There are quite a few reasons for cataracts, including poor nutrition and poor metabolism in the body. It is important, therefore, to eat a balanced, healthy diet and to devote time to regular exercise, especially as we get older.
Many other reasons for cataracts are unknown, and in fact most people don’t really care what the cause of their cataract is because the medical solution seems to work fine for most people, which is simply to remove the lens. Cataracts occur so regularly that we think it is natural, and there is no way to stop it or to save the lens. If the lens is removed surgically and an intraocular lens is inserted artificially, most people regain the vast majority of their vision. After all, you do not see with your lens—you see with your retina and your brain.
In fact, that tends to be the treatment we like these days. We like to remove parts that are not essential to our daily functions and either replace them or live without them; then we hail conventional medicine for being able to do it. While I’m happy that cataract surgeries exist (especially because some people cannot manage their cataracts, and the lens needs to be removed anyway), I would like to propose that in 80 percent of the cases when cataracts begin, they can be stalled and even stopped for dozens of years, if not eliminated altogether. Moreover, cataracts can be prevented. The lens of modern life does not have the chance for full functioning. It becomes thick and opaque because it doesn’t move the way it was designed by nature to move.
With the exception a child whose lens is opaque in infancy, in which case medicine has proven to be a great relief to many children, we need to fight for every lens when cataracts begin. My feeling is that if we did this, most of the people destined for cataract surgery these days would never actually have it. Often, surgery makes the eyes even worse because it causes scar tissue to build up on the lens. Other times, we have glaucoma attacks that could blind the eye, or there is bleeding in the retina as a result of cataract surgery.
One of my patients, Brett, had diabetes. His left eye was operated on successfully and was at 20/20 vision. When his right eye was operated on, he became blind. I had partial success with Brett’s right eye using light therapy, but his doctor negated the results, and Brett lost the small progress he had made with me. Doctors’ suggestions can be very powerful. For that reason, I failed in my therapy with Brett, and it was heartbreaking because I liked this wonderful person, and I wanted very much to succeed with him.
On the other hand, one of my best friends and clients, Hannan, had one eye that was sighted and the other nearly blind. We worked for ten years and were able to get the blind eye to see somewhat and the sighted eye to see better than he had seen since childhood. Then Hannan went to Bascom Palmer, one of the best hospitals in the United States, and had cataract surgery. There were complications in the surgery itself. But after the four-hour surgery that should have lasted for only forty minutes, his vision became 20/25, 95 percent of 20/20, to the amazement of all attending physicians.
We never know what’s going to be the result of a medical procedure. Sometimes it’s worse than we imagine it would be, as with Brett, who had expected to see 20/20 in his right eye. Brett’s doctors didn’t take into consideration that his calf had to be amputated from the knee down due to diabetes-related gangrene and that his circulation couldn’t possibly be the same when they operated on his right eye. Therefore, the result of the surgery in his right eye was not nearly as positive as it was in the previous surgery in his left eye. But in Hannan’s case, where the physicians were sure there would not be any good results from the surgery, it was Hannan’s insistence that caused them to do the surgery after the cataract was in place for a great many years. He ended up seeing 20/25.
What an amazing dichotomy: when they expect to succeed, they fail; when they expect to fail, they succeed.
When one eye overworks and the other eye underworks because of a cataract, the brain works very hard to suppress the information that the underworking eye brings to it. The strain is immeasurable. The eye that overworks becomes fatigued; the eye that underworks becomes weak.
If you experience a cataract, my advice is simply to work on yourself, first with the exercises recommended in this chapter. Remember to refer back to Chapter 4 for specific instructions for each exercise. The goal is to get both eyes to work together and to get the weaker eye to pull its fair share and not get dominated by the stronger eye. Only if your self-care fails to achieve the desired results should you seek help from surgeons.
Exercise Program for Cataracts
• Look into the Distance: 30 minutes daily, three intervals of 10 minutes, or 20 minutes once and 10 minutes once.
• Look at Details: 10 minutes daily.
• Palming: 60 minutes daily.
• Bounce and Catch: 10 minutes daily.
A Note about Cataract Surgery
If you are considering cataract surgery, the purpose of doing these exercises is to see whether you can postpone or even cancel the surgery. When you do this program, you should ask yourself if you are improving. If you are, postpone the surgery.
Many people have improved or have halted the onset of cataracts, so they didn’t need the surgery. Some, however, have not improved. But even for those who did not improve, the fact that they did the exercises was good anyway. So don’t stop the exercises even if you did not succeed in stopping the cataract.
These exercises are good for the overall health of the eye. That is your goal. The goal isn’t to avoid surgery; it is the health of the eye. If you can prevent the surgery, that’s great, and that happens to more than half of the people who follow this program.
We work very hard from infancy to early childhood to create balanced use of the two eyes. Pediatric ophthalmologists understand how important it is to create bilateral vision. What puzzles me, however, is that most ophthalmologists will correct one eye to see near with cataract surgery and one eye to see far. This correction is an error, and it goes completely against nature’s will for the eyes to work together. It strains the eye and creates tension all over the body.
The best solution is to request that your surgeon correct both eyes to see well from far away, and with glasses to see well from close up. With time and exercise, maybe you won’t need the glasses.
Note: Remember to work these exercises into the entirety of your day. Don’t do an hour and a half all at once. Pace out the exercises so that you are working on your vision all the time, as a matter of habit. Habits determine your destiny.
Extra Exercise for Cataracts: Bounce and Catch
For this exercise you will need the opaque piece of paper to tape to the bridge of your nose, a ball, and, if possible, a trampoline. If you are not able to find a trampoline, or if your physical condition prevents you from using one, you can simply try running in place instead of bouncing. The point of bouncing is to distract your mind and body while you practice the exercise, as well as to engage your peripheral and central vision in a dynamic and different way.
Simply put the paper on the bridge of your nose so it blocks the central vision of the strong eye, and play catch with someone while you bounce. Wave one hand to the side, above, and also below the eye that is obstructed. Make sure that you can see your hand only peripherally. Bounce and catch for five minutes; then take a break and sun for a minute. Then bounce and catch for another five minutes. Now take the piece of paper off and see how different the world looks. Notice a bigger periphery expanding around you. Notice the intensity of color and shape. It is also helpful to try this exercise with the paper taped to the bridge of your nose from your forehead down to your chin, as in the Melissa exercise.