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Myopia (nearsightedness) is becoming an alarming public health issue, with incidence rates, especially among children, rising rapidly due to intense study habits and excessive exposure to blue light from digital devices. While wearing glasses offers immediate visual correction, it is not a treatment for the underlying stress and weakening of the eye muscles. To truly protect and actively support vision improvement, combining supportive methods is essential. Among these, eye exercises for myopia are considered the simplest, most effective, and easiest method to maintain. This article will introduce parents and readers to 5 proven myopia eye exercises designed to relax eye muscles, reduce strain, and naturally help improve vision.
Why are eye exercises crucial for myopia?
Why are eye exercises crucial for myopia?
To understand the role of these exercises, we must first understand the mechanism of eye strain in nearsighted individuals.
1. The mechanism of eye strain in myopic eyes
The eye is a sophisticated optical system, where the accommodative muscles (especially the ciliary muscle) play a key role in changing the curvature of the lens, thereby adjusting the focal point so images remain sharp, whether looking near or far.
In people with myopia, the eyeball structure is often longer than normal, or the cornea is too curved, causing images to focus in front of the retina. Even when wearing corrective lenses, continuous studying and working at close range (reading books, looking at phones, computers) forces the eye muscles to maintain a prolonged state of tension for accommodation.
>> Read more: Early-Onset Myopia in Children: Symptoms, Causes, and Solutions
This chronic tension leads to:
- Eye strain (Asthenopia): A heavy, burning, and uncomfortable sensation in the eyes, reducing work efficiency.
- Reduced ciliary muscle relaxation ability: Causing the eye muscles to become rigid and impairing the ability to see clearly at a distance.
- Symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and most importantly, facilitating faster myopia progression as the eyes constantly adapt to fatigue.
2. Benefits of eye exercises for myopia
Eye exercises act as physical therapy, counteracting the aforementioned muscle stiffness:
- Relaxation and increased flexibility: The exercises help stretch and relax the accommodative muscles and extraocular muscles (which move the eyeball), restoring their natural resilience, much like warming up before physical exercise.
- Improved blood circulation: Moving the eyeballs and surrounding muscles enhances blood flow and nutrient delivery to the eye structures, supporting detoxification and oxygen supply.
- Reduced stress and fatigue: This is an effective way to alleviate symptoms of Digital Eye Strain and prevent myopia progression caused by poor habits and incorrect working posture.
5 Simple and Effective Eye Exercises for Myopia (Detailed Practice)
5 Simple and Effective Eye Exercises for Myopia (Detailed Practice)
To optimize effectiveness, perform these exercises in a quiet place with soft lighting and maintain a routine of practicing 1-2 times daily, for about 10 minutes each time.
>> Read more: 6 Easy Ways To Help Safeguard Your Child’s Vision From An Early Age
1. Near-Far Focusing Exercise (Deep Accommodative Training)
This is the most fundamental and crucial exercise, helping to train the ciliary muscle's flexible focus-shifting ability, essential for those who frequently work up close.
How to do it:
- Hold your thumb up in front of your face, about 15-20cm from your eyes. Focus intently on your fingerprint, holding for 5 seconds. This contracts the ciliary muscle.
- Quickly shift your gaze to an object far away (at least 6 meters) such as a picture, a tree, or a spot on the wall. Focus clearly on that object, holding for 10 seconds. This relaxes the ciliary muscle.
- Repeat this cycle 10-15 times.
Purpose: To train the flexibility and resilience of the ciliary muscle, improving the ability to shift focus quickly and accurately. This effectively applies the 20-20-20 Rule (every 20 minutes of close work, look at something 20 feet/about 6m away for 20 seconds) to an active rest routine.
2. Eyeball Movement Exercise (Increasing Ocular Motility Flexibility)
This exercise strengthens the six extraocular muscles responsible for moving the eyeball, helping the eyes track smoothly and tire less when scanning images.
How to do it: Keep your head still, only moving your eyeballs.
- Up – Down: Look up as far as you can (without wrinkling your forehead), then look down as far as you can. Repeat 5 times.
- Left – Right: Look left as far as you can, then right as far as you can. Repeat 5 times.
- Diagonal: Look diagonally up to the top left corner, then diagonally down to the bottom right corner. Repeat 5 times. Then switch: up to the top right, down to the bottom left. Repeat 5 times.
Purpose: Stretches all the extraocular muscles, releasing the accumulated tension caused by habitually focusing on a fixed position on the screen.
3. Figure-Eight Exercise (Enhancing Tracking Ability)
This exercise trains the smooth coordination between both eyes and improves the ability to continuously track images without jerkiness, enhancing peripheral vision.
