3 Eye Exercises to Help Strabismus
3 Eye Exercises to Help Strabismus
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A squint, or strabismus, is a situation in which the eyes do not align properly. One eye turns inwards, upwards, downwards, or outwards, while the other one focuses at one spot. It can occur all the time or intermittently.
This generally occurs because the muscles that control the movement of the eye and the eyelid, the extraocular muscles, are not working together.
Strabismus is often referred to as crossed eyes, but it can present in several different ways. It can present as one eye drifting inward (esotropia), outward (exotropia), upward (hypertropia), or downward (hypotropia). This misalignment is often due to incongruities, such as the eye’s inability to focus correctly on a point off in the distance.
Strabismus most often happens in babies and toddlers due to heredity or problems during physical development. Most cases in children are caused by poor communication between the brain, muscles, and nerves of the eye. However, it can also happen in adults who have suffered a stroke, head trauma, or diabetes. The condition can lead to double vision, a lack of depth perception, and even loss of eyesight if left untreated
Treatments for Crossed Eyes
In order to improve vision, the weakened muscles in the affected eye or eyes must be put to work. Several treatments may be used alone or in combination, depending on the type, severity, and reason of strabismus, including:
Eyeglasses or contact lenses – this method may help people who have crossed eyes due to an uncorrected farsightedness
Medication (eye drops) – In some cases, as an alternative to patching, eye drops are used in the stronger (good) eye to temporarily blur the vision in the good eye. These forces use of the weaker eye.
Surgery – straightens and realigns muscles in the eyes; this method has a high success rate although it is expensive and involves more risk than other options.
Patching or covering the better-seeing eye – similar to eye drops, this method works to strengthen the weakened eye. Bottom line: Be sure to get a thorough eye examination before you start a vision treatment plan.
Pencil pushups
Pencil pushups are simple ocular workouts that get both eyes aimed at the same fixed point. They are also known as the near point of convergence exercises.
Start by holding a pencil out at arm’s length, pointing away from you. Focus your gaze on the eraser or a letter or numeral on the side. Slowly move the pencil toward the bridge of your nose. Keep it in focus for as long as you can, but stop once your vision gets blurry.
Brock string
Secure one end of the string to a stationary point such as a handrail or the back of a chair. Space the beads out at equal distances. Hold the other end of the string tightly to your nose. You’ll need a string about 5 feet long with three different colored beads.
You should see a consistent pattern as you shift your focus from bead to bead. The bead you are looking at will appear by itself at the intersection of two identical strings with doubles of the other beads, forming an X. Your eyes are not properly focused on the bead if you see the strings crossing in front of the bead or in back of the bead. Be sure you can get the X at all beads.
Reposition the beads along the string and continue the exercise.
Barrel cards
This is a handy exercise for exotropia. Draw three barrels of progressive size in red lengthwise on one side of a card. Do the same thing in green on the other side.
Hold the card lengthwise and vertically against your nose so that the largest barrel is furthest away. Stare at the far barrel until it becomes one image with both colors and the other two barrel images have doubled.