YOGA ... and a rant

[neil0502]

[RANT]We read, with rapt interest, about new surgical procedures and talk glowingly about the possibilities or current pipeline drugs and how they might save our ocular lives ... BUT ... overall ... I don't hear anybody even nibbling at the posts about meditation, yoga, or guided visual imagery when there's almost ZERO likelihood of ILL effects and, it seems, clinically-proven evidence of POSITIVE effects.

Here's another one, published this month on PubMed:
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Click me!

Effect of yoga on self-rated visual discomfort in computer users.

Telles SA, Visweswaraiah NK, Dash M, Deginal R, Krishnmaurthy MN.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Dry eye appears to be the main contributor to the symptoms of computer vision syndrome. Regular breaks and the use of artificial tears or certain eye drops are some of the options to reduce visual discomfort. A combination of yoga practices have been shown to reduce visual strain in persons with progressive myopia. The present randomized controlled trial was planned to evaluate the effect of a combination of yoga practices on self-rated symptoms of visual discomfort in professional computer users in Bangalore. METHODS: Two hundred and ninety one professional computer users were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga (YG, n=146) and wait list control (WL, n=145). Both groups were assessed at baseline and after sixty days for self-rated visual discomfort using a standard questionnaire. During these 60 days the YG group practiced an hour of yoga daily for five days in a week and the WL group did their usual recreational activities also for an hour daily for the same duration. At 60 days there were 62 in the YG group and 55 in the WL group. RESULTS: While the scores for visual discomfort of both groups were comparable at baseline, after 60 days there was a significantly decreased score in the YG group, whereas the WL group showed significantly increased scores. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the yoga practice appeared to reduce visual discomfort, while the group who had no yoga intervention (WL) showed an increase in discomfort at the end of sixty days.
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I think a lot of us are part of the problem (yes: me, too). I think we'd all rather get the perfect eyedrop or the perfect pill than to take this thing by the proverbial short hairs and attack it in a much more benign, yet fundamental way. We 'train' doctors to 'give us a pill.'

I KNOW we're all too busy. I KNOW we're all too stressed. I KNOW that--for some of us--anxiety and or depression make this a really difficult thing to undertake, ....

BUT: it's free ... and it seems to work. Don't forget, folks: I'm a 'recovering triathlete.' Sitting still isn't the easiest thing in the world for me, either ... but I think approaches like this may allow me to reap pretty substantial rewards, and--since things like yoga and meditation have THOUSAND year + histories--I think we'd know of any adverse effects by now. How comfortable are YOU that the current pipeline drugs will look quite so safe if/when we look back on them in 20 years. How much risk do YOU want to take?

Namaste

Neil [/RANT]

[Rebecca Petris]

Wow Neil. As usual, you went straight to the point on this. While I'm unlikely to jump on a yoga bandwagon per se, the broader issue is one I'm fully in agreement on.

I think a lot of us are part of the problem... I think we'd all rather get the perfect eyedrop or the perfect pill than to take this thing by the proverbial short hairs and attack it in a much more benign, yet fundamental way. We 'train' doctors to 'give us a pill.'

I'm not at all inclined to exonerate doctors for ignorance and for too frequent failure to approach dry eye as the life-changing, complex disease it is (as opposed to... a nuisance that they can't push out of their office quickly enough)

NONETHELESS, I do personally believe that this deeply embedded cultural factor you've brought up is a huge part of the problem and a big impediment to personal progress with dry eye.

Just Fix Me, Mr. Eye Doc. It's Your Job.

Just as surely as it's my mechanic's job to fix my car.

After all, I'm entitled to wellness, right?

This is all part of the Psychology of Restasis that has made that drug the instant 9-figure success it has been. Mind, I'm not bashing Restasis per se. It clearly has a role to play in dry eye treatment. And while part of me has always cringed at the ads, another part is blessing Allergan for raising public awareness of what dry eye IS. But... just as surely as doctors want something to prescribe, we want to be prescribed something. A Dry Eye drug! Whoopeee! Lemmeatit!

