice…

Since eye exercises are going to considerably strain your eyes, it is good to invigorate them sometimes with a proper diet or medications. We do not mean to persuade you to consume everything you find at the pharmacy, but advise to kindly read the guidelines below and perhaps use some of them for the health of your eyes. As far as the medicines available at the pharmacy are concerned, we especially recommend the eyebright drops and Klarin due to their natural method of production.