Pinhole glasses allow light in your central field to enter your eye, and restrict light in your peripheral field from entering your eye. Since the light in the center of your visual field always hits the retina straight on, it lands on the retina in the just right place. The result is you see more clearly. Wearing pinhole glasses is similar to squinting, but without the strain.
The Bates method is based on relearning to use your eyes and mind in a naturally relaxed way. Letting go of making an effort to see, and letting go of the strain this effort causes, is the goal of natural vision improvement. In simple terms, habitual mental and physical strain causes the muscles surrounding the eyes to become chronically tense, pulling your eyeball out of it’s naturally round shape, affecting your eyes ability to focus clearly. Pinhole glasses may help.
Pinhole glasses are made of two pieces of black plastic with a bunch of tiny holes in them. Placed in front of your eyes, they increase your visual clarity. As simple as they are, pinhole glasses can have a tremendously positive impact on your vision improvement journey. The first time you put on a pair of pinhole glasses can be pretty darn exciting! It may be the first time you’ve seen clearly without artificial lenses in a very long time. The clarity provided by pinhole glasses can offer much needed encouragement. Pinhole glasses can be motivating, uplifting and thrilling! They can inspire hope!
“What pinholes do is bypass the refraction problem by restricting light rays to central rays only. These central light rays do not get refracted (bent) and therefore provide a clear image to the retina (unlike light rays coming in at an angle which depend on correct refraction to reach the retina in focus). As refraction is bypassed, it no longer matters what your prescription is, the images will come through with relative clarity if the holes are small enough.”
– Esther Joy van der Werf
What are pinhole glasses?
Pinhole glasses are not really glasses. The word “glasses” implies having glass (or clear plastic) in them. Pinhole glasses do not put anything between your eyes and the world you are seeing. Instead of glass or plastic lenses, pinhole glasses have many tiny pin-sized holes. The holes are open. And because of this, they do not cause eye strain. Like prescription glasses, they correct your vision and allow you to see more clearly. But, unlike prescription glasses, they don’t cause strain.
Prescription glasses cause strain
To get an idea of the eye strain glasses can cause, have you ever noticed that after having worn your glasses for some time, when you took them off, your vision was worse than before you put them on? And, when you first got your glasses, or when you got a stronger prescription, have you ever noticed that after wearing the new prescription, when you took your glasses off, your vision was blurrier than before you got the new prescription?
Pinhole glasses don’t cause strain
Unlike regular glasses, when you take pinholes glasses off, although your vision may still be as blurry as it was before putting them on, it typically is not blurrier.
“Now I could see what really occurred when the typical patient got a new pair of lenses: Until then, he had been getting by okay without any glasses (or by wearing his old glasses). Yet within a few days of getting (the new) glasses he would be wearing them all the time. Whenever he would try to take them off, everything would look very blurry – much blurrier than he had ever remembered it being before. If he tried asking his doctor about it, the response would be., ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.’ Within a few weeks he could hardly see anything without the new glasses, but he wouldn’t notice this because he just never tried to see without them anymore.”
– Jacob Liberman, O.D., Ph.D.
From “Take Off Your Glasses and See: A Mind/body Approach to Expanding Your Eyesight and Insight”
With pinhole glasses, your eyes are still able to function in a natural and effortless way. Seeing through pinhole glasses gives your eyes the opportunity to remain relaxed, while seeing the world more clearly.
Forced into clarity
Prescription glasses on the other hand, force your eyes into seeing clearly. In fact, your eyes must work very hard in order to see clearly through prescription glasses. Your eyes are strong-armed into matching, with the right amount of strain, the prescription cut into the lenses. This takes great effort for your eyes and your brain. Perhaps you may remember the time when you put your first glasses on, or when your eye doctor increased your prescription. Did it take some getting use to?
“People would usually leave the office feeling great. They had learned they didn’t have cataracts or glaucoma or some strange eye disease, and a simple pair of glasses would renew the gift of sight. A week later they would return to the office to get their new glasses. As they put them on, they would suddenly stop in their tracks. ‘Yes,’ they’d say,’ I can see much clearer now – but, gee, it feels very weird. My eyes feel like they’re pulling. The room feels like it’s distorted. The floor feels like it’s tilting.’ Like every other eye doctor, I had been trained to respond, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it’.”
– Jacob Liberman, O.D., Ph.D.
This forcing of your eyes to match the prescription is a strain. Prescription glasses reward this strain with clarity. This further exacerbates things, creating even more strain and lowering vision further:
The snowball effect of glasses causing strain through forced clarity:
Mental and physical strain leads to lowered vision,
which leads to glasses,
and forced clarity,
and increased strain,
that is rewarded by the clarity,
leading to even lower vision,
and to new glasses of a higher prescription,
providing greater forced clarity through greater correction,
and increased strain,
that is rewarded by the clarity,
producing even more strain,
which lowers vision even more… and the cycle continues.
