A night out of partying and drinking can significantly affect your vision the next day.
You may not be aware of this, if you are accustomed to wearing full strength prescriptions – as these are usually anywhere from 0.25 to 0.75 over-prescribed, they will mask any short term strain symptoms your body may be trying to relate.
Part of this program will include a step down to a more realistic prescription, one that mimics your natural eyesight more accurately. You will become aware of potentially slightly decreased night vision, and the effects of a lot of drinking and partying (while still being able to see well and being safe to drive). Right now we are still working our way up to this normalized prescription, which will help a lot with future progress.
The effects of alcohol depend on the degree of accommodation sensitivity (how well your ciliary muscle contracts and relaxes to re-focus your vision), which varies by individual physiology.
There is a reason we bring this up today – if you have begun with your close range focus exercise we discussed a few days ago, you may notice that on a day after alcohol consumption, you have a difficult time focusing.
If this is the case, put away the differential prescription, and wear your normal glasses – if you feel more relaxed and comfortable this way. Vision rehabilitation never involves any ‘power through it’ (as one U.S. client loves to say) or activities that are not comfortable (other than acclimating to a new prescription or exercise).
Always, always maintain a relaxed and enjoyable pace. Don’t force anything, don’t suffer through days of blurred vision without glasses – none of these things benefit your vision.
Think of your eyes as the latest and most expensive DSLR camera, with that high end lens attached. It is a very complex system of electronics, sensor, high precision glass all working together. Your eyes (and visual cortex) are just like it, but a high degree more complex. Never treat any part of the system with any force. In the case of a night of heavy partying, relax the next day(s) with your regular prescription. In the future we will have the normalized prescription which will give you better feedback and minimize strain as well.
As a practice, we tend to be permissive and not take the ‘guilt trip’ route towards any rehabilitation. That said, alcohol is highly toxic to your vision system (no guilt, though, right?). Consistent consumption of anything more than a glass of wine every few days is not very good as a practice while you try to improve your vision. It’s like the doctor telling you to quit smoking if you have high blood pressure and are at risk of a heart attack. Primarily you probably need exercise and a better diet, but the smoking doesn’t help. Same thing with alcohol and vision – a few shots of vodka may set you back for 3 weeks of progress, in particular if you are accommodation sensitive.
You will notice that we haven’t added any new exercises today. I want you to have some time to get used to the close-up focus work, and active focus. Drop a line in the support forum anytime you have questions about this, don’t be shy!
Action Item
Have a few drinks, check your centimeter in the morning.
Kidding!
Easy session today. No drinking required (or encouraged). Make sure you’re getting so far:
- 20 minute mornings without glasses
- frequent close-up breaks
- eye chart on order or printed
- a log for your centimeters
See you in the next one!
Cheers,
– Jake