Vision Freedom

Brief introduction

The Vision Freedom system is developed by a pilot, Brian Severson. He started his own vision quest because 20/20 vision is required by his job. His eyesight deteriorated to 20/80 by the time he obtained the necessary qualifications. After much research, he helped himself to 20/20 vision in a short period of 8 weeks. He then started the Vision Freedom system.

How it claims to work

The Vision Freedom system is based on lenses. According to Brian Severson, the key to vision improvement is lenses. The eye can see clearly because of constant focusing controlled by external muscles. The muscles changes the physical shape of the eye 35,000 to 100,000 times a day to achieve this focusing. All this depends on the current strength of the eye muscles. To strengthen the eye muscles, one has to exercise them through lenses.

It claims to be able to cure a host of vision problems like

Near-sightedness (Myopia)
Far-sightedness (hyperopia)
Astigmatism (defective images)
Old-age vision (presbyopia)
lazy-eye (amblyopia, strabismus, etc.)

Here comes the science bit - concentrate

Unfortunately the Vision Freedom system is based on faulty reasoning. Firstly, the focussing of the eye (accommodation) is the task of the ciliary muscles inside the eyeballs. The external muscles are just responsible for general eye movements, like watching a pretty lass walk by. Secondly, if vision problems were caused by over-tense external muscles, one should be relaxing instead of "exercising" them (there's also considerable doubt in my mind whether the method he uses actually "exercises" eye muscles).

(After pointing out the seemingly contradictory statement that one should exercise tensed-up eyes, I should tell you It is possible to reconcile these two paradigms. Imagine how you would relax your stiff muscles after being perched in front of the computer screen for the past 2 hours: you stretch. This stretching motion contracts the muscles for a moment, then relaxes. Repeated contracting and relaxing of muscles helps relaxes tense muscles. This is what clinical psychologists would do to reduce anxiety of patients.)

The VF system dissected

Here I will be examining the VF system in detail. The system is protected by copyright laws, according to the small print on the cover. But I wonder how much content is actually original. Most of the material covered can actually be found elsewhere. If you read the advertisements on his website (http://www.visionfreedom.com), you would notice that he tries hard to avoid revealing the method and covers it in a sugar coating.

The amazing glasses promoted on the VF website are ordinary plus lenses. There are three pairs: +1.00D, +2.00D and +3.00D. The purpose of these glasses is two-fold: reduce near-point stress and bring the so-called blurline closer.

Near-point stress has been pinpointed as one of the major environmental causes of myopia. The constant accommodation causes undue strain on the eyes and over a period of time, the eyeball gradually extends to form the dreaded condition afflicting millions: myopia. To avoid near-point stress, one must not wear full strength single lens glasses to do near work like computer games and reading. For those who have mild myopia, wearing plus lenses while doing near work can help to reduce near-point stress.

The second function of plus lenses is closer to the heart of the VF system. The aptly-named "blurline" is the point where vision begins to get less clear. Usually it would be rather far in the distance. The aim of the system is to bring the blurline to within one's reading distance. The logic is as follows: by continually crossing the blurline, one could gradually extend it, until 20/20 is achieved.

To assist in this process of pushing back the blurline, the VF system proposes opening one's eyes wide and then blinking them. That's all there is to it. The rest of the hundred odd pages of the manual repeats this with mind-numbing frequency.

Conclusion

The VF system is built on a shaky foundation of flawed scientific reasoning. Intriguingly, some people have achieved positive results using this system (check out the "review" in the related articles). However, I believe it will collapse under the rigour of a properly designed clinical trial, like a shoddily constructed building in an earthquake. Until results prove otherwise, there is no reason for anyone to spend a hundred dollars for glasses worth a couple of bucks.