How the oblique muscle of the eye works. Rub your eyes, take a deep breath, exhale, and when opening your eyes, blink quickly

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Exercises for the eye muscles

It is believed that if the eye sees perfectly, then it has a perfectly round shape. The image passing through the pupil and lens must be focused on the macula or macula, which is located on the surface of the retina. But, for example, if for some reason (stress, prolonged tension, fear) the oblique muscles are in spasm, then the shape of the eyes becomes elongated. In this case, the light rays are focused in front of the retina, rather than on it. Because of this, the image becomes blurred and unclear. The most popular means of treating and preventing eye diseases include special gymnastics or physical exercises for the eyes, with which you can strengthen and relax the muscles of the eye. It is better to combine it with general strengthening physical exercises and, of course, a healthy lifestyle.

Structure and functions of the eye muscles

The ocular muscles are the muscles that are necessary for the movement of the eyeballs. Therefore, we can say that they provide high-quality, three-dimensional images. There are six visual muscles in total: two oblique and four rectus. They got their name due to the direction of movement in the orbit, as well as the peculiarities of attachment to the eye. These muscles and their work depend on three cranial nerves: abducens, trochlear and oculomotor. They are rich in nerve endings, and this in turn ensures the utmost clarity and precision of their movements. Performing special exercises and gymnastics will help you achieve good vision and maintain eye health.

Exercises for the external eye muscles

1. Squat down and keep your head still. Smoothly move your eyes from the floor to the ceiling, and then back, then turn them from right to left and back. Repeat this exercise for the eye muscles 10-12 times.
2. Also, to relax the visual muscles, it is recommended to perform an exercise that involves blinking quickly for 20 seconds.
3. In addition, you can first make circular movements with your eyes from left to right, and then in the other direction. Repeat this exercise 4-6 times.

Exercises for the internal eye muscles

1. Attach a round mark with a diameter of about 4 mm to the window. It should be at eye level at a distance of 30-35 cm. Find any distant object outside the window and look alternately at it and then at the mark. Do this exercise twice a day. For the first two days, devote 3 minutes to it, then double this time. On the fifth and subsequent days, devote 10 minutes to a similar exercise.
2. Place your right thumb on the imaginary center line of your face. It should be located at a distance of 20-30 cm from the eyes. Look at it for 3-5 seconds. Cover your left eye with the palm of your other hand. Then remove your palm. Look at the tip of your finger with both eyes for 3-5 seconds. Do the same exercise, changing hands.

Exercises to strengthen the core eye muscles

The following exercises to strengthen the eye muscles must be performed in a standing position. First you should relax. While exercising, look forward in one direction.

1. Without moving your head and body, look first at the ceiling and then at the floor. Perform the exercise slowly, allowing the eye muscles to do this as accurately and efficiently as possible.
2. Fix your head and body in one position and do not move them. Move your eyes from right to left and back, moving them as far as possible in each direction. Repeat the exercise 10 times.
3. Move your eyes diagonally from the upper right corner of the room to the lower left. Repeat the exercise 10 times. Then change the direction of your eye movements. Repeat the steps 10 times.
4. Imagine that there is a large circle in front of you. Run your eyes along its edge. In this case, the gaze should move to the right side. Do the same, but turning your eyes to the left. Repeat the exercise 10 times for each direction. The head should remain motionless.

To strengthen your eye muscles at home, you can follow these nutritional recommendations: include citrus fruits, sea fish, greens, carrots and blueberries in your diet. Self-massage of the neck area and exercises for relaxation and proper breathing are useful. To strengthen the internal muscles of the eye, training with a ball is recommended. This can be either exercises with throws to a partner or at a wall or target, or games of badminton, tennis or volleyball. Gymnastics for the eye muscles will also help preserve your vision so you can enjoy life without glasses or contact lenses.

To know how to restore vision, you must first know the structure of the eyes, the cause of visual impairment and an accurate diagnosis. There are six muscles in the human eye that cause eye movement. The superior longitudinal muscle lifts the eye to the upper position. The inferior longitudinal muscle lowers the eye down. The internal longitudinal lateral muscle is responsible for moving the eyes towards the nose, and the external muscle is responsible for moving the eyes in different directions. The superior and inferior transverse muscles are responsible for rotating the eyes in a circle.

How to restore vision

When all the extraocular muscles relax, the eye takes the shape of a ball, and the lens is focused on the retina. In this relaxed position, the eye sees well into the distance. To look close, you need to reconfigure the optical system. To do this, you need to relax the longitudinal muscles, while the upper and lower transverse muscles tense. In this case, the eye stretches forward, similar to a camera lens. Myopia very often occurs due to physical, mental and visual stress. This happens in such a way that, with strong tension, the eyes move forward and do not return back, since the muscles do not relax. Accordingly, if a person looks at a computer monitor or a book for a long time without allowing his eyes to relax, then he may develop myopia over time. For myopia, minus glasses are often prescribed. But they only aggravate the problem, as they do not allow the transverse muscles to relax.

