Eye exercises

Eye exercises are used to treat patients who have trouble using their eyes to see correctly. A doctor may recommend eye exercises to help patients who:

• Can't focus their eyes to read.
• Have one eye that drifts outward or inward.
• Have undergone surgery and need to strengthen muscle control.
• Have strabismus or crossed eyes.
• Have amblyopia.
• Have double vision.

When should I consider eye exercises?

If you regularly experience symptoms such as eyestrain, blurred vision, headaches, increased sensitivity to bright light, tired eyes or heavy eyelids, eye exercises may help. Eye exercises will not help patients who have short-sightedness, dyslexia or excessive blinking or squinting of the eyes. Also, these exercises are usually not effective for paralysis of an eye muscle, eye muscle spasms or eyesight problems that do not cause the symptoms mentioned above.

With conditions such as amblyopia, eye exercises are usually most helpful when prescribed in early childhood. Providing proper glasses, if needed, is the first step. Amblyopia is then treated by patching or using eye drops to block or blur the good eye. Vision therapy exercises can also force the brain to see through the amblyopic eye, which helps to restore vision.

What do the eye exercises involve?

Eye exercises strengthen the eye muscles and stimulate the vision centre of the brain. Through a series of progressive therapeutic exercises, patients can be instructed on how to control their eye muscles and to see properly.

The eye exercises recommended are usually unique to the patient and vary depending on the patient's age and other existing eye problems. Examples of different types of eye exercises include covering one eye with one hand and looking at different objects continuously instead of staring at just one object; concentrating the eye on a solitary object; or getting the eye to follow a pattern in order to build vision muscles.