Your eyesight is something that can deteriorate just like your health if you don’t take steps to strengthen it. I had a great uncle who was an eye doctor. He said to hold off getting glasses as long as possible because once you did, your eyesight would slowly become weaker. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a way to strengthen them a few years ago that I found out something could be done to improve them or at least slow down the weakening process.
In my mid-thirties, I started having problems with dizziness. It would happen if I worked on a spreadsheet on the computer or watched sports and movies with a lot of movement. At the time, I just made it better by stopping what I was doing. It wasn’t until I started writing my book Joe Jack and I had to look at a lot of small print that my problem steadily got worse. It got to the point where I had to stop writing and see a doctor.
I went to the first one and he recommended I get a CAT scan to make sure I didn’t have any severe issues in my head. Once that showed up clear, I went back and asked him what else could be done. He couldn’t suggest anything, so I went to another doctor for help. The next one told me that I needed physical therapy. My first reaction was: how could physical therapy help? I always associated this with fitness, so I didn’t think it could apply to something in my head. Either way, I was so desperate to alleviate my problem, I set up an appointment to see a therapist.
Physical Therapy for Your Eyes
I was still pessimistic that a therapist could help when I first sat down and was given an evaluation. Once it was done, she sat me down and started to give me some simple exercises to help my situation. When I first did them, I only felt dizzier and light headed than when I started. That night, I still felt the lingering effects of nausea from all of the exercises that she put me through. My pessimism soon vanished the next day when I woke up and felt much better. I went to my next therapy session and my problem felt even better afterwards. This trend continued and after about six sessions, my problems had decreased significantly. I was then given a training sheet to continue my sessions at home so that I could continue therapy on my own schedule.
After a few months of completing my dizziness exercises, I noticed my eyesight had started to strengthen. I had always read fairly consistently, but before my therapy, I had noticed the pages were becoming blurrier. Once I had finished my eye exercises on a consistent basis, I was finding the pages were becoming much sharper. It wasn’t long before I had the eyesight that I had many years earlier. I have now been doing eye exercises twice a day for the past seven years with little eye digression.
There are just a few exercises you can do to improve your eyesight. The good part is that while you do these, you’ll also decrease the chances of dizzy spells along with improving your overall balance. You may experience some dizziness after first completing these exercises, but they will become easier and easier with less discomfort. Just make sure you do them consistently for a couple weeks before making a decision on whether they work.
Morning Eye Exercises
The first exercises I do in the morning are very simple since I don’t want to start my day dizzy. I also find that after doing these, my eyesight is stronger and makes it easier to look at my laptop throughout the day.
Start by standing and looking straight ahead. Without moving your head, look left and focus on an object on the wall like a picture or shape. While holding your focus, move your head to the left so you’re looking straight at the object. Then without moving your head, look to the right and focus on another object. Then rotate your head to the right so you’re looking straight at the new object. Keep your head in place and then look back at the object on the left. Proceed going back and forth to each object five times each or a total of ten times. If these exercises start to become easy and you want to improve your balance, do them while you’re standing on one foot. This is the way I do them since I’ve been doing them so long and I need the extra challenge.
Afternoon Eye Exercises
The second round of exercises I do in the afternoon. Usually, I do these after lunch or when I have a break. These exercises will probably take longer to read than completing. Once you get a system, it will only take a few minutes to do each one. Remember, you may get dizzy when you first attempt them.
Start by standing and looking straight ahead. Stretch your arm straight out while holding an object. You can use your car keys or anything that has a distinctive shape or marking. While keeping your head still, move the object to the left and keep your eyes focused as it moves. Then move the object to the right so your eyes pan to the right. Keep moving the object back and forth while keeping your head still so that only your eyes move. Do this for 60 seconds. I use a cell phone to focus on since it has the perfect sized text and my sleep mode is set for 60 seconds, so it will dim when the time is up.
For the second round of exercises, do the same steps as above but instead of moving the object left and right, move it up and down. Do this again for 60 seconds.
For the third round, do the same steps as above, but while moving the object, have your head move in the opposite direction. This means when starting at the center position, while moving the object to the left, move your head to the right while staying focused. Then move the object to the right while you move your head to the left. These are the most challenging exercises but are the best for strengthening your eyes. Do this exercise for 60 seconds and make sure you do them both for moving left and right, along with up and down. If you really want a challenge and improve your balance, do all of the exercises on one foot.
Please know that these exercises will get easier and your eyesight will get better. As much as I wish I didn’t have to do them, they help me so significantly that I can’t imagine what I would have done without them. Just like you brush your teeth twice a day because it helps your oral health, you should do these twice a day to improve your overall eye health. It’s also better than reaching for your glasses throughout the day.