Seeing a bright and colorful world around is a gift that must be appreciated and tried to be preserved from youth. Unfortunately, more and more often there are various eye pathologies that do not allow you to see the image clearly, and sometimes even see at all. One of these diseases is astigmatism. If you start his treatment on time, then simple exercises for the eyes with astigmatism can help. If run, it can cause many complications, including blindness.
The essence of the disease
Astigmatism is an eye disease in which the shape of the cornea of the eye or its lens changes. With this disease, the cornea and lens take the form of a distorted sphere, lose the ability to refract light rays correctly, as a result of which the image is perceived distorted.
Depending on the time of occurrence, astigmatism is divided into:
- congenital (often does not affect visual acuity, present from birth);
- acquired (appears asthe result of injury to the cornea).
Depending on how deformed the cornea is, doctors diagnose 3 degrees of the disease:
- weak (up to 3 diopters);
- medium (3 to 6 diopters);
- high (more than 6 diopters).
In addition to the degree of severity, astigmatism can be combined with nearsightedness or farsightedness, turning into myopic and hyperopic astigmatism, respectively. To treat these forms of the disease, special gymnastics complexes have been developed for the eyes with astigmatism and myopia.
Depending on how timely the disease was diagnosed, and what degree it managed to achieve, the optimal method of treating astigmatism is selected.
Symptoms and diagnosis of astigmatism
In order for eye exercises for astigmatism and other methods of treatment to give the desired result, it is important to consult a doctor in time, who will make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.
Signs of astigmatism:
- decrease in visual acuity;
- image distortion;
- double vision;
- feeling tight in the eyes;
- quick fatigue, especially when reading and other activities that require high concentration;
- frequent headaches;
- when trying to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness with glasses or lenses, the proper effect is not observed.
Any of these symptoms should alert the patient and become a reason fora visit to the doctor, who, in turn, will carry out a series of diagnostic procedures.
Methods for diagnosing astigmatism:
- assessment of refraction (the power of the optical system of the eye) using special devices refractometers, coratometers, accomodometers;
- visometry - assessment of visual acuity using special tables;
- skiascopy - a method for assessing the condition of the eyes, based on the observation of the movement of the shadow;
- assessment of binocular vision - the study allows you to control the tone of the eye muscles, which makes it possible to diagnose eye diseases at an early stage;
- checking the movement of the eyeballs;
- determining the nearest point of clear vision, as well as the area of accommodation, that is, the distance between the far and near point of clear vision.
After making a diagnosis and determining the degree of the disease, the doctor will choose a method for treating astigmatism.
Methods of treating the disease
There are several methods for the treatment of astigmatism, among which, based on the studies carried out by the attending physician, the optimal one is determined.
Among the main methods are:
- Optical. It consists in wearing special glasses with cylindrical lenses. This technique is considered the most accessible, but will not be able to help in case of an advanced stage of the disease.
- Hardware. It is used to treat the second degree of astigmatism and refers to therapeutic non-invasive methods. Most often used whentreatment of childhood eye diseases.
- Surgical. In this case, the distorted shape of the cornea or lens is corrected by surgery. Recently, the advantage is given to laser correction. It is used for advanced grade 3 astigmatism in patients over 18 years of age.
- Exercises for the eyes with astigmatism. This technique is used as an adjuvant therapy at an early stage of the disease.
In addition to following your doctor's recommendations, it's important not to put too much strain on your eye muscles to prevent the progression of astigmatism.
Eye exercise benefits
In the early stages of astigmatism, eye exercises for children and adults are often prescribed to prevent deterioration of the patient's condition and loss of vision.
Eye Training Benefits:
- easy to do - you can do the exercises at home by yourself;
- do not take much time;
- help relieve eye fatigue and remove muscle tension, which contributes to the gradual improvement of the patient's condition.
When doing exercises for the eyes with astigmatism, you should be patient and not stop exercising if there is no instant effect. Such therapy will give results only after long-term treatment.
