Results and Criticism
Bates' techniques have never been scientifically established to improve eyesight. Several of Bates' techniques, including "sunning", "swinging", and "palming", were combined with healthy changes to diet and exercise in a 1983 randomized controlled trial of myopic children in India. After 6 months, the experimental groups "did not show any statistically significant difference in refractive status", though the children in the treatment group "subjectively ... felt relieved of eye strain and other symptoms."
It has been argued, such as by philosopher Frank J. Leavitt, that the method which Bates described would be difficult to test scientifically due to his emphasis on relaxation and visualization. Leavitt asked "How can we tell whether someone has relaxed or imagined something, or just thinks that he or she has imagined it?" In regards to the possibility of a placebo trial, Leavitt commented "I cannot conceive of how we could put someone in a situation where he thinks he has imagined something while we know that he has not."
Read more about this topic: Bates Method
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