How to do it:
- Imagine a large figure-eight shape lying horizontally or vertically on a wall, about 3 meters away from you.
- Keep your head still, and use your eyes to trace the curve of the figure-eight slowly and smoothly, trying to look at the farthest points of the shape.
- Perform in one direction for 4-5 times, then reverse the direction for 4-5 times.
Purpose: Helps the eye muscles work in sync, enhances smooth visual tracking and focus, and relaxes muscles that are stiff from maintaining a fixed gaze.
4. Relaxing Eye Closure Exercise (Stimulating Tear Glands and Reducing Dryness)
This simple exercise naturally moistens the eyes and provides instant relief from fatigue, making it crucial for computer users.
How to do it:
- Close your eyes tightly, hold for 3-5 seconds, feeling the slight tension in the surrounding eye muscles.
- Then, open your eyes and blink gently 5 times.
- Repeat this cycle 5-10 times.
Purpose: The act of tightly closing and opening the eyes helps stimulate the tear glands to function, moistening the surface of the eyeball, lubricating and washing away dust. This is an effective way to combat dry eyes and strain caused by reduced blinking when concentrating on a screen.
5. Warm Palm Rubbing Exercise (Palming – Total Relaxation)
Palming is a deep relaxation technique that uses natural warmth from the palms and darkness to reduce visual nervous tension.
How to do it:
- Sit comfortably, rub your palms together quickly and vigorously until they feel warm.
- Gently cup the warmed palms over your closed eyes (without pressing on the eyeballs). Ensure no light seeps in.
- Relax completely in the darkness and feel the warmth spreading for 30 – 60 seconds. Breathe deeply and evenly to enhance nervous system relaxation.
- Repeat 2-3 times.
Purpose: Completely relaxes the optic nerves, reduces tension in the eye muscles and posterior eye nerves, allowing the eyes to optimally recover energy and re-establish visual balance.
Essential Nutritional Foundation to Protect Eyes from Within
Although eye exercises for myopia provide significant mechanical benefits, relying solely on them is insufficient to cope with the modern environment full of blue light and suboptimal lifestyle habits.
1. Why are eye exercises alone not enough?
Why are eye exercises alone not enough?
Exercises address issues of mechanics and eye muscle flexibility. However, for comprehensive eye protection, it is necessary to address problems at the more critical cellular and structural level:
- Harmful effects of blue light: High-energy blue light waves from digital screens penetrate the lens, causing damage to the sensitive cells of the retina and increasing the risk of early macular degeneration. Exercises cannot prevent this impact.
- Cell regeneration: Visual cells and important structures like the retina constantly need specific nutrients for regeneration, antioxidant protection, and to maintain proper function.
2. The Golden Duo of Nutrients for Healthy Eyes
The Golden Duo of Nutrients for Healthy Eyes
Scientific studies have demonstrated that two nutrients play an irreplaceable role in protecting and perfecting vision, especially in children and individuals with myopia: DHA and Lutein.
The Role of DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid):
DHA is the main lipid component, making up to 60% of the retina. Adequate DHA supplementation helps visual nerve cells function effectively, increasing clear vision, especially in low-light conditions, and speeding up image transmission. DHA deficiency can negatively affect vision development and function.
The Role of Lutein:
Lutein (along with Zeaxanthin) is the only pigment capable of accumulating at high density in the macula of the eye. Lutein acts as a super-effective natural filter, helping to absorb and filter up to 90% of harmful blue light before it reaches and damages the retina's sensitive cells. Lutein supplementation is key to reducing eye strain, improving contrast sensitivity, and providing long-term protection against Digital Eye Strain.
>> Read more: Properly supplementing Lutein for healthy children’s eyes and brain development
3. The Comprehensive Solution from Vitatree Kids High Strength DHA Plus Lutein
The Comprehensive Solution from Vitatree Kids High Strength DHA Plus Lutein
To ensure optimal eye protection from the inside out, choosing a quality supplement is crucial, especially one that combines both these essential nutrients.
Vitatree Kids High Strength DHA Plus Lutein is developed with an innovative formula, perfectly blending these two essential nutrients:
- Non-Fishy DHA from Algae: This is a premium, pure DHA source extracted from Algae, free from heavy metals found in common fish oils, making it ideal and easy for children to take. The high dosage of 160mg/capsule optimizes brain and vision development.
- Comprehensive Dual Benefit: The combination of high-dose DHA and Lutein provides a complete solution, not only supporting bright, healthy eyes but also aiding intellectual development and concentration.
With a natural lemon flavor and soft chewable capsules, Vitatree is the ideal choice to make essential nutrient supplementation for eyes easy and effective, maintaining a sustainable habit of vision protection even during the most stressful school years.