See Clearly Method

The See Clearly Method was created by four individuals who called themselves the "American Vision Institute": optometrist David W. Muris, optometrist Merrill J. Allen, psychologist Francis A. Young, and nuclear chemist Steven Beresford. In 1996, they authored a book titled Improve Your Vision Without Glasses or Contact Lenses: A New Program of Therapeutic Eye Exercises, on which the later system was based.{{cite web | publisher = Independent Investigations Group | title = See Clearly Method Investigation | first = David | last = Richards | url = http://www.iigwest.com/investigations/2005/20051001_seeclearly.html |date=August 2008 | accessdate = 29 May 2009}} When Fairfield, Iowa, businessman Cliff Rose saw the book, he asked that the authors develop the program. Along with attorney David Sykes, Rose created Vision Improvement Technologies, which owned and marketed the See Clearly Method,{{cite news | title = See Clearly and transcendental meditation | publisher = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date = 11 December 2001 | first = Deborah | last = Mendenhall | url = http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20011211hnewage2.asp}} which was heavily advertised on radio and television from 2001 to 2006, with the endorsement of actress Mariette Hartley.

The See Clearly Method has been described as "amply critiqued and debunked." A research, The effectiveness of the See Clearly Method, published in 2005 found no significant results in the application of the method.{{Cite journal |last=Bildstein |first=Tracy M. |date=2005 |title=The Effectiveness of the See Clearly Method |url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1157555946&disposition=inline |journal=The Ohio State University}}

Both the Journal of the American Optometric Association and the Journal of Behavioral Optometry declined to publish a study by the American Vision Institute purportedly demonstrating the efficacy of the method. The AVI then self-published the paper on their website.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

Some of the program's techniques were adapted from the Bates method, a collection of techniques developed by William Bates in the early 20th century. These techniques were based on Bates' own unorthodox theories, which have been consistently rejected by the scientific and medical community. Still, no evidence suggests that the Bates method, in whole or in part, is effective.

Some of the See Clearly Method's techniques are:

• "Tromboning" involved holding a small object at varying distances from one's eyes, inhaling as it was moved in and exhaling as it was moved out. The program's manual stated, "Tromboning exercises the focusing mechanism, improves control of the extraocular muscles, and stimulates the flow of nutrients inside the eyes".
• The Scanning Chart exercise involved moving a chart just out of focus, then jumping from dot to dot in time with the music on the program's exercise video.
• The program recommended Acupressure, in essence a massage for muscles surrounding the eye.
• "Blur reading" entailed turning a magazine upside-down at a distance from which the words were unclear, selecting a word and running one's gaze around it, and then around any letters one could recognize.
• Personal affirmations such as "I am seeing better each day" or "I can see without my glasses" were suggested.
• Light therapy, a variation of Bates's "sunning", involved sitting with one's eyes closed and the face six inches from an unshaded 150-watt bulb, just far enough to make the eyes "pleasantly warm but not too hot", according to the manual.
• "Palming", another technique adapted from Bates, involved closing the eyes and resting them against the palms.
• "Hydrotherapy", involved alternately placing hot and cold water-soaked towels over the eyes.

The See Clearly Method kit was sold at $350.{{Cite news |last=Mishori |first=Ranit |date=2006-09-12 |title=Eyeballing the Vision Workout |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR2006091100845.html |access-date=2023-07-13 |issn=0190-8286}}

Wisconsin's Consumer Protection had issued a warning that half of the kit buyers in the State had returned it.

Iowa State Attorney General Tom Miller filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Vision Improvement Technologies, the promoter of the See Clearly Method, in 2005.[http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/latest_news/releases/nov_2006/VIT_PET.pdf Iowa Attorney General's petition] The lawsuit alleged that "Vision Improvement Technologies uses a combination of misleading and unfair marketing tactics to sell their kits, including exaggerated claims of effectiveness, false implications of scientific validity, and misleading consumer testimonials in advertising."[http://www.iowa.gov/government/ag/latest_news/releases/feb_2006/c_clearly.html Iowa Attorney General office press release, Feb. 23, 2006]{{Cite web |last=Staff |title=Lawsuit Filed Against 'See Clearly Method' |url=https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/lawsuit-filed-against-see-clearly-method |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.reviewofoptometry.com}} In February 2006 an Iowa court issued a temporary injunction restricting certain aspects of the company's marketing. A November 2, 2006, press release from the Iowa Attorney General's office announced a consent decree with Vision Improvement under which the company will halt sales, offer restitution to customers, clear customers' credit records of any filings related to See Clearly purchases, and halt operations as of December 2006.[http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/latest_news/releases/nov_2006/VIT_CONSENT.pdf Iowa Consent Judgment][http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/latest_news/releases/nov_2006/VIT.html Iowa press release on consent decreee]

On December 18, 2006, the company's web site stated, "As of November 1, 2006 The See Clearly Method is no longer available for sale."[https://web.archive.org/web/20061218202847/http://www.seeclearlymethod.com/ See Clearly Method Website as archived on 18th Dec 2006] In response to a 2007 complaint by the California Attorney General's office concerning David Muris' involvement with the See Clearly Method, Muris was placed on probation for five years in 2008 by the state Board of Optometry.[http://www.optometry.ca.gov/consumers/enforcement/muris_petition.pdf Muris' petition to be removed from probation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006133408/http://www.optometry.ca.gov/consumers/enforcement/muris_petition.pdf |date=2014-10-06 }}

• Quackery
• Margaret Darst Corbett

• {{Cite book |last1=Beresford |first1=Steven M. |title=Improve Your Vision Without Glasses or Contact Lenses: A new program of therapeutic eye exercise |last2=Muris |first2=David W. |last3=Allen |first3=Merril J. |last4=Young |first4=Francis A. |publisher=Touchstone |year=1996 |isbn=978-0684814384}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Promotional video (2002)

Category:Optometry

Category:Alternative medical treatments

Category:Bates method

Category:Pseudoscience