Experts recommend that people suffering from myopia first of all give up glasses, or, in extreme cases, replace them with weaker ones for a short period of time. This must be done because glasses cause very serious harm to the eyes. They suppress the transverse muscles, since they do all their work for them themselves. Thus, the muscles so important for vision gradually begin to atrophy. Glasses also significantly reduce eye mobility, since a person wearing glasses moves his head rather than his eyes to the sides. Then you need to do special exercises aimed at training weakened longitudinal muscles.

Farsightedness most often occurs in people over forty years of age. To restore vision in case of farsightedness, it is necessary to do exercises to relax the longitudinal muscles of the eyes, and exercises aimed at strengthening the transverse muscles.

Eye exercises

One of the most common, but very effective exercises is “palming”. The goal of this exercise is to relax your eyes as much as possible. To do this, you need to fold your palms together into a handful and place them on your eyes so that your nose sticks out between your little fingers and your eyes are in the dimples of your palms. Light should not shine through your palms, and your eyes should open and close freely. To create the effect of bio-pharesis of the eyes, your hands must be thoroughly warmed up before performing the exercise by rubbing them together. So, with warm palms you can warm up your eyes. For convenience, you need to rest your elbows on the table. The eyes should be closed and as relaxed as possible. The head is located in line with the spine. Palming should be performed as soon as you feel eye strain. This exercise is performed for five minutes.

Myopia can only be cured through surgery; glasses and contact lenses can help correct it. How, then, is gymnastics good for the eyes? To understand this, you need to know how the eye muscles work in myopia. Based on the characteristics of the functioning of the eye muscles, specific exercises are prescribed.

In this article

What is myopia?

Myopia, or myopia, is a disorder of the refractive system of the eye, accompanied by poor distance vision. With myopia, a person has difficulty seeing what is more than a meter away from him. At the same time, the quality of long-distance vision depends on the degree of pathology. There are three of them in total. With the first degree, expressed in a deviation of up to −3 diopters, a person sees well near, but the outlines of objects at a distance seem blurry.

The second degree (from −3 to −6 diopters) is characterized by a decrease in the distance of good visibility. Without correction, the patient can clearly see what is at a distance of 30 cm from the face. Everything else is perceived vaguely.

A high degree may be accompanied by a vision deviation from normal up to −30 diopters. Visibility is maintained only at a very close distance - no more than 10 cm. A person constantly has to wear glasses or contacts.

As myopia develops, structural changes occur in the eyeball. Gradually it increases in size, the cornea becomes curved, the vascular, scleral and retinal membranes become thinner. There is a high risk of developing dystrophic processes. A person sees almost everything as if in a fog.

If with mild and moderate degrees of myopia a person can still do without glasses when reading or watching TV, then with severe myopia, the patient cannot move normally in space without the use of corrective optics.

How do the eye muscles work in myopia?

Understanding how the eye muscles work in myopia allows you to choose the right set of exercises. There are many types of eye gymnastics that are used for myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism, strabismus, as well as for training binocularity. Each type of gymnastics helps to relax or strengthen certain muscle groups. For myopia, exercises are aimed at two groups of eye muscles:

• longitudinal (straight);
• transverse (oblique).

There are 4 rectus muscles and 2 oblique muscles in the human eye. Straight or longitudinal are located on the right, left, below and above the eyeball. These muscles are responsible for turning the eyes, holding them in the correct position, and also giving them the correct shape, similar to a spherical one. With this form, the image is focused directly on the retina, so a person can see well at any distance. The oblique muscles of the eye, responsible for compressing it and giving it an oval shape, are located above and below the eyeball. When it has an oval shape, a person can see well up close. Thus, the visual system works like a camera lens.

In myopic people, the oblique muscles work constantly, almost never relax, and are always tense. Because of this, the eyes are slightly elongated and protruded forward. Although outwardly it is not noticeable. Light rays are focused in front of the retina, which allows you to perceive your surroundings well only at close range. To see better, you need to relax the transverse muscles.

In people with farsightedness, on the contrary, the rectus muscles of the eyes are tense and the oblique muscles are relaxed. The eyes with such muscle functioning have a more spherical shape, but with a shorter anteroposterior axis than it should be normally. Because of this, the image is formed not on the retina, but behind it. This allows you to see well into the distance, but limits a person when viewing objects located close to him.

In this regard, various sets of exercises are prescribed for one or another ophthalmological pathology. For myopia, exercise is aimed at relaxing the transverse muscles. An ordinary person without a medical education does not know these nuances and can choose a set of exercises that are not suitable for him and are even contraindicated. Therefore, gymnastics should be prescribed by a doctor.

What are the benefits of exercises to relax the eye muscles with myopia?

Gymnastics for the eyes is especially useful in children, when they are asked to study a lot of lessons at school, as well as for people whose work involves stress on the visual organs. It is also used for preventive purposes. Depending on the type of exercise, gymnastics helps relax certain muscle groups. In general, any exercise for the eyes with myopia has the following positive effect:

• helps to relax the eyes, relieve tension from them;
• elimination of symptoms of asthenopia and nervous spasm;
• preventing the occurrence of symptoms of dry eye syndrome by stimulating the lacrimal glands;

• increased visual acuity, improved focusing;
• normalization of blood circulation in the eye and provision of eyeball tissue with oxygen and other nutrients;
• stopping the progression of myopia.

