7 Effective Exercises for Nearsightedness

Last Updated on December 26, 2016 by Marc Seward

Some Great Exercises for Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness also known as short sightedness or myopia. “Near” sightedness is characterized by the inability to focus on distant objects. Nearsightedness causes sufferers to see nearby objects clearly, while those at a distance are blurred.

Light to the retina is misaligned as a result of the eyeball being elongated. This weakened vision is very common and affects between 30 and 40% of the population of the US. Estimates in certain other parts of the world are even higher and up to 90% of young East Asian adults are nearsighted.

While nearsightedness has traditionally been considered largely hereditary, there is concern that spending too much time indoors hunched over books and computer screens is causing a dramatic increase in myopia among schoolchildren. Many people who have had good eyesight well into their 20s but required glasses only after having a desk job are likely candidates to find improvement with exercises.

Glasses, contact lenses or even eye surgery are commonly used to restore vision but many people are loath to try exercising the eyes feeling that eye exercises are not worthwhile. Everybody knows the value of exercising muscle groups in the body but forget that the eyes are also muscles, which need regular exercise to maintain their good condition.

There are a number of different exercises that you can try in order to improve your eyesight but there is no guarantee they will work. Anecdotal evidence suggests you might have more success if your myopia is caused by environmental factors and fatigue than if it is a hereditary condition.

Great Eye Exercises for Nearsightedness

1. Pencil Exercises

There are several exercises that you can do a few times a day using only a pencil and a little bit of your time.

Pencil Focus

1. Take a comfortable seat and hold a pencil or a pen in front of your face at arm’s length.
2. Look at the pencil and slowly bring it towards your face.
3. Make sure you keep your eyes focused only on the pencil and nothing surrounding it.
4. Reverse the process and slowly move the pencil away from you keeping your eyes focused on it.
5. Repeat this process 5 times and do the exercise 3 times a day.

Focus Exercise with Pencil

1. Take a comfortable but upright sitting position.
2. Hold a pencil or a pen around 6 inches from your nose.
3. This time, instead of focusing on the pencil simply glance at it and change your focus to an object or a picture on the other side of your room.
4. Focus on that object for 5 seconds then go back to looking at the pencil for another couple of seconds.
5. Repeat the process 5 times and do this exercise several times a day.

Tic-Tac-Toe

1. Sit down comfortably and hold a pencil or a pen away from the eyes to the point where its image begins to double.
2. Bring the pencil back slightly from that point and hold it.
3. Try to imagine a tic-tac-toe board just in front of your eyes.
4. Touch each of these imaginary squares with your pencil making sure to follow the pencil’s movement -then bring it back to its starting position.
5. Repeat this exercise a few times a day.

2. Eyeball Rotation

This is a simple and convenient exercise that you can do each morning to start off your day.

1. In a comfortable seated or standing position start off by rotating your eyeballs around clockwise.
2. Blink a couple of times then reverse the direction of your eyeball roll.
3. Repeat this process 4 or 5 times in both directions.
4. Perform this exercise several times a day or whenever your eyes are feeling strained or generally fatigued.

3. Light Detection

1. Sit comfortably in front of a lamp like a table lamp but make sure that you are far enough away not to hurt your eyes.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Slowly turn your head from left to right and back again.
4. Focus on the feeling of light increasing then diminishing as you turn your head.
5. Repeat this exercise 5 or 5 times several times a day.

4. Write with the Eyes

This is a fun way to exercise your eyes that you can do pretty much anywhere so long as it has a wall.

1. Look at an area of the wall.
2. Making sure to keep your head still, imagine writing letters of the alphabet or numbers by moving your eyes in the correct directions.
3. Try doing every letter of the alphabet or numbers from 1 to 20.
4. Perform this exercise every day.

5. Scanning the Room

You can do this exercise anywhere that there are plenty of static objects to look at like your garden or living room.

1. Sit comfortably in your chosen location.
2. Start slowly scanning objects from one side of your room.
3. Keep scanning the room focusing on each object in real detail.
4. Try to pick out details like numbers or small images on larger objects.
5. Move your focus to the next object.
6. Make sure that you maintain a methodical motion when focusing on the objects if you want to get the maximum benefits from the exercise.

6. Finger and Picture exercise

All you need this time is your finger and a wall with a picture hanging on it.

1. Stand comfortably facing a wall in a decent sized room.
2. Make certain that there is some sort of poster or picture on the opposite wall.
3. Hold your finger in front of your face slightly above the nose.
4. Start off by focusing on your fingertip then very suddenly shift your focus to the image on your wall.
5. After a few seconds move backwards a step and repeat the process.
6. Repeat and take another step backwards.
7. Repeat at least 5 times and perform the exercise at least once a day.

7. Yogic Eye Exercise

There are a number of exercises which combine eye exercises with the benefits of yoga. This one is easy to follow and can be performed conveniently in your home.

1. Start off in a cross-legged position with your back upright.
2. Raise your left arm straight in front of your face.
3. Make a fist with your left hand and point your thumb upwards.
4. Focus your eyes on the tip of the thumb.
5. Maintaining your focus on the thumb, slowly bring your left thumb to the tip of your nose.
6. Breathe in and hold the thumb in place for a few seconds then slowly return your arm to its starting position-keep your focus on the thumb.
7. Repeat the process 5 times a few times each day.

Effectiveness of Eye Exercises

There is of course no guarantee that these exercises will work but many people have reported a great deal of success. How much they work will depend on the severity and causes of your eye condition but do not give up if you fail to experience instant results.

Strengthening your vision will take time so try to perform at least some of these exercises on a regular basis.They can be performed most everywhere and take up relatively little time. Other factors might affect how well these exercises work for you.

Lifestyle is clearly a factor; spending long hours staring at a computer or tablet screen will have a detrimental effect in general and will reduce the effectiveness of any eye exercises that you perform.

It also goes without saying that diet can help-making sure that you are getting sufficient amounts of the necessary minerals and vitamins will benefit your health in general and might at least slow down the deterioration in your vision.

Good luck with these exercises, we hope that you find some improvement with them!