Unwillingness to accept dry eye as a chronic disease and consider lifestyle alterations and alternative forms of pain management where necessary are, in my opinion, a key impediment to "moving on" with one's life. I don't mean this in a critical way, because I think there is a natural process we all go through before coming to a point of acceptance. There's anger, denial, grieving, and so on - all those things that make up the "first year pattern" that so many of us have referred to here. It can take months or many years. But I think that those who will, emotionally and probably physically, have the hardest time for the longest are those who are ultimately least willing to embrace lifestyle change.

DEZ has a patient hotline, ostensibly for TDEC customer service but which has evolved into maybe 20% customer service, 80% counseling of sorts. (Another reason why I'm short on moderator-time and may be scouting for volunteers before long....) I've developed a fairly standard approach by this time, stepping through the various treatments I know of to see what all they've discussed with their doctor, etc. For those who seem to have already maxed out on all "the usual suspects" or are currently methodically working their way through those but are struggling to make it through the day in the meantime, I move on to the next level of stuff - mostly well known to the veterans here - the non medical side....

Ice packs. Closing your eyes every now and then. Looking down at your computer through lowered lids. Wraparound eyewear. Wearing Panoptx at work, even if you look really dorky. Sleep masks, even if they aren't sexy. Humidifiers. Taking naps. Audio books. Shopping online instead of Walmart. Doing stuff you enjoy in order to get your mind off your eyes. Getting with your internist, your allergist, your nutritionist to talk about your general health, to explore your diet, to review your medications. The list goes on and on and on.

Anyway, if and when I get on to ANY of this kind of stuff in conversation, I immediately get a sense of where the other person is coming from. There are those who seem to just drink it all in and are totally thrilled to be getting some really practical ideas that they'd never heard of. With others, though, I sense an immediate stiffening. The conversation gets quickly steered back to... what do you know about such and such NSAID, or the latest secretagogue in development, or do I think such and such an artificial tear might help more, or is Dwelle really that good, or do I recommend [jeez, who the heck am I to be recommending this stuff?] a steroid alongside Restasis, or or or. Fine, I understand, and I try to do my best to answer the questions, but part of me aches for them when from what they've described it kind of sounds unlikely to me that they are going to find real relief in medicine at this point.

I know I get awfully verbose and dull when I get on a soapbox like this, but Neil really struck a chord with me there. I guess I just want to say, if drugs and surgery fix you, great, more power to you. If you have chronic dry eye and you feel like you're beating against a wall with it, maybe you are, and maybe it's time to look to the next level of stuff... truly caring for yourself, rather than fixing yourself or being fixed.

[kitty]

Unwillingness to accept dry eye as a chronic disease and consider lifestyle alterations and alternative forms of pain management where necessary are, in my opinion, a key impediment to "moving on" with one's life. I don't mean this in a critical way, because I think there is a natural process we all go through before coming to a point of acceptance. There's anger, denial, grieving, and so on - all those things that make up the "first year pattern" that so many of us have referred to here. It can take months or many years. But I think that those who will, emotionally and probably physically, have the hardest time for the longest are those who are ultimately least willing to embrace lifestyle change....I guess I just want to say, if drugs and surgery fix you, great, more power to you. If you have chronic dry eye and you feel like you're beating against a wall with it, maybe you are, and maybe it's time to look to the next level of stuff... truly caring for yourself, rather than fixing yourself or being fixed.

Wow Rebecca, such powerful words. You know, I really needed to "hear" those words a year or so ago when I was first diagnosed, and again about 6 months later when I still had not reached acceptance. I'm sure I was not ready to hear them then. It's tough medicine to swallow. Let this be a reminder to all of you in your "first year" that life does go on and acceptance is eventually achieved. I'm not meaning this as a defeatist statement. I'm just saying that there is much good medicine within you if you know where to look, and/or if you know which people to ask to help you find it.

[blackberry]

Yoga and meditation

I have been practicing yoga and meditation for more than six years now. And I have dry-eye and vision problems that were caused by LASIK surgery I had done about five years ago. Yoga and meditation DO help with dry eye and pain management. Visualization therapy is also beneficial. So Neil, you're not alone in trying some of these alternatives. I highly recommend them.

[Danny_]

While I had the over tearing problem, I noticed that eye stretches - e.g closing your eyes and tracing a circle, did create more tears. That's a yoga technique I think so yeah, there is probably something in it alright.