Various commercials, infomercials and advertisements claim you can cure your nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and even, perhaps, age-related lens stiffening with a program of exercises.
"If this sounds too good to be true, that's because it is," reports Harvard University. Promoters of such exercise programs -- that stand to profit from your purchase -- have yet to conduct research or supply results that are randomized or otherwise conform to scientific trials.
Exercises for dyslexia, glaucoma and macular degeneration are also ruled ineffective.
What Works and Doesn't
Some people may be able to delay the need for vision correction -- eyeglasses or contacts -- with regular exercise, according to Harvard. "But you don't need to buy a special program of exercises or follow prescribed visual gymnastics," the Harvard website adds. Instead, offer your eyes frequent breaks from close-up work, such as working at the computer. Use the time to focus your eyes on objects farther away than the computer monitor.
The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology says that even using patches, filters, glasses equipped with prisms or low-strength "training glasses" lacks scientific evidence of effectiveness. "Until evidence-based research proves otherwise, it's safe to assume that nonmedical self-help eye exercise programs won't keep you out of glasses if you need them," adds the Harvard website.
Additionally, Harvard's Roger Steinert, clinical professor of ophthalmology, dispels the myth that wearing eyeglasses makes your eyes dependent on correction and actually weakens them. Instead, he says, a person is likely to put up with poor vision until it is corrected. "Once they get used to the correction, the same level of blur is no longer acceptable to them," he explains. "So they perceive that their eyes have been weakened."
There's One Exception
Convergence insufficiency -- experienced by some children ages 9 to 17 -- doesn't allow the eyes to move toward each other to focus on the same image. Symptoms include: sleepiness, tired eyes, tightening muscles or skin around your eyes, double or blurred vision and even difficulty reading or concentrating on what you're reading.
There are two forms of eye exercises that can be prescribed by a vision therapist to train the eyes to work in unison. One involves focusing on a pencil and the other is a computer-based program. Three months or more of these exercises are effective in resolving convergence insufficiency.
If Exercises Are Prescribed
The AAPO recommends that you ask any eye care provider that prescribes eye exercises for research that supports the exercise prescription, the odds of success and how the provider will measure that success. And get a second opinion from an ophthalmologist experienced in treating the diagnosis.
Talk to Your Doc
Your eyes are an organ and, like most organs, there are medical specialists that are trained to treat them. Consult with your primary care provider, and rely on an optometrist to prescribe and an optometrist to make corrective lenses. Rely on a medical doctor, an ophthalmologist, to give you specific information, medicine and therapy for your eyes.
