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Fazz
Honored Contributor
February 18, 2018
Question

Can eye exercises help improve your vision?

I am starting to lose what good site I once had and by doing a bit of research I was looking for things to slow down this processes. It might be a load of rubbish, but I've read that regular eye exercise helps you to restore your vision. What do you reckon? I don't want to waste my time on an eye exercise if there's no evidence this actually works..

    26 replies

    Anonymous
    February 18, 2018
    Honestly, no. For any loss of eye sight, even with old age it is recommended you visit a opticien or optometrist as there could very well be underlying issues they can help you adress.
    DaftnDirect
    Honored Contributor
    February 18, 2018

    We used to have workplace health checks every now & then and although eye exercise wasn't mentioned, taking a break from looking at a monitor definitely was. From memory, they reckoned looking away & focusing on the far distance every 15 minutes or so was needed. It's really to relax the eye muscles more than anything else.


    As you get older your lenses harden, and I don't think eye exercises stop that at all, it may strengthen the focusing muscles a bit but after a curtain age I don't think that's going to compensate for a hardened lens.


    But yeah, if by losing sight, you mean losing focus, definitely visit an optician. They'll ask what job you do which means they want to know what distance you spend most of your time focusing at. Any glasses they give you will let your eyes focus at the distance in a relaxed way. The alternative is a good chance of getting headaches.

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    FazzAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018
    @DaftnDirect @Syrellaris - Yeah, it was mainly about the eye muscle I was thinking about and that's why I thought it might be credible. The things I read suggested focusing on text you could see close up as possible for 3 seconds and then to look at an object 15 ft away for 3 seconds. Basically to strengthen the eye muscles that concentrates on focus. Sounded quite convincing tbh.

    From what I read it also mentioned that wearing glasses only damages your eye sight quicker, by making your eyes lazy instead of using these focus muscles more through exercise. I don'y normally fall for such suggestions, but it did get me thinking. I might give it a try since you are supposed to see a difference in a months time. It consists of rolling your eyeballs and things, so I better not do it when the girlfriends around. She might get the wrong idea and think it's something she said..
    DaftnDirect
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018

    I don't think glasses stop your eyes from changing focus, you still have to do the same amount of focus changes as you would do without them... it's just that the range shifts in accordance with the prescription, if you see what I mean.

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    nalex66
    nalex66
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018
    I’ve seen an app that claims to help you improve your near focus so you won’t need reading glasses, but when I looked into it, it seemed like a bullshit scam. 
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    Anonymous
    February 19, 2018

    RedRizla said:

    @DaftnDirect @Syrellaris - Yeah, it was mainly about the eye muscle I was thinking about and that's why I thought it might be credible. The things I read suggested focusing on text you could see close up as possible for 3 seconds and then to look at an object 15 ft away for 3 seconds. Basically to strengthen the eye muscles that concentrates on focus. Sounded quite convincing tbh.

    From what I read it also mentioned that wearing glasses only damages your eye sight quicker, by making your eyes lazy instead of using these focus muscles more through exercise. I don'y normally fall for such suggestions, but it did get me thinking. I might give it a try since you are supposed to see a difference in a months time. It consists of rolling your eyeballs and things, so I better not do it when the girlfriends around. She might get the wrong idea and think it's something she said..


    I can assure you as a person that has been wearing glasses since I was a little kid, that glasses do not damage your eyesight quicker, in fact it stabilizes it. If you need glasses and you don't wear them, you put extra strain on your eyes which can actually damage it further.  Your eyes also still focus using glasses, glasses just make it so the light hits your Retina correctly instead of past it or before it.

    I can only tell you, if you have eye issues, go see your optician or even your optometrist.

    P.S. You cannot fix nearsightedness and farsightedness by doing excersizes for your eye muscles. It's all based on how your eye's lens bends light to reach the retina.

    FazzAuthor
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018
    @nalex66 - Were you able to see the app on a mobile phone or tablet? I usually need reading glasses to view any app on my mobile or tablet LOL. Maybe you do the two finger swipe to enlarge things on the app, then hey presto you can see clearly..
    nalex66
    nalex66
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018
    I think this article is about the app I looked at (GlassesOff). It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the free part of the app does a short test to assess your vision, then it wants to sell you an expensive program of exercises to improve your vision. Typical scam set-up--sucker you in with a bunch of promises, then make the hard sell.
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    DaftnDirect
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018

    You're exactly right @RedRizla, the irony is that looking at the screen of a mobile phone is likely going to give you eye strain if you need glasses.


    Edit: I'd just visit your local optician and get their advice, I don't think they're just out to sell glasses, I'm pretty sure they'll give you honest advice about whether exercise works... plus you really get to see what difference the right prescription makes when both reading and looking far distance, before deciding to buy anything. I'm always surprised at the difference, as it creeps up slowly on you over the period of time since the previous test.

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    nalex66
    nalex66
    Honored Contributor
    February 19, 2018
    I can still manage to see pretty much anything on my phone or tablet, but I’ve had to get reading glasses to read small print on medication bottles and things like that. It sucks, but that’s life. 
    DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3. Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo
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