Q&A: Vision-Improvement Exercises on the Sabbath
Vision-Improvement Exercises on the Sabbath
Question
Hello,
I started doing a program to improve my eyesight (reducing my glasses prescription).
The theory says that the reason a prescription is needed is because of the “locking” of internal muscles inside the eyes, which prevents the eyes from being flexible and focusing properly at different distances. The idea is to “move” from the incorrect way of seeing to the correct way through teaching the internal system what the proper form of vision is.
The exercises include doing various relaxation exercises for the eyes, going without glasses as much as possible, paying attention to things in peripheral vision and seeing them move, and feeling how that affects focus; moving the head from side to side and noticing changing focal points; or holding a small object near the eyes and slowly moving it away from the eyes, which basically teaches the eyes how to refocus, along with other exercises of this kind.
The idea of the method is to do it all day as much as possible: to walk around without glasses, occasionally do one of the exercises, pay attention to changing focal points, and so on, and gradually let the eyes and the brain get used to a different way of seeing than what they are accustomed to.
Is there any problem with doing these different things on the Sabbath?
Thank you
Answer
It does not seem to me that there is any prohibition involved. It is like practicing chess or logic puzzles. Only exercise that expends energy and causes sweating might perhaps be included in the prohibition on medical treatment, and even that is doubtful (because some halakhic decisors wrote that nowadays there is no concern about grinding medicinal ingredients).