You’ve probably experienced it: Your eyes begin to water and twitch, and they burn when you close them. You’re suffering from a common condition – eye strain.
It happens when you stare at a road for a long time, work too long in front of the computer, watch too much television, or focus on any task that requires you to look up close for any length of time.
Fortunately, there are easy eye exercises that can relax and even strengthen the eyes. No exercise can cure an eye ailment, but doing the following exercises regularly can be beneficial if a weakness or imbalance of the eye muscles causes vision problems, especially eye strain:
Eye push-ups
This exercise trains your eyes to work together to aim at the same task, which can help prevent eyestrain.
Hold a pen in front of your face, about an arm’s length away. Move it toward your nose slowly, staring at the same place on the pen. Bring the pen as close as you can to the tip of your nose before you see a double image.
Change your focus
This exercise helps you cut down on eye fatigue.
Hold a book or newspaper as close to your eyes as you can without the print becoming blurred. Stare at the words for 15 seconds. Then, look at an object approximately 10 feet away and stare at that for 15 seconds. Repeat five times.
The eye roller coaster
This exercise improves the flow of blood and oxygen to your eyes.
Close your eyes and slowly roll them in a complete circle. Then, move them from right to left. Repeat three times.
Palming and cupping
This exercise relaxes your eyes.
If you wear contact lenses, remove them. Close your eyes and put the fleshy part of your palms over them. Press gently for a few seconds. Then, cup your hands over your open eyes. Keep your eyes open and look into your palms as you breathe slowly through your nose for 30 seconds.
Although it might seem simplistic, blinking and yawning are also beneficial because they produce tears that lubricate the eyes. And you can also help your eyes by taking nutritional supplements that contain bilberry, vitamin A and lutein.