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Eye Exercises: Will This Improve Your Vision?
There is a great deal of controversy over commercial programs for eye exercises, but the real question is, will this improve your vision? And better yet, is there a way eye training exercises can improve your vision for free? There are limitations to what eye training can do for you, but in many situations they may be exactly what you need to keep from having to wear glasses or to keep from having to get a stronger prescription. One of the best-known eye training programs was the now-infamous See Clearly Method, shut down in 2006 by order of an Iowa Court. Claiming not only to correct near- and farsightedness but also to cure glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, and macular degeneration, this eye muscle training program was found to make claims it could not back up with reliable science. The fact that the purveyors of one $350 eye strengthening program could not back up their claims, however, does not mean that there are no exercises that can improve your eyesight. One of the most reliable programs of eye muscle training, and it's available for download free of charge, is the Power Vision Program. After advising users to see their doctors for an eye exam to rule out any serious eye diseases, the power vision program offers three kinds of exercises that can be done in just 21 minutes a day. How easy are the eye exercises? Here's an example of an eye exercise almost anyone can do, squeezing:
To do this exercise, you gently squeeze your eyes shut and open them to the time of music or your own breathing. Take off your glasses or take out your contacts, and then gently squeeze your eyes shut with the power of your eyelid muscles, not wrinkling your brow or flexing the muscles around your eyes. Then open your eyes and focus at a blurry object. If you are farsighted, this will be an object close to your. If you are nearsighted, this will be an object at a distance. Close your eyelids again for a few seconds, then open them, and look at the object. Notice the changes in your vision and the lubrication of your eyes as they emit tears to keep them moist. Simple, isn't it? But does it really work?
There is little doubt that eye exercises can help with focus. Essentially, exercising the eyes will make you a power-squinter, helping you uses your eyes to the maximum of their ability without corrective lenses. If your vision is OK most of the time, the ability to squint may be all you need to function comfortably without a change in your prescription or maybe without any glasses or contacts at all. There is also little doubt that exercising your eyes cannot correct underlying eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, or cataracts. These are not conditions that are relieved by strengthening your ability to focus your eyes or by increasing tear production. These conditions require medical care. But if you only need to "fine tune" your vision, eye exercises are one of the best treatments available to you, and they only cost you 21 minutes a day. |