Most importantly, eye exercises help stop the development of myopia. As this disease progresses, laser correction is contraindicated. Because of this, vision can become severely impaired, which can lead to even more serious consequences, including retinal diseases.

Can everyone do exercises to relax the eye muscles with myopia?

Eye exercises are a safe and painless way to relax the eye muscles, but, nevertheless, there are several contraindications to such exercises.

Restrictions include:

• Retinal detachment. When blood circulation is stimulated, the condition of the retina may worsen.
• Inflammatory and infectious eye diseases, such as conjunctivitis and blepharitis. Some exercises are accompanied by eye massage, which can cause even more bacteria to spread.
• Recovery period after eye surgery. Gymnastics will interfere with the healing of the cornea and can lead to displacement of the artificial lens after its replacement or the corneal flap after laser correction.

In other words, the eyes should be healthy, unless we are talking about the main pathology - myopia.

Exercises to relax the eye muscles with myopia

There are standard exercises that are suitable for all patients, including children. There are also special techniques developed by ophthalmologist-scientists. They are aimed at relaxing the eye muscles, improving blood circulation and other effects. Standard exercises for relaxing the eye muscles with myopia include tasks that involve the following algorithms:

1. Open your eyes wide and, moving only your pupils, draw a figure eight in the air. Do this exercise slowly 7-8 times.
2. Extend your right arm in front of you. The thumb should be moved to the side. Move your hand to the right without taking your eyes off your finger. You cannot move your head in this exercise. You can only follow your finger with your eyeball. The task must be repeated at least 7 times.
3. Sit by the window, extend your arm forward at a distance of 30 cm from your eyes. Next, you need to alternately look out the window, then at the index finger of your outstretched hand. You need to change focus sharply, and not smoothly, as in the first exercise.
4. Cover your right eye with your palm, and with your left look at the index finger of the other hand, which is located at a distance of 30 cm from the face. You can perform the exercise for 5-10 seconds with each eye.

5. Take the pen and place it in front of your face at arm's length. After this, move the pen in different directions, looking at its tip. You can only move your eyes, not your head.
6. The next exercise is performed while standing. You need to turn your head left and right with your eyes wide open. Do 20 reps on each side.
7. Open your eyes wide, and then squint quickly. Repeat this algorithm of actions several times, and upon completion, slowly lower your eyelids and relax. Perform 15-20 repetitions.

These exercises for relaxing the eye muscles are very simple in technique and do not take much time from a person. But the effect from them should be expected only when they are performed daily 2-3 times a day. You can do this right at your workplace, taking a little break from work.

Ophthalmological scientists have created other sets of exercises for the eyes for myopia. There are quite a lot of them. Let's look at them briefly.

A set of exercises for the eyes by W. Bates

W. Bates was one of the first to develop eye exercises to stop the progression of myopia. The scientist named the main cause of myopia as overexertion, which occurs as a result of trying to look at objects distant from a person after prolonged stress on the visual organs, for example, after reading. Because of this, pressure on the eye caused by tension in the oblique muscles causes it to stretch. Complete relaxation, according to Bates, can be achieved through exercises that use the OM card. The card is a design resembling a sun with small triangular rays along the outer surface of the circle. In the center of the circle is a hieroglyph similar to the letters “O” and “M”. The hieroglyph is surrounded by other unusual symbols.

The following tasks are performed with the OM card:

1. Place the card at a distance of 30 cm to 3 m from your eyes. Focus on the center of the picture and slowly move your gaze along the hieroglyph. During the exercise, you will notice that the clearest and blackest point of the hieroglyph is the one to which your gaze is directed. You need to repeat the exercise 3 times. With each repetition, the hieroglyph will appear darker than at the very beginning.
2. The OM card should be placed from the eyes at a distance of 30 cm or 1.5 m. This time you need to look not at the hieroglyph, but at the rays of the sun, moving your gaze along them. In this case, movement along the segment is carried out by turning the head, not the eyes. At each ray you need to hold your gaze and blink lightly. Each ray should appear darker than the previous one.
3. Leave the OM card at the same distance from your face. Now focus on the circle and move your gaze around it while moving your head. After this, you need to close your eyes and continue moving in an imaginary circle.
4. For the fourth exercise, you will need a Sivtsev table with optotype letters to test visual acuity. It should be hung on a wall or cabinet at arm's length. Keep your gaze on the letters that are clearly visible. After this, dim the lights in the room. Take a book and read a few pages, holding the book 25 cm from your face. It must be difficult to read due to poor lighting. After this, you need to increase the brightness of the light again in order to read the letters on Sivtsev’s poster again. This exercise, according to Bates, improves visual acuity.
5. Read the vision test table while being at a distance of 3-5 m from it. Gradually you need to increase the distance between you and the table. Start at 3 meters and work your way up to 5 meters.
6. Another exercise can be performed directly on the street or in the passenger seat of a vehicle. You need to watch moving objects that rush towards you. The eyes should be relaxed, half-open.

Also, complete relaxation of the eye muscles can be achieved, as stated by Bates, using the following techniques:

1. Palming method, which consists of closing the eyes from direct light.
2. Rocking and moving method. This includes any exercise during which the gaze moves left and right.

