Table of Content

​ Benefits of Eye Exercises

​ How to Improve Eyesight - Best Eye Exercises
​ Other Tips to Increase Eyesight
​ Conclusion

We know that exercising our muscles is good for our health. What about
eye exercises to improve eyesight? While there are no effective eye
exercises for astigmatism, myopia, or hyperopia, otherwise known as
refractive errors, eye exercises can help with optimizing visual skills. Vision
therapy, a type of physical therapy for the eyes, has been shown to
improve certain conditions involving eye alignment and focusing. During
vision therapy, a patient is prescribed a set of eye exercises for lazy eye,
among other conditions. While being under an eye doctor’s care can
provide more guidance on how to use eye exercises, there are some eye
muscle exercises that can be done at home. While I wouldn’t expect these
eye exercises to improve vision fast, with diligence, they can gradually help
with focusing issues and eyestrain.

Benefits Of Eye Exercises

Exercise for your eyes, traditionally in the form of vision therapy, can help
to ensure that the two eyes work together effectively. There are common
symptoms that may indicate that eye strengthening exercises may be
useful. These include skipping lines or words while reading, closing an eye,
eyestrain, and headache. Vision therapy can address problems with eye
turn (strabismus) and lazy eye (amblyopia), eye tracking (saccadic
dysfunction), and eye teaming (convergence insufficiency). Lazy eye
exercises have been shown to be particularly helpful in correcting this
condition, especially when it’s caught early.
How To Improve Eyesight - Best
Eye Exercises

Palming

Palming is a yogic eye exercise, suggesting relaxing the muscles around

the eyes, reducing eye fatigue.

To palm, start by rubbing your hands together to warm them up. Close your
eyes and place the palm of each hand over the corresponding cheekbone.
Cup your hand over each eye and breathe deeply for five minutes.

Blinking
When we spend time on digital devices, our blink rate slows down. This can
cause the eyes to dry out, making them feel sandy, gritty, and tired.

Taking the time to consciously blink can restore the tear film. Blinking
pumps the oil glands in the eyelids, stimulating their lubricating secretions.
It also helps to spread the tears over the eyes.

A blinking exercise may involve closing the eyes, pausing for two seconds,
then opening them again. While the eyes are closed, the eyelids can be
consciously squeezed tight for extra stimulation of the oil glands.

Pencil Push-Ups

Pencil push-ups are commonly used to train the eyes to move in toward
one another or converge when looking at a near object.

To do a pencil push-up, hold a pencil at arm’s length while wearing your

best near vision correction. Focus on the tip of the eraser. If there is a letter
on the eraser, get it in focus, so it’s legible. Now slowly move the pencil
towards your nose, keeping the eraser or letter single and focused. Once it
goes double, draw it away from the eyes again. Repeat several times.

Near And Far Focus

Alternating between near and far focus helps to train your focusing system
to engage and relax appropriately.
Hold your thumb 10 inches from your face and focus on it for 15 seconds.
Alternatively, you can hold a near object with a letter on it to better engage
your focusing system. After fifteen seconds, shift your gaze to a target 20
feet (6 meters) away, and again, hold your focus for 15 seconds. Return to
your thumb. Repeat several times.

Figure Eight

Tracking an object with the eyes can be challenging for some. To work on
this, one can practice doing figure eights.

Pick a point on the floor 10 feet away from you. With your eyes, trace an
imaginary figure eight. Continue for 30 seconds, then switch directions.

20-20-20 Rule

When we use our eyes for near work, our focusing system can become
fatigued. Our eyes can also dry out. Scheduling regular breaks can help to
alleviate some of this strain.

The 20-20-20 rule is easy to remember. For every 20 minutes of near work,
look at a target 20 feet away for 20 seconds. You can now return to your
near activity.

Brock String
The Brock String was developed by Frederick Brock of Switzerland, a
pioneer in vision therapy. It can be used for a variety of exercises to train
the visual system.

To set up the Brock String, tie a loop on each end of the string. Attach one
loop to a doorknob. Position the three beads. To do so, you’ll want to place
the distance bead closest to the doorknob. The middle bead should sit 2-5
feet from you. The near bead should be 6 inches from your nose. Hold the
string taught directly under your nose.

A sequence of exercises can be performed with the Brock String to train

the eyes in tracking, alignment, and focusing.

Barrel Card

The barrel card trains the eyes to turn in together, or converge, to view a
near object.

To begin, hold the barrel card parallel to your nose so the circles are
aligned horizontally, and the largest circles are furthest away from the nose.
Close each eye. One eye will see red circles, while the other will see green
ones. Adjust as necessary to ensure that each eye sees the same amount
of the card and there is no tilt. Now, focus your eyes on the circles furthest
away from you. The two images should overlap, producing a single
red-green circle. After 5 seconds, shift your gaze to the middle circle.
Finally, move your gaze to the smallest closest circle. It is important to note
that the circles which you are not focused on will appear double; this is
normal. Once you have completed one cycle, relax your eyes. You should
work up to completing 10 cycles, holding for 10 seconds on each of the
three circles.

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Other Tips To Increase Eyesight

If you’re looking for guidance when it comes to exercise for your eyes, talk
to your eye doctor. Even lazy eye exercises for adults have shown success
with the right therapy. Your doctor can provide tailored eye exercises for
better vision or refer you to someone who can.

Conclusion
Do eye exercises work? They certainly can, for specific key conditions.
Doing eye exercises to improve vision can be useful, keeping in mind that
they can’t solve every eye problem. When it comes to how to exercise your
eyes, some doctors may be able to provide guidance.
It’s also important to see an eye care professional regularly for
comprehensive exams to ensure that nothing more serious is causing your
vision issues. If you’d like to learn more about how to improve your
eyesight, call Kraff Eye Institute today at (312) 635-4831