Do Eye Exercises Help Vision?

If you’re experiencing age related vision changes like the rest of us, you might still be in denial and find yourself kicking and screaming your way through aging. One strategy you might consider turning to help prevent further vision decline is eye exercises. You may see them online, and you may hope that they work well enough to throw your money at them.  We’re not eye doctors, but we can tell you that corrective eye glasses are reading glasses will be the only successful ways to improve the vision decline that comes with getting older.
 

For many adult-onset vision changes, eye exercise programs that you purchase actually have no real benefit, and here are some of the reasons why you might be having the wool pulled over your eyes if you buy into the concept:
 

·       With presbyopia, the most common cause of age related vision changes, the elasticity of the lens actually declines. Eye exercises cannot restore this.

·       Eye shape and the shape and position of the cornea can have an effect on vision. No exercise will ever change the shape of the eye.
 

In 2004, American Academy of Ophthalmology issued this statement:
 

"It is not clear if patients purchasing these programs for use at home outside of the controlled environment of a research study will have any improvement in their vision. No evidence was found that visual training has any effect on the progression of myopia. No evidence was found that visual training improves visual function for patients with hyperopia or astigmatism. No evidence was found that visual training improves vision lost through disease processes such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy."