Ambylopia, also known as lazy eye, is treatable in adulthood if you invest time and energy in performing effective lazy eye exercises for adults.
Even a couple of years ago, people were skeptical about making significant vision improvements in their problematic eye after leaving it untreated throughout their childhood. With vision therapy tailored to the needs of the individual patient, lazy eye correction has become accessible as well as achievable.
While customized vision therapy occurs under the supervision of a behavioral optometrist, you can expect specific eye exercises targeted at retraining your affected eye to be part of the sessions.
Here is a look at a few exercises that have a meaningful impact on fixing lazy eyes in adults.
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Three Lazy Eye Exercises for Adults
Exercise 1: Palming
Palming is a famous eye relaxation technique used mainly to correct refractive errors and improve vision by relaxing rigid and strained eye muscles. It may be used in conjunction with other exercises for lazy eye treatment.
- Sit upright at your study desk or dining room table.
- If your hands are cold, rub them together.
- Then, cover your eyes with your hands without putting pressure on your eyeballs.
- Cup your palms lightly over your eyes without touching them. Cup your eyes such that no light filters in.
- Keep your eyes closed, breathe normally and stay in position for half a minute.
- Repeat a few times each day if you spend many hours at the computer.
Exercise 2: Thumb/Finger exercise
Select an object located far away and keep looking at it by stretching out your hand and positioning your thumb at the height of the object. You will see two images of the object.
With your eye focused on your thumb and the images still in sight, first look at the image on the left and try to pick out as many details – color, shape, font, graphics – as you can. Repeat the same for the image on the right.
You will notice that one of the images isn’t as clear as the other. The fuzzy image is the one you see with your weaker eye. Spend more time training with this eye and along with full-fledged vision therapy for your lazy eye, you should be able to improve your eyesight naturally.
Exercise 3: Mirror exercise
This is one of the more enjoyable lazy eye exercises for adults. If you’ve been sitting at the desk for too long, here’s a great excuse to get on your feet, move your body a bit and relax your eyes as well train them to work together while you’re at it!
- Stand in front of a mirror, with your back to the mirror. Set your feet apart slightly. Cup your healthy eye (say your left eye) with your palm and look straight in front with the other eye (right eye).
- Move the upper part of your body to twist in the direction of the lazy eye, that is, to the right and see your eye in the mirror.
- Swing back into your initial position.
- Repeat the procedure by cupping your right eye and swaying left until you see your eye in the mirror.
More extensive vision therapy for adults with lazy eyes
Vision therapy involves both lazy eye exercises for adults and therapeutic lenses, prisms and other aids to train the problematic eye. Under the guidance and support of a qualified behavioral optometrist, and with sustained effort and patience from your side, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to equalize vision in both eyes and enjoy a single, clear vision.