Preparation for eye gymnastics
In order for eye exercises for astigmatism to be effective, it is recommended inconduct special training for several days before their start.
Eye Prep Complex:
- Solarization, or sun treatment. It consists in accustoming the eyes to bright light. It is recommended to act gradually, turning your face for a short while, closing your eyes, towards a source of bright light (the sun). It is also allowed to watch the sunset.
- Palming. It is necessary to close your eyes with warm palms and try to see a black picture without any spots or dots. This result is a sign of excellent vision.
- Control of eye muscle tension. A good way to relax your eyes is to blink frequently.
After the preparatory activities, you can proceed to the main exercises.
Ways to quickly relieve stress
Constant eye strain is one of the causes of eye diseases. Therefore, the first complex is aimed at relieving stress and fatigue:
- Look in front of you, then at any object at a distance of about 30 cm (you can put your finger at the desired distance).
- Put any object to the nose, such as a pencil, gradually move it forward to arm's length, while not taking your eyes off it.
- Select an object at a distance of 30 cm from the eyes (again, it can be a finger), look at it alternately with the right eye, two, and then the left.
Each exercise needs to be repeated up to 10 times. thanks to the release of tension, the complex helps to get rid of discomfort in the eyes.
Eye muscle training
To prevent a situation where some muscles are constantly overstrained and worn out, while others are not used and gradually atrophy, it is necessary to regularly train the eye muscles.
A set of exercises for the eye muscles:
- Stay in a comfortable position, relax and look ahead for 10-15 minutes.
- Close your eyes for a few minutes.
- Make horizontal and vertical eyeball movements.
- Go to eye rotation clockwise then counterclockwise.
- Blink fast.
- Look left down and immediately right up.
- Focus on the tip of the nose.
- Blink fast again.
- Standing at the window, alternately look from the glass into the distance. For easier focusing, you can stick a piece of paper or plaster on the window.
Repeat all exercises 5-6 times. The time required for the entire gymnastics does not exceed 10 minutes.
Zhdanov Method
All of the above eye exercises for astigmatism in adults and children are for beginners. When gymnastics becomes a habit and is not difficult, it is recommended to move on to a more complex complex developed by psychoanalyst V. G. Zhdanov.
The Zhdanov complex includes:
- move eyeballs up and down;
- move right and left;
- transferring gaze diagonally: from bottom left to top right and back;
- drawing the eyes of a square clockwise and counterclockwise;
- performing the "horizontal bow" pattern: you need to move your eyes diagonally from the upper left corner to the lower right, then look up and draw the second diagonal from right to left, and then look up again;
- performing the "vertical bow" drawing: the steps are identical to the previous exercise, but you need to draw a vertical figure;
- circular eye movements clockwise and counterclockwise;
- zigzag eyeball movements;
- drawing with the eyes of a spiral first to the right and to the left, then from top to bottom and in the opposite direction;
- image with eyes spiraling towards expansion, then narrowing;
- execution of the figure "horizontally located circle";
- focusing on the fingers closed in front of you, spreading the fingers, following each of them with the eyes at the same time;
- the same exercise, but spreading the fingers is carried out diagonally, then up and down;
- focus on fingers drawing circles at the same time (left against, right clockwise)
Start with three repetitions of each exercise, gradually increasing to 5 repetitions. With regular performance of Zhdanov's gymnastics for the eyes, astigmatism will not progress, and over time, you can notice a positive trend.
Final stage of training
An important stage of gymnastics for the eyes whenastigmatism in children and adults is to perform the final manipulations:
- completely relax;
- repeat the palming exercise;
- press lightly on closed eyelids several times.
According to doctors, visual acuity depends on the state of the body as a whole. Therefore, to maintain eye he alth, it is important to lead a he althy lifestyle, do not exclude physical activity, alternating them with rest and relaxation.
