All about Eyesight

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, it occurred to me that this new thread might be interesting and maybe valuable for some.

We do already have these three threads:

• Eyesight restored with the help of a tooth
• Holistic Meds for Eyesight, Eyedrops etc.
• DMSO for Eyes: Glaucoma, Cataracts, Strain, Vision, Retinitis and the Organ Responsible for Eye Care

But I felt that a more general thread might also be useful, as I'm aware that one or two members do have some eyesight issues, including those which may require surgery or other procedures or remedies.

I confess that I know very little about this, so I may have little to contribute. The only thing to add personally that may be interesting is that back in 2019 I went for a long high mountain hike under clear blue skies when the UV was literally off the scale (30 or more).

I badly burned my eyes, and was diagnosed with a serious instance of ultraviolet keratitis. I'd never heard of that before, but in lay terms this is really 'snowblindness'. I wasn't actually 'blind', but it was very uncomfortable.

The cornea has a thin protective layer over it, 6 cells thick. Mine had just completely burned off. But before it all evaporated it'd done its heroic job, and my corneas and retinas, all shielded behind it, were 100% undamaged. I'd been lucky.

All that had to happen was that layer had to regrow. I spent three painful days sitting patiently in total darkness, after which everything started to get better.

Since then I've been mindful to ALWAYS wear high-tech zero-UV mountain glasses, even when I'm outside the house under the sun for just a couple of minutes.

That regime, which is automatic for me now, seems to have protected me extremely well. I no longer have any problems at all.... and I still don't wear glasses for reading or anything else.



Might anyone else care to share helpful stories about their own efforts to care for, protect, and heal their eyes?

[Vicus]

My "story"

One year before enter high school began "problems" played football (soccer for illiterate) , no more at front,just defense...I got astigmatism...and that was the end for ALL crew sports...a blow for me because in real, wanted to play Rugby ...

Now only 1 man show sports,like swimming, heavy weights lifter,jogging,karate and wind surfing...

In high school I was the "glasses"in my class but nobody dear to spill jokes on me because I was one of the 3 biggest man there...

Once in Europe I wanted to try contact lenses until some incident happens similar to Bill Ryan post, not on mountain tops but under the Spain scorching sun in summer on the beaches...by wind surfing: Sun plus water reflections and always scorching beaches...

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NuT5KUA7iaY

In one local mark I found a little book about training your eyes... just simple changing your focus, like a Photo apparatus, like watching your finger and then watching something far away, training the little eyes "muscles"...

The glasses and contact lenses in principle were only needed for driving a car, not for anything else...specially by night.

Working as DJ in dark clubs once needed a special song, that song was in a CD, with very small inscriptions...to find that damn song needed to take out one contact lens et voila! Well from that moment on I began to use only one...until some day I forgot that and used NONE...until today.

That was EONS ago, no more ANYTHING! maybe only for drive if I needed, but I don't have a car ...

[Ewan]

Blurry Vision & Fading Eyesight: Barbara O'Neill's Secrets to Restoring Vision

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=t1-SlR3tj1E

Sorry I could not find her original video, taken from a talk on stage. All we are left with here is sub-standard AI narration.

[Anchor]

Ever since I retired in 2022 my eyes got progressively better.

1) No more long days on screens
2) No more long night drives from Sydney to Central Tablelands
3) Loads more time outside during day
4) More sleep
5) More watching sunrises standing barefoot on grass
6) Less phone

I no longer have to wear glasses. I recently got a new driving license and this time I passed the sight test without glasses so my license isn't "conditional" on them any more.

BUT:

1) I cant see up close and I don't expect that to get any better ! So I have an illuminated magnifier on my desk which is on an arm that I can swing in when I am working on small stuff (or getting splinters out)
2) I have a pair of +1 and +3 mini glasses in my bug out and overnight bags for the same reason - these are not prescription, they are just like little mini magnifying glasses you can get them cheaply
3) If I get really tired I still need glasses to drive and I probably still need glasses to drive at night - but I haven't done that for a while.