Exercises with the OM card are aimed at normalizing central gaze fixation, while the other two techniques allow you to relax the eye muscles as much as possible. They can be performed alternately.

Not all ophthalmologists fully accept the complex developed by Bates, therefore it is not recommended to perform these exercises without examination by a doctor.

Eye Exercises for Myopia Margaret Durst Corbett

Corbett is a student of Bates. She developed her own set of eye exercises for myopia. The Corbett method is based on the Sivtsev table. However, it is not used to establish visual acuity, but to read letters and relax the eye muscles. The main conditions for performing exercises are to relax the eye muscles and try not to perceive the table as a means of testing visual functions. In total, you will need two tables, one standard size and the other small. Before starting the task, you need to perform relaxing head turns and palming suggested by Bates. Next, we proceed directly to gymnastics.

1. Move 2 m away from the table. The small table should be positioned so that it is easy to read the letters on it without eye strain. First, slowly read the large optotypes on a small piece of paper, and then move the table further away from your face, continuing to look at the top lines. Bring the leaf closer to your face again and remove it again. Repeat this 2-3 times.
2. Next, look at the large letters of the large table. Read all the optotypes and close your eyes. Make several turns with your head left and right. Breathe slowly and deeply while doing this.
3. Then move on to reading the second, smaller line on the smaller poster. Complete the exercise by completely closing your eyelids and mentally drawing the letters, as if the tip of your nose were a pencil. After a few seconds, quickly open your eyes and look at the large poster. You must achieve a complete reading of the table.

Corbett suggests other exercises that will require a new table. You need to draw it yourself. You will need a piece of Whatman paper and a black marker. The phrase “Relaxation will return my sharp vision” is written on whatman paper. In this case, it should be written in three columns. The first column will contain the word “relaxation”. The first letter should be 7.5 cm in size, the second - 5 cm, then - 4.5, 3.5, 2.5, 2, 1.7, 1.3, 1, 0.6, 0.4, 0 .3 cm. Total 12 lines. The second column should also have 12 letters of the appropriate size. The second column contains part of the original phrase - “will return it to me.” In the third column is the end of the phrase - “sharp vision.” When starting the exercise, a person will know the location of the letters on the poster. This will relieve stress when reading optotypes.

Gymnastics should be done in a sitting position. Position yourself from the table at a distance from which the top line is clearly visible. Close your eyes, and then try to remember the location of the letters written in the second line. Write them mentally with the tip of your nose, taking a deep breath. After this, quickly open your eyes and look at the second line of the poster. Optotypes should be clearer than before. If not, then repeat the exercise with mentally drawing letters on your palm. If even repeated repetition does not help, reduce the distance between you and the table. Remember not to strain your eyes.

Gymnastics for the eyes for myopia from Professor R. G. Agarwal

Professor from India Agarwal R.G. systematized the Bates technique and developed his own set of exercises based on it. It uses the previously mentioned OM card. Exercises to relax the eye muscles according to Agarwal are carried out according to the following algorithm:

1. Place the OM card at a distance of 30 cm from your face. Gradually it will need to be removed from the eyes. Slowly move your gaze over the hieroglyph, mentally realizing that the central letters are more contrasting than the rest of the picture.

2. Roll your gaze around the circle while moving your head. While moving, slowly close and open your eyes. Complete the task several times at different distances, but not exceeding 1.5 m.
3. Perform the previous exercise with your eyes half-closed.
4. Take a book with small print. First, read a couple of pages using the correction products you are wearing. Depending on the degree of myopia, place the book so that you can get a good image with glasses. Then you need to take off your glasses and try to read the text. If this does not work, change the angle, lighting and reduce the distance between your face and the book. If your workout is causing you extreme discomfort, stop it, rest, and try the task again.

Eye exercises for myopia according to M. Windolf

Surprisingly, Windolf continued to develop the Bates system. At the same time, the scientist focused much attention on the accommodative ability of the eyes. According to Dr. Windolf, the treatment of myopia should be based on alternating tension and relaxation of the eyes when performing eye exercises. Before you begin the gymnastics itself, you need to relax your eyes using the palming method. After this, you need to choose a bright or shiny object, for example, a Christmas tree decoration, candy, etc.

The gymnastics itself includes two exercises:

1. Place the toy in front of your eyes at a distance of 30-40 cm. Look at it, blinking quickly. Pause periodically, closing your eyes completely.
2. Mentally try to reduce the size of the toy. Look at the object, squeezing the orbital muscles as if you were pulling your eyeballs back. You need to focus on the center of the toy. Blink more often while charging.

After completing the tasks, you may feel discomfort in your eyes, unpleasant sensations. Sometimes headaches occur. All this is temporary. Due to the fact that there are side effects, do not do the exercises without consulting a specialist.

Gymnastics for the eyes for myopia from Zhdanov

Like previous scientists, Russian ophthalmologist Zhdanov continued to develop Bates's ideas. However, our compatriot supplemented Bates’s set of exercises with the teachings of yoga. Zhdanov’s method allows you to restore the elasticity and mobility of different groups by meeting a number of conditions:

• remove contact lenses or glasses before gymnastics;
• do exercises every day 3 times;
• do not make sudden movements with your eyes;
• try to relax your visual organs as much as possible;
• perform at least 3 repetitions for each exercise.

