It is widely believed that with the help of special eye exercises you can improve your vision and even cure myopia. We decided to check the validity of such statements.

They write about sets of exercises that help restore deteriorated vision Media, and Internet users talk about their positive experience of using them on blogging platforms And YouTube. Collections of such exercises can be found on the shelves of bookstores (for example, the books “How to restore your vision yourself"Eugene Oremus and "Eye exercises" Elena Boyko). There is information about the benefits of such gymnastics even on websites medical and specialized ophthalmological organizations.

Exercises for vision, which recommend on most sites, is a set of movements of the eyeballs and eyelids, designed to train the eye muscles. Sometimes it involves focusing the gaze on approaching and receding objects. It is claimed that such exercises help improve vision and cure eye diseases associated with its deterioration.

Most often, when it comes to poor vision, we mean the so-called refractive errors: myopia (myopia), farsightedness (hypermetropia, also known as hyperopia) and astigmatism. This is the most common problemsrelated to vision. With refractive error, the shape of the eye or its individual parts changes, causing light rays to be refracted incorrectly and focused not on the retina (as happens with normal vision), but beyond it. Myopia is a condition in which nearby objects appear clear, but distant objects appear blurry. Accurate cause Myopia is still not clear to scientists, but in most cases it is transmitted genetically and can be aggravated by lifestyle (for example, constant reading or working at a computer). Hypermetropia - the opposite of myopia, a phenomenon when objects nearby appear blurry. Farsightedness is also common It happens is hereditary and often develops after 40 years of age, sometimes other diseases such as diabetes or cancer can lead to it, but this is quite rare.

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At astigmatism There is blurred vision both far and near, problems with vision in the dark and some other symptoms. Astigmatism May be congenital, but can develop as a result of other eye diseases, due to injury or after surgery (but not as a result of excessive strain on vision or other lifestyle factors).

Reputable medical organizations, such as the research center "Clinic Mayo" and a non-profit medical center "Cleveland Clinic» (USA), as well as National Health Service Great Britain and others recommend using glasses or contact lenses to compensate for myopia, and surgery for treatment. The same recommendations give for treatment hypermetropia and astigmatism. “Verified” could not find eye exercises in guidelines for preventing the development of these diseases in authoritative sources. In general, experts advise limiting screen time and taking breaks, ensuring normal lighting when reading and sitting at the computer, wearing sunglasses outside, stopping smoking, eating nutritiously, and regularly checking your eyesight with an ophthalmologist. However, since these diseases are often inherited, it is not a fact that even if all these recommendations are followed, visual impairment can be completely prevented.

In September 2023, Chinese scientists published a meta-analysis of existing studies on the effectiveness of eye exercises in the treatment of myopia. They studied English- and Chinese-language scientific works and came to the conclusion that to date there is no evidence of the positive effect of exercises in the treatment of myopia.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also called Common conditions that cause visual impairment include cataracts, glaucoma, amblyopia (or “lazy eye”), diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and strabismus.

Cataract is a clouding of the lens area caused by the destruction of the proteins that make it up. Most cataracts are caused by natural changes with age, but sometimes another disease or injury is the cause. To reduce the risk, experts advise protecting your eyes from the sun, protecting them from mechanical damage, stopping smoking and eating right.

Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve that over time can lead to complete blindness. Doctors do not yet know what leads to the development of glaucoma, so there are no recommendations for prevention, other than regular examinations by an ophthalmologist. It is also impossible to cure it completely, but you can seriously slow down the development of the disease with the help of eye drops that reduce intraocular pressure, as well as laser and surgical intervention.

Age-related macular degeneration (or age-related macular degeneration) is damage to the macula (the light-sensitive part of the retina) either due to thinning or abnormal growth of blood vessels. This disease also causes blurred vision. As a preventative measure, it is recommended to simply lead a healthy lifestyle: eat right, avoid bad habits, and exercise. Treatment may include specialized medications or surgery.

Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that affects the blood vessels in the retina of the eye, which can cause blurry vision. It can develop in anyone with any type of diabetes. To reduce your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, you need to monitor your blood sugar levels and have your eyes checked regularly by an ophthalmologist so that they can prescribe treatment, such as injections, laser or surgery, if necessary.

“Verified” was unable to find sources in which any reputable medical organizations recommend sets of exercises for the treatment or prevention of the above diseases. It was not possible to find high-quality scientific studies that would confirm the effectiveness of such gymnastics.

Some quite authoritative medical sources claimthat eye exercises are effective for amblyopia. This is a disease associated with disruption of the joint functioning of the brain and eye, when the brain ceases to recognize visual signals received from one of the eyes (extremely rarely from both). Amblyopia most often occurs in children. The exact cause of its occurrence is unknown, but sometimes it can be associated with other eye diseases - for example, when one of them has myopia, cataracts or other problems. In this case, the brain begins to “rely” only on the eye that sees better, avoiding signals from the other. In this case, it is necessary to first treat the underlying disease, and then correct vision by wearing a patch or instilling special drops in the “strong” eye to force the brain to use both. However, experts from the reputable Cleveland Clinic claim: There is no scientific evidence that exercise can somehow cure amblyopia. It was not possible to find authoritative scientific studies that would confirm the effectiveness of training the eye muscles for this disease.

Gymnastics for the eyes can be part of a complex of treatment measures strabismus - diseases when the eye muscles cannot act synchronously, which, if left untreated, can lead to amblyopia, which was mentioned above. Since strabismus does involve muscle function, training them appears to have a positive effect.

Poor distance vision can be associated not only with myopia, but also with the so-called spasm of accommodation, or spasm ciliary muscle. This muscle changes the shape of the lens when a person focuses on close objects - when looking into the distance, it should normally relax so that vision focuses on objects in the distance. However, with a spasm this does not happen, causing distant objects to appear blurry as the gaze remains focused near. Unlike myopia, spasm of accommodation is not inherited, but may be called or other eye diseases, or excessive stress when working at a computer, reading and other activities associated with prolonged focusing on close objects. For treatment spasm of accommodation, special drops that relax the ciliary muscle or other therapy are prescribed, but sometimes recommend and home exercises For workout eye muscles. Since the symptoms of ciliary muscle spasm and myopia are similar, it is not possible to independently determine the diagnosis and select treatment; you need to seek help from an ophthalmologist.

There are also studies that support some effectiveness of eye exercises for convergence insufficiency - a disease in which the eye muscles do not work correctly when focusing on close objects, causing blurred vision at close range. Muscle training can indeed help in this case, this was confirmed study, the results of which were published by South Korean scientists in 2011. 16 people with this diagnosis completed the pencil exercise for 12 weeks. Its essence was that the patient should hold a pencil at arm's length approximately halfway between the eyes. Then you need to focus your gaze on the pencil and gradually move it closer to your nose until the image begins to double. The subjects performed two sets of 20 approaches each day. After 12 weeks, 62.5% of study participants showed improvement.

Thus, no vision gymnastics will be effective for the treatment and prevention of most of the most common eye diseases, such as myopia, farsightedness, cataracts, glaucoma, etc., because their causes are in no way related to the work of the eye muscles. No reputable medical organization recommends using these exercises to treat these diseases. It was also not possible to find a single high-quality scientific study that would confirm the effectiveness of gymnastics in such situations. However, in some cases, such as strabismus or convergence insufficiency, ophthalmologists may prescribe certain exercises for patients to do at home.

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