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How to train your eyes to delay your need for reading glasses<\/p>\nModern life is harsh on the eyes. We spend much of it indoors, staring at screens, day and night, and when the world starts to blur in our forties we get glasses. Research shows that short-sightedness, or myopia, is increasing at an alarming rate. An estimated 30 per cent of the global population is myopic and by 2050, that is expected to rise to 50 per cent, according to the International Myopia Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile genetics and environment both play a significant role in the progression of challenges like myopia, I believe environment is the root cause of its drastic increase,\u201d says Dr Bryce Appelbaum, a neuro-optometrist based in Maryland in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three biggest risk factors for myopia progression are not enough time outdoors, prolonged \u2018near work\u2019 [ie work that involves sustained focus, up close] in the dark and too much screen time,\u201d Appelbaum says. But regularly tweaking the strength of your prescription lenses to keep every distant tree leaf pin sharp may not be the answer because it can make the eye lazier. As for the reflex of buying reading glasses in your forties, he compares it to jumping into a wheelchair because you bruised your knee.<\/p>\n
His approach is fascinating. Not only does he believe that we can improve our eyesight with vision exercises and lifestyle changes, he says that working on our vision has the power to transform how we think, feel and function. In fact, our vision is so fundamental to our health and wellbeing, Appelbaum describes it as \u201cthe new microbiome\u201d.<\/p>\n
Appelbaum stresses the distinction between vision and eyesight. \u201cEyesight is the ability to focus light clearly, it\u2019s the ability to see,\u201d he says. \u201cBut vision is so much more complex. It\u2019s how our brain processes, organises and stores the information coming through the eyes.\u201d He adds: \u201cVision is a direct reflection of brain function.\u201d <\/p>\n
Suffering from eye strain, blurry eyes, decreased productivity throughout the day, visual fatigue, brain fog and stress are all signs that we\u2019re overloading our systems, he says. \u201cThat\u2019s really from staring at screens and having this toxic load that\u2019s hard for that eye-brain connection to function through.\u201d <\/p>\n
The good news, he says, is that we can improve and enhance our vision and brain function, at any age, along with it our sleep, balance, attention, and our cognitive and mental health. Here\u2019s what we need to know.<\/p>\n
How to train your eyes to delay your need for reading glasses<\/p>\n
As we age, it gets harder to focus as the lens inside our eyes becomes more rigid and the muscles controlling them become less flexible, Appelbaum says. It\u2019s known as presbyopia. \u201cSo you start holding things farther away until your arms aren\u2019t long enough and then you get reading glasses.\u201d <\/p>\n
But, he says, by training your eyes as soon as you notice these changes, rather than resorting instantly to corrective lenses, you can slow \u2014 even in some cases halt \u2014 this decline and delay the need for reading glasses. If you already depend on reading glasses, daily \u201cvision training\u201d can delay your need for a stronger prescription, although \u201cit\u2019s a lot harder, once you\u2019re relying on heavy-power reading glasses, to go backward as you\u2019re basically preventing your brain from utilising that focusing system\u201d.<\/p>\n
He recommends the 20-20-20 rule, which is, during any \u201cnear work\u201d, to take a vision break for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes, and look at something at least 20ft away. \u201cLook out of a window, out into the distance, ideally, go outside.\u201d <\/p>\n
He also suggests daily \u201ceye push-ups\u201d, a near\/far focus activity. \u201cCover one eye, bring your raised finger as close as you can until it\u2019s a little blurry. Stop. Make it clear. Hold it for five seconds,\u201d he says. \u201cThen look into the distance for five seconds, then back at your finger for five seconds, then into distance for five seconds.\u201d Repeat, covering the other eye. \u201cThis is gross stimulation and relaxation of that focusing system. It can help build more flexibility and stamina.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Read expert advice on healthy living, fitness and wellbeing<\/a><\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re short-sighted, you can improve your vision<\/p>\n Many of us need prescription lenses to see. Mine, at -5.5, are not optional and haven\u2019t been since I was 12. Appelbaum, 42, says, \u201cI\u2019m absolutely not anti-glasses or contacts. In fact I wear contacts myself.\u201d (He has had corrective lenses since the age of seven.) But you can still work on developing the flexibility and stamina of your focusing systems. \u201cI\u2019m not saying \u2018you\u2019ll never need to wear glasses, if you do this,\u2019\u201d he says. But by improving visual processing and abilities \u2014 \u201cwhat the brain does with the information your eye sends it\u201d \u2014 eyesight can improve \u201cas a byproduct\u201d. So it\u2019s often possible to decrease your dependence on glasses and even slow myopia\u2019s progression. <\/p>\n He is aware this is contentious. \u201cReversing myopia is something that any doctor will say is impossible,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n However, Romesh Angunawela, an award-winning eye surgeon at OCL Vision in central London, concurs that while age-related changes in vision are inevitable, it is possible to slow them down. Specific vision exercises and lifestyle changes can help the focusing muscles of the eyes, he says, if you are rigorous and consistent. If we\u2019re nose to screen all day, the tone of those muscles can become overactive, ultimately leading to increased short-sight. Vision exercises \u201ccan relax these over-worked focusing muscles and stop inducing this additional level of short-sight\u201d.<\/p>\n One well-known British physician experienced improvements for himself. As discussed on a recent episode of his Feel Better, Live More podcast, Dr Rangan Chatterjee measured his vision before enrolling on Appelbaum\u2019s five-day vision performance training programme in the US. At the start of the week, Chatterjee could see only the huge letter E at the top line of the eye chart without glasses. By the end, he could read the fourth line down.<\/p>\n \u201cAs myopia increases, as far away gets blurrier, there\u2019s often elongation of the eyeball and structural changes,\u201d Appelbaum says. \u201cBut in almost every case, there\u2019s also a functional component. In Dr Chatterjee\u2019s case, the inside muscles of the eyes had challenges with stamina and flexibility.\u201d <\/p>\n Appelbaum adds that targeted functional work on Chatterjee\u2019s eye coordination and focusing systems enabled him to learn to see more clearly at every distance. \u201cHe got his focusing system to act more like an old-school camera lens that\u2019s on autofocus rather than on manual focus.\u201d <\/p>\n
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