How Eye Exercises Can Help With Presbyopia
Key takeaways:
Presbyopia is the natural aging process of the eye that makes it hard to see up close.
Eye exercises can improve vision perception, but they will not reverse presbyopia.
Glasses, contacts, and surgery can correct presbyopia.
Presbyopia is an eye condition that makes it difficult to see up close. As you get older, the lens of the eye becomes more rigid, making it hard to focus on things up close — like print on a screen or in a book. While there’s nothing you can do to stop presbyopia from starting, there’s a lot you can do to keep your eyes healthy and your vision clear. Continue reading to learn more about how to treat presbyopia and how eye exercises can help.
What are the earliest symptoms of presbyopia?
The earliest symptoms of presbyopia include:
Blurry vision when looking at things up close
Trouble reading fine print
Headaches
Eye strain
You may notice yourself holding items farther away to see them clearly. You might also find yourself turning on more lights or increasing screen brightness to help you see better.
Who’s most at risk for developing presbyopia?
As you get older, you’re more likely to develop presbyopia. Most people start to experience symptoms of presbyopia around age 40. Some people develop presbyopia earlier in life — this is called premature presbyopia. Premature presbyopia can be caused by:
Genetics
Health conditions
Medications
Regular cannabis use
Frequent screen time
How do you treat presbyopia?
There are great options to treat presbyopia. While your vision may never go all the way back to normal, it will get much clearer with treatment. Popular options include:
Prescription eyeglasses: reading glasses, bifocals and progressives
Contact lenses: bifocal, multifocal, or monovision
Surgery: corneal inlays, lens exchange, and LASIK
You can work with your eyecare team to find the best option for your eye health and lifestyle.
What eye exercises can you perform to minimize the effects of presbyopia?
Eye exercises can’t stop or reverse presbyopia, but they can help with eye strain and sometimes improve visual perception.
Exercises for eye strain
Many people with presbyopia experience eye strain, and eye exercises can help relieve these symptoms. Eye strain is a type of eye fatigue and can cause:
Pain around the eye
Headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Eye itching
Focusing on objects that are far away is a simple eye exercise that helps relieve eye strain. One example is the 20-20-20 exercise. While doing a near-vision activity, like reading or working on a computer, take a break every 20 minutes and look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
Exercises for visual perception
Some eye exercises help with visual perception. These exercises speed up how quickly the brain processes images like small, closely-spaced fonts. There are some apps, like GlassesOff, that use these exercises so the brain can better process images that are blurred by presbyopia. One study showed that people who used the app for 30-minute sessions 3 times per week for 3 months had better visual perception. Of note, these authors did have financial ties to this app.
There is no data to suggest that one type of exercise is better than another, and no eye exercise will cure presbyopia. But by using eye exercises you may notice an improvement in the ability to distinguish objects from their background, which can mean you have an easier time seeing up close.
When should you start doing eye exercises for your vision?
Everyone who does a lot of reading or computer work, no matter how old they are, should be taking frequent breaks and trying the 20-20-20 exercise. Starting at age 40, minimizing eye strain and fatigue becomes even more important. If you haven’t already, be sure to incorporate eye breaks into your daily routine.
The bottom line
Presbyopia causes difficulty seeing up close and develops in all people as they get older. Eye exercises can’t reverse presbyopia, but they may improve visual perception and decrease eye strain. There are many options to correct presbyopia, including eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Why trust our experts?
References
Afshari, N., et al. (2021). Presbyopia. EyeWiki, American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Boyd, K. (2020). Computers, digital devices and eye strain. Eye Smart, American Academy of Ophthalmology.
GlassesOff. (n.d.). GlassesOff.
Katz, J. A., et al. (2021). Presbyopia – a review of current treatment options and emerging therapies. Clinical Ophthalmology.
Polat, U. (2009). Making perceptual learning practical to improve visual functions. Vision Research.
Polat, U., et al. (2012). Training the brain to overcome the effect of aging on the human eye. Scientific Reports.
Yahezkel, O., et al. (2015). Training on spatiotemporal masking improves crowded and uncrowded visual acuity. Journal of Vision.