Although, pinhole glasses, in and of themselves, do not improve vision, they may be a better alternative at times than your prescription glasses. Like regular glasses, they correct vision. But, unlike regular glasses, pinhole glasses do not create the strain that lowers vision.
You can still strain wearing pinhole glasses
Although, pinhole glasses do not cause strain directly, it is still possible to strain while wearing them. It is still important to use good vision habits while wearing them.
How to not strain while wearing pinhole glasses
Here are some ideas on how to relax and get the most benefit out of wearing pinhole glasses. In general, continue to practice the same natural vision habits you would do without pinhole glasses on.
Wear pinhole glasses, or any glasses for that matter, only when absolutely necessary and when it is more comfortable or safer to wear them than to not.
Remain mentally and physically relaxed, calm and at ease.
Sit, stand or walk erect.
Breathe naturally and easily.
Blink effortlessly. and regularly.
Look for details. Be curious about and interested in what you are looking at. Allow your eyes to follow your interest and your head to follow your eyes.
Maintain an awareness of your peripheral field as well as the central point your are focusing on.
Keep moving. Allow your head and neck to be free to mobile.
Smile!
Pros and cons of using pinhole glasses
Pros
Pinhole glasses do not cause strain.
They require no prescription.
One size fits all.
They’re cheap and available everywhere (on the internet).
Just like regular glasses they can be taken off and on as needed and carried with you in a pocket or purse.
You can practice the Bates method and natural vision improvement techniques with them on in a relax and stress-free way.
Cons
It’s always important to continue practicing good vision habits. If you use poor vision habits while wearing pinhole glasses, you can still strain. Pinholes do not prevent you from straining. You are in control of that. If you practice letting go and not trying to see, following the natural vision principles of relaxation, movement and central fixation while wearing pinhole glasses, you may find great benefit.
Pinhole glasses are not for everyone. Not everyone is comfortable using them. They do not provide the same kind of visual field that regular glasses do. After all, you are looking through tiny holes. You will notice these holes, and their black borders. I encourage you to just give them a try and take time getting use to them. See for yourself.
Pinhole glasses work best in bright light. All those tiny hole do block out some light, especially in the periphery. This decreases your peripheral field. So, it’s important to maintain awareness of your periphery. Because of this decrease in your peripheral field, do not wear pinhole glasses while driving.
CAUTION!
It is not safe to wear pinhole glasses while driving because they block out some of your peripheral field.
This blocking of some the periphery may create a tendency to see with tunnel vision – focusing only on your central field and ignoring the periphery. So, along with paying attention to the details in your central field, which should look more clear with pinhole glasses on, make sure you also remain aware of your periphery. Keep moving and shifting your attention. Notice movement as well as clarity.
Smaller holes and larger holes
Pinhole glasses are made with two sizes of holes, smaller and larger. Some people like the smaller holes, about 205 holes per eye. The smaller pinholes block out more light but might provide a sharper image. Some prefer the larger holes, about 114 per eye, that allow more light to enter your eyes. Experiment.
Training wheels for the eyes
So, I hope I’ve provided you with some useful information about pinhole glasses. They don’t replace normal vision, but they can be a useful tool on your natural vision improvement journey. If you think of prescription glasses as crutches for the eyes, you might think of pinhole glasses as training wheels, allowing you to immediately see clearer without your glasses. You might also think of pinhole glasses a crystal ball for the eyes, giving you a glimpse into the natural visual clarity soon awaiting you. And, since they allow you to relax, and don’t cause the strain that prescription glasses do, they won’t interfere with your natural vision improvement practice.
“Pinhole Glasses: These are glasses made of black opaque plastic lenses that have a series of pinholes in them through which the person can see. First invented by Leonardo da Vinci, they allow the wearer to experience clearer vision without lenses. They are a transition tool, to wear for TV, movies or reading instead of regular glasses to reduce the recovery time when one is transitioning to less lens wear.”
Jane Rigney Battenberg and Martha M. Rigney
From “Eye Yoga: How You See is How You Think”
Resources
- Visions of Joy – The School of Optimal Eyesight, Esther Joy van der Werf
- “Take Off Your Glasses and See: A Mind/body Approach to Expanding Your Eyesight and Insight” by Jacob Liberman, O.D. Ph.D.
- “Eye Yoga: How You See is How You Think” by Jane Rigney Battenberg and Martha M. Rigney
I am a natural vision improvement teacher and coach, massage therapist, yoga teacher and the owner of Relearn To See – Natural Vision Improvement. I take a wellness coaching approach to helping you negotiate life in a more relaxed and natural way that can benefit your eyesight, health and well-being.