Prepare a sheet of Whatman paper and write on it the phrase “Give a person vision and the opportunity to correct many anomalies.” You can take Sivtsev’s table as an example. However, in the top line you need to place the word “give” instead of the letters “Ш” and “Б”. Write the rest of the phrase on the bottom lines, repeating it until 12 lines are completed. Next, make a second table of small size - A4 format. Start exercising. In total, Zhdanov proposed two sets of tasks. The first one is done like this:

• move away from the table to a distance from which the upper letters are clearly visible without eye strain;
• keep the second table at arm's length;
• Cover one eye with a bandage;
• read the letters on the top line of the large table;
• move focus to the largest row of a small table;
• look again at the large poster and again at the small one;
• Repeat these exercises on the eye that was closed.

Gradually you need to move from the top lines to the bottom. The second set of exercises is performed without a table:

• blink frequently with your eyes relaxed;
• move your eyeballs left and right, drawing horizontal lines in your imagination;
• mentally draw vertical lines by moving your eyes up and down;
• draw a square clockwise with your eyes, erase it in your imagination by moving your eyes along the line of the quadrangle counterclockwise;
• draw and erase in the same way a circle, an infinity sign, a zigzag, a wavy line;
• Blink your eyes quickly.

These exercises help not only with myopia. They can be used to relax the eye muscles with increased visual fatigue, astigmatism, farsightedness, and strabismus.

Exercises for myopia according to Norbekov

Gymnastics according to Norbekov helps improve blood circulation in the eyes. To achieve a positive effect from exercise, you need to do the following:

1. Stand up straight and imagine that you are looking through your brow ridges. Keep your eyes on the ceiling. After this, look down, imagining that your gaze is passing through the larynx.
2. Direct your gaze left and right, imagining that you are looking through your ears.
3. Relax your eyes and in your imagination draw two diagonal lines from the lower left corner and from the lower right corner. After this, you also need to mentally erase the lines.

4. Draw a figure eight with your eyes, moving your gaze first in one direction and then in the other. You can't move your head. Perform the exercise 8 times at a slow pace.
5. Touch your index fingers to your nose. Gradually move your fingers away from your face. With your left eye you need to look at the finger of your left hand, and with your right eye you need to watch the right finger. Repeat the task three times.
6. Imagine that there is a round wall clock in front of you. Move along the edge of the watch, that is, around the circle, with your gaze clockwise, increasing the diameter of the dial. After this, return your gaze to the starting point, moving counterclockwise.

Exercises for the eyes for myopia according to E.S. Avetisov

The technique proposed by Avetisov is used not only for the treatment of myopia. It has proven its preventive value. The method is based on three sets of exercises.

The first group of exercises according to Avetisov
Gymnastics is aimed at improving the nutrition of eye tissue with oxygen by stimulating blood circulation. The complex includes 5 exercises:

1. Close and open your eyes wide, doing this slowly, with some effort, for 5 seconds. Correct execution involves repeating the task 6-8 times.
2. Blink for 15 seconds at an accelerated pace, interrupt the task for a few seconds and repeat it. This is done 5-6 times.
3. Massage the eyeballs with your index fingers, closing your eyelids.
4. Lower your eyelids and apply light pressure on your eyes with your fingers. Apply pressure for 3 seconds.
5. Place the index finger of your left hand on your left eyebrow and your right hand on your right eyebrow. Try to close your eyes while resisting the tension of the skin with your fingers.

The second set of exercises according to Avetisov

It is aimed at toning all eye muscles. The complex includes 3 exercises:

• move your gaze from the floor to the ceiling 12 times without changing the position of your head and body;
• move your gaze left and right 12 times;
• move your eyes clockwise and counterclockwise 6 times, drawing a regular circle in your head.

The third group of exercises according to Avetisov

Another complex is designed to increase the accommodative abilities of the eye. Stand up straight and do the following:

• look ahead for a few seconds, moving your gaze from the tip of your finger, located 30 cm from your face, to distant objects;
• extend your hand forward and look at the tip of your index finger, and then bring it closer to your nose until the outline of the finger begins to double;
• look at the index finger of your outstretched hand with peripheral vision, cover one eye with your hand, and move the index finger of the other hand closer to your nose and away from it;
• Attach some mark to the glass of the window, for example, colored paper, and move 30 cm away from the window. Move your gaze outside the window, and after 2 seconds look at the mark. Do this exercise for 5 minutes.

Remember that the presented exercises cannot cure myopia, but they can help stop its progression. In addition, gymnastics helps relieve eye fatigue and eliminate other symptoms of asthenopia. Exercise daily, following your doctor's instructions.

Always having good vision or restoring it is possible, quite easily, using effective but simple gymnastics and massage.
And you won't need other methods:
- several glasses...
- contact lenses - dozens of pairs...
-treatment, operations, corrections...

As William Bates proved, the quality of vision depends largely on the condition of your eye muscles, which gradually weaken, become decrepit and atrophy! In 1901, he published a scientific work in which he proved that all four vision disorders: myopia, farsightedness, strabismus and astigmatism are associated in humans with improper functioning of the six extraocular muscles.