Eye health boosters:

Nutrition is important for the eyes - specifically: Vitamin C, E and Zinc + omega-3's DHA/EPA and Lutein/zeaxanthin
Walking and looking around at things close and distant is good

Anchor.. / John..

[Craig]

I recently decided to have an eye test that led to a change in prescription to my readling glasses, (IT work 85% screen work) and there was a marked improvement, I got the ones where the top is different to the bottom of the lense but without a marked change in the lense if that makes sense? Interestingly around this time I received a crack in my windscreen that needed repair (I don't wear the glasses to drive) Not long after changing the windscreen I was driving to work and vision seemed weird, double vision like but not a left/right but a top/bottom version. Then later on at work I was in the largish kitchen area looking a wall mounted TV on the other end of the room and the presenters all had four eyes! one on the top of the other?

Today I appear to have it worse than prior, but i did get up early to watch the F1 so I am thinking it is tiredness but I am thinking i might need to go back for another test if it keeps up, has anybody else had this type of double vision? Up close is fine, mid to long distance is where it is happening?

[John Hilton]

Posted by Craig (here)
has anybody else had this type of double vision?

No. I have slight astigmatism, which results in slight horizontal displacement, not vertical. I guess that you have astigmatism that is 90 degrees rotated from mine.

Also, I can no longer focus closer than about a foot (30 cm). I used to be able to focus at the end of my nose until about age 50. Also, if I do read close at 1 foot without spectacles for a few minutes, I can't focus on distant objects for a few minutes until my eyes adjust. (This accommodation delay is common in old age.)

I used to be short-sighted and have worn spectacles since age 21. Since age 55 my distance vision is good enough for driving without spectacles, except at night.

After taking anticoagulants for a few months, suddenly I developed "floaters": I have something that looks like a tadpole in each eye - although thankfully not in the centre of vision. In addition, I have something that looks like a net floating across my vision and I often have to flick my eyes downwards so that I can see clearly. Again, this is a kind of "floater", not a cataract.

But overall my vision is pretty good for 75.

I have experimented with diluted DMSO drops and also castor oil drops without any obvious effect.

[Rosencross]

I had the up/down vision thing a while ago while watching the TV. I tried various things, like Castor oil, which did get rid of any floaters but not the up/ down vision.

I tried a pair of those pinhole glasses, which were a bit of a hassle but after a while they helped (a couple of weeks of wearing them for about 20 minutes each day watching the TV) and it has gone away.

If it was the glasses, I can't really be sure.

[Ernie Nemeth]

My eyes are getting progressively worse, but I do not wear glasses.
One eye is pretty much useless. I guess I must ignore most of the signal from it.
Luckily, my other eye is dominant and has relatively good vision.
The bad eye sees far, though. The good eye sees close and almost as good far.
If I use only my good eye I see objects in sharper contrast and colors are more vibrant.
Things grey out a little when I use both eyes.
But I can still see better than others with glasses, both near and far.
Sometimes I get floaters in the morning but it is only residuals from night time sleep repair mode. They clear after I wash my face and the corners of my eyes.
Never been tested. Don't think I ever will.
Unless I can't see functionally anymore, of course.

PS. I swear I can adjust my eyes like a microscope. Is that normal?
I can still read fine print, but I have to focus real hard.
The image keeps going out of focus then clears again.

[RunningDeer]

Repost from Sept. 30, 2026:

Today, I had cataract surgery on my second eye. After experiencing the difference between my two eyes over the past week, I was actually looking forward to it. Now everything looks sharp, bright, white and incredibly vibrant.

A week ago, I went outside to look at the moon. The eye that had its cataract removed just seven hours earlier saw a brilliant white moon surrounded by blue, purple, and violet fields. My other eye saw a yellow, waxy moon enveloped in a brownish-yellow haze.

I had to laugh when I pulled up my pale green bed quilt. My “good” eye saw it as pale blue. That’s when I realized what had been happening. Which was when I combine the blue I was seeing with the yellow my cataract eye was adding, and you get green which is the secondary color we all learned about in school.

There have been so many other little discoveries this past week. It’s been fascinating to realize just how much a cataract can quietly change the way you see the world.

{snip}