Eye health

Dear Good Friends and Patients,
Throughout the past 10 months I have been penning regular newsletters to you all, with hopefully helpful hints and exercises. As you all know exercises lead to a sense of well-being and positivity. Originally, I concentrated on ergonomics and self-help exercises to do in your work breaks. Continuing in this vein I decided to add eye exercises to your ‘to do’ list. These will strengthen your eye muscles, but not improve your vision (this can be helped by nutrition and diet), and overall your eyes will feel better.
Remember take a 2 minute work break every 30 minutes!
Flexing- Keep your head in a comfortable position whilst seated. Move your eyes from side to side
and up and down, whilst still holding your head in a neutral position.
Blinking- This refreshes the eyes and maintains focus for longer. Practice blinking every x 5 seconds in a 2 minute rest period.
Focusing near and far- Hold your thumb about 10” away from your eyes, then focus on something about 10-20 feet away. Repeat.
Palming- Hold the palms of your hands over your eyes gently so that you can still blink comfortably for x minutes. The warmth from your hands and darkness are an excellent stress reliever.
Zooming- Hold your thumb in a hitchhiker position, then draw it in towards you so that it is 3” away from your eyes. Slowly move it away to the starting position. Repeat.
Figure of 8- Imagine a figure of 8 turned on its side. Follow the pattern with your eyes. Rest-This needs no explanation!
Sending you all good wishes. Please remember we are here to help in these extraordinary times!
Caro, Elizabeth and Suzanne Charterhouse Physiotherapy