Professor Zhdanov’s vision restoration technique is based on his theory. Bates strongly recommends that anyone who wants to practice his method first of all give up glasses.

Having worked as an eye doctor, the American scientist, professor, ophthalmologist William Bates for five years, was very dissatisfied with the results of treatment of his patients, whom he recommended to wear glasses. Since every single one of them, their vision from glasses has definitely deteriorated. Which made him try to find the cause of his vision loss.

He first noted that even a short-term refusal to wear glasses can improve patients' vision. This often happened when glasses were broken or lost. After checking the table, Bates was surprised to note that many had better vision after not wearing glasses.

In order to understand how the eyes actually work, Bates studied the work of the human eye for thirty years. To remotely determine the parameters of the eye, he developed and manufactured a unique device for his time, which he called a “retinoscope.”

After his research, Bates came to the conclusion that the theory of vision developed by Hermann Helmholtz was incorrect. The image in the human eye is not reproduced in the same way as Helmholtz assumed - due to changes in the curvature of the lens and the work of the ciliary muscle. And since it is reproduced in an ordinary, simplest camera, due to a change in the length of the eyeball. In the process of accommodation, that is, focusing the eye, the main role is played by six extraocular muscles.

In order to better understand the functioning of the eye, you need to know its structure. There are six extraocular muscles in the eye. These are longitudinal: the upper one, which raises the eye up, the lower one, which lowers the eye down, the inner side, which brings the eye to the nose, the outer side, which takes the eye to the side. And two very important, so-called transverse muscles of the eye - the superior transverse, which encircles the eye in a semicircle from above, and the inferior transverse, which encircles the eye in a semicircle from below.

Vision regulation occurs as follows:

In the case when all six oculomotor muscles are relaxed, the eye, due to excess internal pressure, takes the shape of a ball, the focus of the lens is on the retina, and the eye sees into the distance.

To see up close, you need to change the parameters of this optical system.
Relax the longitudinal muscles even more and tense the upper and lower transverse muscles, which compress your eye from above and below.

And since the eye is liquid, when squeezed it moves forward, cucumber-like, like a camera lens. The focus goes inside the eye, and such an eye extended forward has excellent close-up vision. A person needs to see into the distance again - he blinks, relaxes the transverse muscles, tightens the longitudinal eyes, the eye again takes the shape of a ball, and he again sees perfectly into the distance.

As Bates explains myopia.
With myopia, the eyes are elongated and cannot take a round shape anymore, so the transverse muscles tense up, compress the eye, the eye stretches forward, but these muscles do not relax back.

This can happen as a result of physical, mental, visual stress, some injuries and birth defects.
When checked by an eye doctor, according to the table, a person with such a defect sees only the top line. Myopia is diagnosed and prescribed to wear minus glasses.

Bates proposed natural restoration of vision for myopia. Firstly, give up the glasses or replace them with weaker ones. And secondly, perform simple special exercises to relax tense transverse muscles and train weakened longitudinal ones. After this, the nearsighted person’s vision will be restored.

As Bates explains farsightedness.
By the age of forty to forty-five years, the work of the transverse muscles begins to weaken and the longitudinal muscles become very tense and become slagged. The eye is spherical in shape, the focus of the lens is on the retina, and farsighted people see well into the distance.

But up close it’s already difficult to see something well and clearly, since to do this you need to squeeze your eye and stretch it forward. But the muscles of the longitudinal eyes hold it, they don’t let it forward, but the transverse muscles don’t have enough strength to squeeze the eyes so that it stretches forward.

At the same time, wearing glasses only worsens vision, since the lens corrects the image and the transverse muscles will very soon stop working altogether.
Bates proposed a simple method for restoring vision for farsighted people.
First, stop using glasses or at least temporarily replace them with weaker ones. Secondly, special exercises to relax tense longitudinal muscles and train weakened transverse ones.
After this, the eye will begin to shrink again, stretch forward, see up close, go back, become a round ball and see well into the distance.

Tension and slagging of the longitudinal muscles can be very strong. In this case, the eye moves back and rests against the back wall of the orbit and becomes flat. And the focus goes behind the retina. Doctors call this vision disorder hypermetropia, or complicated far vision, flat eye. These people wear bifocals.

Another visual disorder that is corrected using the Bates method is called strabismus. Strabismus occurs, as a rule, in children as a result of fright or injury. There is an overstrain of some longitudinal muscle of the eye. For example, the internal longitudinal muscle of the right eye tenses and at the same time the external one is stretched. And the eye begins to squint inward. Usually such a defect can only be eliminated by surgery. The tense muscle is cut, stretched, and the stretched muscle is sutured and the eye is turned back into place.

Bates was a categorical opponent of any operations on the eye muscles and also proposed eliminating strabismus with special exercises that relieve tension from the eye muscles that are overstrained and train weak muscles.

The fourth visual disorder that is corrected using the Bates method is astigmatism, which cannot be corrected with glasses. Astigmatism translated into Russian is “image distortion.”

As a result of many years of work, Bates developed a system of exercises that allows tense muscles to relax and weak ones to be trained. He borrowed these exercises from the North American Indians, who used them to preserve vision in boys, young men, men, and warriors.

