Training the muscles in your body can help do a lot of things.  It can help with pain, balance, look, health, mental function, breathing, and eyesight. Yes, you can exercise your muscles to support your eyesight significantly.

You see, the reason that you can see at all is that the muscles in your eye tighten and loosen to change the lens’s shape, which alters how we get light into the eye and thus see.

The exercise and reason these works are simple; we have discussed it before. If you look at something that is the same distance away for too long, the muscles in the eye will become “set” tone-wise at that length.

Since the muscles in your eye make your vision work, if they get “stuck or set,” they will not move as easily. This makes changing your lens harder and harder. So, the key to this, as silly and easy as it sounds, is to look around.

My favorite exercise for this is pencil pushups. Take a pencil and put it about 6 inches from your face. Make it so close that it is hard to focus on, but you can get it to come into focus. Then find a point that is little ways out, say 10-20 yards/meters, and focus on that. You want it far enough out you have to focus to see it clearly, but not so far you can’t focus on it or read at that distance.

Then go back and forth from close to far. Do this a couple of times a day. Play the near-far game like Grover back on sesame street. As you get better, move the pencil closer and the other object further away. This will help the little muscles in the eye exercise get stronger and thus work better, and that helps you see better by exercising.

Wellness is a process, and exercising your eyes is only one step on the wellness journey.

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Dr. Matt Chalmers

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Before taking any action based on this information you should first consult with your physician or health care provider. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions regarding a medical condition, your health, or wellness.