When conventional approaches did not work well, Uphaipand opted for an alternative method to deal with her vision problem _ natural eyesight improvement that gives a promise of better vision for herself and her family, and also raises her hopes for lasting improvement.
Uphaipand was diagnosed with nearsightedness and prescribed with contact lenses when she was a teenager. She was happy wearing lenses until she was in her late 20s. But she encountered discomfort, particularly after he first pregnancy, and had to opt for glasses.
"My eyes didn't feel good. They sometimes burned when I put in my lenses. I couldn't wear the contacts as long as I would like each day," she said.
"When my baby girl was born, I wore glasses all the time to make sure I wouldn't miss something important and was able to take care of her well. It was painful," said Uphaipand, a 45-year-old mother of two daughters.
When she learned that laser eye surgery was available, she quickly made a decision to go for it. Her vision at that time was 20/300 (she had to stand at 6m to see what a person with normal vision can see at 90m) for both eyes.
"My poor eyesight fell into a more moderate range than severe. But I was very nearsighted when I had to take care of my little girl.
"I was happy with the results of corrective laser surgery. But my eyes got dry afterwards and artificial tears didn't seem to be helping," she said.
Things became complicated. Her eyesight changed during her second pregnancy. She was then prescribed glasses with a -1.5 prescription for both eyes. She was advised to have more laser surgery, but she declined as undergoing the surgical procedure was one of most frightening experiences of her life.
"No more surgery," she said. "The room was cold. I was laid down on the operating table with a machine over my head. I have remembered the feeling of someone working on my eyes. I was a bag of nerves."
One day, Uphaipand came across a natural vision programme that offers techniques and activities to help improve eyes naturally at an eye clinic. She gave it a try and found that it worked not only for her, but particularly her elder daughter who was also diagnosed as nearsighted when she was six years old.
Natural vision specialist Urapa Watanachote says the self-healing technique uses eye movements and natural eye care. It is based on Amarjith Swain's method, which is underpinned by the pioneering theory of Dr William Bates, the American ophthalmologist who wrote The Cure Of Imperfect Sight By Treatment Without Glasses.
The programme involves physical flexibility exercises, vision chart techniques that help stimulate the entire visual system and activate the retinas, fusion string techniques which help exercise eye muscles in order to help them work well, and massages and relaxation techniques that help increase blood circulation in the eyes.
"Our eyes also need exercise on a regular basis in order to keep them healthy, just like any other muscle in the body," said Urapa who was trained in the method by Swain, a natural vision specialist who has treated more than 100,000 patients throughout India.
Uphaipand said that she and her daughter have learned several techniques and practical activities from the programme and have practised on their own at home. She and her daughter played games together that help stimulate the important glands of the brain and remove stress and enhance good eyesight. They also add fruit and vegetables into their diets according to Urapa's advice.
"The programme lets me learn that I have unbalanced vision. After working on fusion string techniques, I feel confident about walking on staircases," said Uphaipand.
"To help maintain the eyes and good eyesight, people should eat food that delivers vitamins C, B and A, as well as calcium, potassium and zinc," said the specialist.
After therapy, Uphaipand noticed the chronic dryness of her eyes went away, while her daughter's vision, with a prescription of -1.5 for both eyes, returned to normal again.
"My daughter could read every row of letters in the eye chart during a visual acuity test," the mother said.
Urapa said, "The practice's results are not miracles. We sometimes underestimate the power of the body and overlook something simple that we can benefit from."
Due to excessive use of the eyes, however, the vision of Uphaipand's daughter has changed dramatically since last year and she was given a -3.00 prescription. And the mother thinks that the change is most likely due to genetics. She said her husband need strong lenses to see clearly.
"My daughter, who is now eight years old, loves reading. I've told her to rest her eyes from reading. We are busy and sometimes skip eye exercises and activities that help improve our vision. Results of natural eyesight improvement don't come overnight. They take time and dedication," said Uphaipand.
Urapa added that the brain and the eyes work together. When we see an image, the eyes capture the picture and focus on the size, shape and colours of the object. The mind interprets that information and stores it for recall later.
"When we get the mind and the eyes relaxed, they can work together in a good manner so that our eyesight can be improved naturally," she said
The mind, she continued, plays a role in people's general health including eyesight. Mental strain and a negative mindset can put too much stress and strain on the eyes and cause vision problems.
"When we think positively and feel relaxed, it helps us see things clearly. But our sight could be less clear on a dull day," she said
The programme can be useful for people with vision problems and eye diseases.
"Glasses are just tools to help us have good vision, but I think they don't solve the root of refractive errors as we need stronger lenses over time even when we [start wearing] them early."
Uphaipand said she appreciates her vision more than ever.
"Our aim is to maintain our daughter's current vision so that she doesn't need stronger lenses in the future, as we know that reading and computer use is inevitable for her. We aren't sure that the results will last long. But the improvements we have seen in such a short time make us feel that we would make progress doing this. It's our way to go.
"As parents, we only want to do the best for our child. We don't want her to face difficulties due to our own weaknesses. My daughter and I will try to do outdoors activities more often and use the eyes in positive ways. We wish we could practise shifting from something near to something far and activities that help enhance our vision. We hope that she will reduce reliance on glasses or won't need them any longer and learn to see clearly again," Uphaipand said.