If you’ve listened to this show for any length of time you know I’m a huge proponent of being your own health advocate, of talking full responsibility and ownership for your health. As one of my former guests Dr. Kien Vuu put it, you are your own best medicine. I frequently rail against the common narrative of aging – that we naturally lose muscle and mobility as we age, that aches and pains come with the territory, that we can’t be strong, vital, and capable humans as we age.
But I have a confession to make. I never once considered this philosophy when it came to my eyesight. Somewhere in my forties I went from having 20/20 vision, to having a hard time reading the menu in dimly lit restaurants, to having to hold my paperbacks and iPhone a little further away to read. And when the optometrist (in the mall) did my eye exam, he said, yep, time for glasses. And when I questioned him about what happened, why I lived my entire life without glasses and now all of a sudden they were required, he sagely informed me that that’s just what happens, it’s a normal part of growing older. And he wrote me a prescription for my first pair of progressive lenses. And these weren’t cheap either, and by the time I got talked into sticking these progressive lenses into some fancy designer frames, I was out several hundred bucks. Fast forward to a year or two later, and guess what? My vision got worse, so I got a new prescription, and a new pair of glasses. And that’s been my reality for the last 15 years or so.
But here’s the thing… I never questioned it. It never dawned on me to question that my vision – really that everyone’s vision – just naturally got worse as we age. Until now. Today’s guest might just turn everything you know – or thought you knew – about eyesight and aging upside down.
My guest this week is Jake Steiner. Jake is a bit of a maverick – living quasi off grid and semi-retired – he’s the creator of endmyopia.org where he helps people reduce or even end their dependence on corrective lenses. Jake was diagnosed with -5-diopter nearsightedness as a child (which is pretty bad), and through intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and a good bit of trial and error, he corrected his vision back to 20/20 and no longer uses corrective lenses. This was a fun and thought-provoking conversation, and really got me questioning my own beliefs. If you or a loved one has poor vision, wears glasses, or like me just assumed that your eyesight goes starts going bad somewhere around midlife, you don’t want to miss this episode.
Join us this week as Jake shares the real causes of most common vision problems, and what you can do to correct your vision and reduce – or eliminate – your dependence on corrective lenses.
You can connect with Jake in the following ways:
Website – www.endmyopia.org
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/endmyopia
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/endmyopia
Instagram – @jakeysteiner
