Re: Brazing Glasses
Hey Y'all,
For what it is worth I would like to offer my thoughts on this subject. As we all age our lenses get harder and don't respond well to the pull of the cilliary muscles that deform it in order to see objects that are near. This is called accommodation. Mainly this happens because the tissue itself which is from the neuroectoderm (includes skin, hair, teeth, nails and nerves) is quite avascular.
Avascular tissue has very slow turnover of nutrients and wast products and so it is vulnerable to atrophic hardening. Most of the cells of the lens (the innermost) depend upon diffusion to get nutrients in and waste out.
There are many methods/exercises that claim to help put off the effects of this avascular aging effect. None are well regarded to help at all. If you ask almost any ophthalmologist they will tell you the same. Their solution was always to get the prescription glasses.
This never sat well with me. We know that prescription glasses have the effect of relaxing the cilliary muscles (degrading their range over time) of the lens so that they find a new equilibrium. In other words once you go down the road of corrective lenses your vision will deteriorate at a faster rate than if you did nothing.
Of course, sometimes we need to do something about our vision as it sits. This is not a value judgement, just an attempt at understanding.
Given all of this my mind has been toiling on the issue for some time. As I approach middle age and the time when my accommodation is due to change I began doing my own eye exercises based on basic medical principles laid down by the founder of my medical school. You can look him up and his philosophies regarding health and well being. His name is Andrew Taylor Still and he founded the school of Osteopathic medicine.
A.T. Still said, "The rule of the artery is supreme". What this means is that in order to maintain health/equilibrium, a cell or tissue must have adequate circulation. Many of his teachings are centered on this core tenet. He also said, "Edema surely begins with the first tardy atom." while this doesn't accurately describe the conditions of the eye lens it does beg the question regarding the subtle delicacies surrounding the fragile ecosystem of the relatively avascular lens tissue.
Wrapping this up...Massage and range of motion are the two main ways that we can increase circulation to a given tissue. So multiple times a day I do accommodation exercises which consist of looking at my finger and drawing it closer and straining to keep it in focus. Back and forth several times. I also massage my eyes. I close my eyelids and use my fingers to literally apply pressure to the lens itself and move back and forth across the front of the eye.
The results, I don't know. My accommodation is definitely not what it was 10 years ago. 10 years ago it was approx 7-8". Today it is 10-11. odd that is fluctuates depending on the time of day and the day itself. I can say that my sister who is 1 year younger wears reading glasses, and my brother who is 2 years older has been wearing reading glasses for 4 years or so.
I also am a true believer in "use it or lose it". Keep doing things like working up close and using your near vision. Take walks at night and let your eyes relax in the dark, read books with great light etc.
Most importantly in our line of work, Use proper shaded eyewear when welding or brazing...always.
Hale Sramek
halekai machine
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