10 Best Exercises For Tired Eyes

Wellness

oi-Amritha K

By Amritha K

Thursday, November 21, 2019, 10:33 | Reviewed By Arya Krishnan

Vision or the process of seeing make up for 50 per cent of your brain's functionality. Having healthy eyesight is guilelessly important and it is asserted that a good vision can improve the performance of the brain by 50 per cent as well. Living in the digital era, surrounded by smartphones and computers, most of us are prone to developing one or more vision problems.

Constantly staring into the screens of your laptops and phones or reading your favourite book under dim light is prone to mess-up your eyesight and vision. It can cause you to have tired eyes or strained eyes, which causes your eyes to feel achy, weak, or heavy due to intense use ^{[1] [2]} .

Some of the most common causes of tired eyes are poor lighting, lack of sleep, working on computers or laptops for long hours, reading for long hours etc. You will develop eye redness or irritation, dry eyes, blurred vision, watery eyes, sensitivity to light, heaviness in the eyes and back, neck and shoulder pain when your eyes become tired (learn to get a hint!)

And the good news is that we can control the damage or at least reduce it. There are exercises for tired eyes, which can help you in getting some relief for your eyes.

Take a look at the following eye exercises which will help your eyes and yourself.

1. The Eye Press

This exercise involves pressing your eyelids softly, to apply a light pressure which will help provide some relief to your eyes. On lightly applying pressure on your eyelids, the muscles are relaxed and relieved from the stress ^[3] .

How to do

• Choose a comfortable position to sit.
• Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
• Place a finger on each eyelid and press very lightly for about 10 seconds.
• Release the pressure for about 2 seconds.
• Softly press the eyelids again.

2. The Rub Down

This exercise can be done even if you are wearing contact lenses, as it would not disturb the lenses' placement. A quick way to feel relieved off the tired eyes, this exercise can help refresh your eyes.

How to do

• Stand or sit comfortably.
• Rub your palms together until they feel warm.
• Close your eyes and place a palm over each eyelid.
• Feel the warmth on your eyelids.
• Do not apply pressure.

3. Near And Far Focus

This exercise helps relax the eye muscles and prevent the onset of any eye disorders such as myopia. Apart from relaxing your eyes, near and far focus exercise help improve your vision and focus ^[4] .

How to do

• Hold your thumb about 10 inches from your face.
• Focus on it for about 15 seconds.
• Then, find an object roughly 10 to 20 feet away.
• Focus on it for 15 seconds.
• Return your focus to your thumb and repeat 5 times.

4. Treat The Eyelids

A type of yoga exercises for your eyes, treat the eyelids help relax your eyes. The yoga-based exercise is also beneficial for relieving eye strain and headache caused by the straining.

How to do

• Sit comfortably and with your ring fingers, gently massage the lower eyelids.
• Start with the inner edge of the lower eyelid and gradually move outwards.
• You can also massage your eyelids in the same manner.

5. Palming

One of the most effective ways to relieve eye stress and relax the muscles around your eyes, the palming technique is exceptionally beneficial ^[5] .

How to do

• Sit on a chair and keep your elbows on a table in front of you.
• Cup an eye in each palm by slightly bending your palm.
• Breathe in and breathe out.
• Relax and do it for 30 seconds.

6. Side-to-side eye movement

This exercise helps in relaxing your eye muscles and also help you to get rid of that burning sensation in your tired eyes.

How to do

• Stand or sit upright.
• Look to the left not moving your head and focus on an object you can see.
• Then look to the right and focus on an object you can see.
• Move your eyes side-to-side 5 times.
• Repeat this 3 times.

7. Eye Massage

This exercise helps in reducing eye strain and dryness. An easy one, eye massage can be done anywhere^[6] .

How to do

• Sit straight with your shoulders relaxed.
• Tilt your head back a little and close your eyes.
• Place your index and middle fingers gently on each eyelid.
• Move the right fingers in the anti-clockwise direction.
• And your left fingers in the clockwise direction.
• Repeat 10 times.

8. Figure 8

Although it may look like the exercise can cause dizziness, that is not the case. The figure 8 exercise, when done slowly, is extremely relaxing to your eye muscles.

How to do

• Imagine a big Figure 8 in front of you.
• Without moving your head, trace a path along with this figure with just your eyes.
• Repeat 5 times.

9. Blinking

One of the easiest exercises, blinking is something we do naturally. But individuals who work in front of a computer for long hours blink less, comparatively. This exercise helps in relaxing your eye muscles and also help improve your concentration as well.

You can do the exercise by blinking very slowly for at least 15 times per minute.

10. The 20/20/20 Rule

This is for the individuals who have to work in front of screens all day. It is recommended that one must take a break every 20 minutes and gaze at some object for 20 seconds. The exercise helps relax your eyes as well as your brain ^[7] .