Bates noticed that the Indians were doing eye exercises and understood their essence and purpose and, based on them, developed his own method of restoring vision.

Therapeutic exercises for the eyes by Dr. Bates.

Do the exercises an hour before meals. And this is explained by the fact that “hungry blood” can cleanse organs and cells of waste and toxins (the principle of therapeutic fasting is based on this).

Sequence of exercises.

1. They can start with solarization.
2. After this, do palming.
3. Complete with a gymnastic complex with 8 exercises. By the way, the gymnastic complex can be performed with your eyes closed under palming (putting your hands on your eyes).
4. You need to finish the complex by palming with relaxation and pleasant thoughts.

Exercise “solarization of eyes on a candle.”

Look at the candle flame for a few seconds and blink. After this, turn your gaze to the left wall, returning your body and face to the left, and then to the right wall, returning your body and face to the right. Repeat the gaze shift 5-7 times.

Palming is one of the basic exercises for relaxing and resting the eyes.

In this case, the property of the palms to heal with the radiation of biocurrents is used. Even without knowing it, we involuntarily apply it by placing our palms on the sore spot. Palms can also help tired and sore eyes.
This procedure can be called biophoresis - warming the eyes with the warmth of your own palms. To enhance the effect, before starting palming, you need to rub your palms against each other until a feeling of warmth appears.

Then you need to bring your fingers together and slightly round your palms and place the fingers of one hand on the fingers of the other so that they intersect at right angles (palms facing your face).

Place your palms on your face so that the crossed palms are in the center of the forehead, and the pits of the palms are in front of the eyes. The nose should be free and appear in the space between the palms. The palms need to be pressed so tightly to the cheeks that the flattened eyes do not see a single light and are in complete darkness.

While performing this exercise, your elbows should be placed on the table, your eyes should be closed. Palming can be performed for 3-5 minutes when your eyes get tired while working, watching TV, or reading. It is advisable to relax and think about something pleasant, which also helps to relax the muscles of the face, eyes, optic nerve, and visual analyzer in the brain.
Before leaving palming, you need to alternately close and relax your eyes several times. After this, you should remove your palms from your eyes and, with your eyes closed, quickly move up and down, left and right several times (to restore blood supply to the neck and brain), then rub your eyes with your fists, take a deep breath, exhale and flatten your eyes, blinking quickly for several seconds .

Exercises help saturate with oxygen the visual rods in the retina, which are responsible for visual acuity in twilight and darkness, as well as the visual cones, which are responsible for the brightness of the color image.

Therefore, after this exercise, some people notice that their visual image has become sharper and more vivid. Palming can be done an unlimited number of times.

Exercises to train weakened motor eye muscles.

These exercises, unlike palming, can be done only 3 times a day - before breakfast, lunch and dinner, repeating each of them a small number of times so as not to overstrain your eyes. Glasses must be removed while performing eye exercises. The face should be motionless, only the eyes work. Exercises are performed smoothly, without sudden movements.

First you need to relax your eyes by blinking your eyelids quickly (like the wings of a butterfly). By the way, it’s not without reason that people say: if you don’t see well, blink.

1 exercise.
Raise your eyes up and down several times in a row (3-4 times). After that, blink for a few seconds.

Exercise 2.
Squint your eyes to the left, then to the right (3-4 times). Then blink for a few seconds.

Exercise 3.
Raise your eyes to the upper right corner, lower them diagonally to the lower left corner (3-4 times). When finished, blink for a few seconds.

Exercise 4
Raise your eyes to the upper left corner and lower them diagonally to the bottom right corner (3-4 times). When finished, blink for a few seconds.

Exercise 5
Draw a rectangle with your eyes: move your eyes from right to left, move down along the left side from top to bottom, draw from bottom to left to right and lift along the right side from bottom to top. Blink for a few minutes.

Exercise 6
Draw a rectangle with your eyes in the opposite direction. Blink.

Exercise 7
Move your eyes around in a circle, as if examining the dial clockwise: raise your eyes to the 12 o'clock mark, squint at 3 o'clock, lower to 6 o'clock, squint to 9 o'clock, raise to 12 o'clock (twice). Blink.

Exercise 8
“Inspect the dial” in the opposite direction - counterclockwise (twice). Blink.

Blinking:
In a normal relaxed state, the eyes blink approximately every 3 seconds. Stressed and tired eyes tend to stare at one point, they hardly move and blink very rarely. The result is drying out of the eyeball and insufficient shallow breathing. You can help yourself with this problem by simply blinking. The blinking exercise should be light, free and smooth, like the flapping of a butterfly's wings. As soon as you feel discomfort in your eyes, blink for a while and breathe deeply.

Yawn:
We are confident that as soon as you start reading this paragraph, you will immediately start yawning. Yawning is a reflexive breathing act that allows you to renew the air in the lungs, relieve fatigue and mental stress, and also cool the temperature of the brain.
When yawning, the maxillofacial muscles tense, and they are the ones that affect vision. Also, when yawning, tears are released reflexively, which has a very beneficial effect on the hydration of the cornea of ​​the eye. Yawn more often!

