Getting older sometimes means getting cataracts, but getting cataracts doesn't always mean immediate surgery, according to Diet Health Club and the American Vision Institute. Eye cataract exercises often stop early-stage cataracts from getting worse or help clear them up altogether.
Description
A cataract is a small cloudiness on your eye's lens that prevents you from seeing things sharply or clearly. While a cataract usually starts off as a minor annoyance or something you don't notice at all, it does tend to grow and further mar your vision over time. The most common causes of cataracts are aging and injuries, but they also sometimes come about from other health issues, like diabetes or some genetic disorders.
Explanation
Aging makes your eye's lenses thicker, stiffer and less transparent, the ideal combination for tissues in the lenses to degenerate. The degenerated tissue pieces end up clumping together and blocking or clouding your vision. As more tissue breaks down, bigger clumps form, extending farther across your lens.
Exercise Purpose
Cataract eye exercises both strengthen and relax your eyes, but the benefits don't necessarily stop there. The American Vision Institute reports eye exercises also work to jostle stagnant fluids and particles around your lens which, in turn, often flushes out the particles and allows nutrients to enter your eye. Diet Health Club reports cataract exercises are most effective when combined with change of diet that cleanses all toxins from your body.
Gentle Movement
Gently moving your eyes, head and neck is an effective sequence of exercises for cataracts, according to Diet Health Club. Move your eyes from side to side, up and down, then rotate them clockwise and counterclockwise. Top off the eye movements by rotating your neck in semi-circles and circles, and then rotating your shoulders, in clockwise and counterclockwise motions.
Palming
Palming is another exercise technique Diet Health Club recommends for cataracts. This simple procedure, which involves sitting comfortably and covering your eyes with your palms, gives your eyes deep relaxation and freedom from strain. While seated, close your eyes and cover your right eye with your right palm and your left eye with your left palm. Keep the palms gently against your lids, not pressing into the eyeballs. Let your elbows relax, dropping together to meet in front of you, and sit and concentrate on a blackness that keeps getting deeper.