Light baths (solarization):
It is advisable to take light baths during your work lunch break, if there is no other opportunity and time.
This exercise is done this way. Stand facing the sun and close your eyes. Calmly and slowly turn your head left and right, alternately exposing your face to the sun's rays. Choose the duration of sunbathing yourself, but you should do this exercise for at least 5 minutes.

Massage is one of the universal methods of relieving tension from both the whole body and the eyes. Eye massage should be done with your eyes closed. These exercises will help tone the body and improve blood circulation: lightly tap the entire head, neck and eyelids with your fingertips; Make stroking movements from the eyebrows to the scalp, from the middle of the forehead to the temples. Then massage your cheeks in a spiral motion from the chin to the earlobes; massage your head in a circular motion from the crown to the back of the head, as well as from the crown to the temples, slightly pulling the skin. Grasping your head, apply intermittent pressure over its entire surface; do a circular massage of the temples with your index fingers for 6 inhalations and exhalations; press several times with your thumb and forefinger on the points at the bridge of the nose near the inner corners of the eyes; using circular movements with light pressure, massage the upper edge of the eye socket along towards the edge of the eyebrow; ask your colleagues or relatives to give you a small shoulder massage, starting from the cervical spine. By the way, this type of massage quickly relieves stress.

Positive results of the Bates technique.

The technique is highly effective for mild acquired ametropia. If the patient has not yet started wearing glasses, then vision can be restored to normal, subject to systematic and regular exercise.
In any case, the technique will be useful - if not in restoring vision, then as a preventive measure for its deterioration, since these exercises reduce visual tension and have a beneficial effect on the visual analyzer.

The main thing is that once you achieve results, do not quit classes.

Contraindications for training using the Bates method

You cannot exercise if there is a threat of retinal detachment or if the retina has already been detached, as it may provoke further retinal detachment.
After any eye surgery, at least six months must pass.

Read interesting articles.

The muscles of the eye are necessary for the movement of the visual organs. There are 6 types of fibers that control the rotation of the eyeball in all directions, the constriction of the pupil and the raising of the eyelids. Such mobility is necessary for better perception of information from the environment. When the system malfunctions, the quality of vision deteriorates and strabismus or diplopia appears. The treatment is carried out by an ophthalmologist. To strengthen the system and prevent disease, gymnastics is used.

Structure and anatomy

The visual apparatus has 6 fibers. There are 4 rectus muscles and 2 oblique muscles.

Five of them, with the exception of the inferior oblique, are attached to the fibrous ring. Initially, when leaving the ring, the eye muscles go straight. But then the transverse fibers change the direction of movement and pass through the bone block. This arrangement promotes better rotation of the eyeball. The external surfaces are formed from connective tissue, which forms Tenon's membrane. There is also another system hidden under the skin called the orbicularis oculi muscle. It includes the following parts:

• orbital;
• century-old
• lacrimal

The structure of the human eye includes the following systems:

• superior straight and oblique;
• muscles of the upper eyelid;
• pupil constrictor fibers;
• inferior straight and oblique;
• medial rectus muscle;
• dilator;
• lateral.

In addition, there are systems that affect the amount of light entering the retina. The muscle that dilates the pupil is called a dilator. The constricting tissue is called the pupillary sphincter. The functioning innervates 3 types of nerves: abducens, lateral, oculomotor. The last type controls the lower straight, upper, lower oblique. The superior oblique muscle of the eye is under the control of the lateral muscle, and the opposite rectus muscle is under the control of the abductor muscle. This distribution allows you to accurately and quickly move the human eye in the direction required for viewing.

Table showing the fiber arrangement:

System functions

Movement of the visual organs is possible with normal innervation of their muscles.

The work of the organs ensures that the sun's rays hit the retina to capture the image. For high-quality functioning, the integrity of the fibers and nerves is necessary. A nerve signal is sent to the muscles and they contract, thereby moving the eyes. Internal and external straight fibers are responsible for the horizontal movements of the organs of vision from the nose to the waxy part. When turning to the bridge of the nose, the internal fiber contracts, and during the transition to the temple, the external rectus muscle contracts. The lower and upper fibers move up and down. But due to the specific location, when rotating, the eyes do not move straight, but slightly to the side.

Of great importance is the oblique muscle, which performs functions that are more complex than the others. The lower one raises the eyes to the upper outer corner. And the top one, on the contrary, lowers and turns outward. And also the physiology of the system contributes to the movement of the eyes clockwise or counterclockwise. Thanks to the complex structure of the eye apparatus, the eyeballs move synchronously or differently, providing binocular vision.

In addition, the accommodation process is carried out with the help of the eye muscles, which ensure a change in the size and shape of the lens. This is a person's ability to see objects at different distances. To perform this function, interaction between the fibers and the lens is necessary. To see objects up close, the eye lens takes on a convex shape. This occurs due to compression of the extraocular muscles. When you need to view an object at a distance, the muscles of the eye relax and the lens straightens.

How do problems manifest themselves?

Due to deterioration in the activity of the eye muscles, the following disorders occur, which are indicated in the diagram:

Similar diseases may develop, which are indicated in the table:

The following diseases are also diagnosed:

• ptosis;
• myositis;
• lagophthalmos;
• heterophoria;
• hypermetropia;
• blepharospasm.