Exercises for strabismus - eye gymnastics for strabismus in adults and children

The effectiveness of eye exercises for strabismus

In strabismus, the affected eye experiences weakness in the extraocular muscles. To restore their functionality, it is recommended to use eye exercises daily. It promotes the following effects on the organs of vision:

elimination of accommodation spasm, which develops with constant concentration of gaze on nearby objects, at which time the accommodation of the lens does not change;
stimulation of vision function in both eyes;
stimulation of all muscle tissues of the organs of vision;
blood flow to the eyes along with oxygen and nutrients.

If you use eye exercises as the only method of treatment, the patient’s condition will not improve. An integrated approach is necessary, only in this case the affected eye will begin to function.

The benefits of gymnastics

Most often, strabismus develops due to the fact that the eye muscles do not do their job correctly. This is due to the fact that they are weakened or, on the contrary, are in a state of increased tension. Since the eyes contain muscle structures, they can be trained with the help of gymnastics and achieve the desired result, namely, to tone the muscles. Exercises to correct strabismus will help improve vision clarity and relieve discomfort.

Eye exercises for strabismus help reduce tension in the eye muscles, restore binocular vision and focus correctly. Charging will teach the patient to perform synchronous movements, as a result of which the muscle structures of the eye will move to the correct position in relation to each other, as well as to the common axis.

Basic Rules

If the patient has strabismus, not the entire existing set of exercises can be performed. The patient must follow a number of important rules:

There are separate exercises for convergent and divergent strabismus.
A separate set of exercises is provided for children, since they cannot perform all the actions.
It is necessary to constantly perform procedures, even while outdoors among people. For example, you can observe fast moving objects and people.
The room in which gymnastics is performed should be well lit with artificial and natural light.
If there is a need to use objects or hands to touch the eyes, they must be washed first.
Exercises for strabismus are done 1 time in the morning and 1 time in the evening. If a person’s professional activity involves positive use of a computer or concentrating on nearby objects, it is necessary to do exercises every few hours.
It is important not to forget about other treatment methods that are indispensable.

All points of therapy must be strictly observed, then the effect will come much faster.

Physiotherapy

Vision is the main source of information for humans. If the clarity of visual perception is impaired, the patient begins to experience psychological and physical discomfort, and his usual way of life is disrupted.

One of the most common vision problems is strabismus. It can be eliminated with the help of therapeutic exercises and glasses with special lenses. Exercises for strabismus can be performed at home. They are suitable for both children and adults.

Charging should be done using the following methods:

You should attach a bright-colored ball to a strong thread and move it through the air for one minute. In this case, the affected eye must concentrate on the ball all this time.
A small ball should be suspended in the air and shined on it from the side with a table lamp. The healthy eye must be closed, and the sick eye must look at the ball for 30-60 seconds, without being distracted by the light of the lamp.
Rotate the eyeballs clockwise and counterclockwise.
Your arms should be extended forward and your gaze should be directed to your fingertips. At a slow pace, you should bring your hands closer to your face and also slowly move them away, without losing eye contact with your fingers. You should do 15-20 repetitions.
It is necessary to visually select a distant object outside the window, and place another object on the same line with it on the windowsill. The essence of the exercise is to alternately focus your vision on a near and far object.
Synchronized drawing of a figure eight in the air with both eyes.
Playing tennis will allow you to train your eye muscles by constantly watching the moving ball.

In addition, you can use massage of shiatsu points for strabismus; when exposed to them, you can restore visual functions. There are 10 active points that are located around each eye, when exposed to them you can:

improve vision clarity;
eliminate muscle fatigue;
reduce intraocular pressure;
eliminate strabismus.

Location of “Shiatsu” points
Gymnastics for strabismus according to Bates is aimed at eliminating muscle tension. The essence of the technique is that tension can be reduced not only through exercise, but also through other available methods that lead to complete relaxation. In this way, you can eliminate strabismus and gain mental control.

Exercises for convergent strabismus

There are several important exercises that must be performed daily with convergent strabismus:

If one of the eyes squints towards the inner corner, exercises are used to restore it. For example, if your left eye is squinting, place any object in front of you. The right eye is closed. With the affected eye they look at the object and turn their head in the right direction.
An object, such as a pencil, is placed on the side of the affected eye. The healthy eye is blocked. It is necessary to move the object forward, trying to concentrate on it with the affected eye.
Drawing numbers from 0 to 9, as well as the infinity sign. The healthy eye should be completely covered. To enhance the effect, the affected eye is opened and movement begins. Gradually his muscles will be stimulated.
Glasses are cut out of paper and holes are made in them, which should be close to the temples. The holes should be small, no more than 10 mm. Glasses are worn during times of increased eye strain, for example, when watching a movie. A person sits sideways to the screen, on the side of which the diseased organ of vision is located. You need to start watching the movie over your right shoulder. The muscles of the diseased eye are gradually stimulated, and it will turn in the required direction.

Exercise stimulates the eye muscles, so they begin to function stronger.

Exercises for strabismus in a child

Treating strabismus with exercises in children is problematic, because children get bored quickly, and exercises need to be done daily. To maintain interest, you need to add an element of play to visual gymnastics. It is easiest to conduct classes after breakfast, when the child has slept well and is not capricious.

If a child has strabismus, the entire set of exercises is repeated several times a day, each time for 20 minutes or until the first signs of fatigue. First, the child needs to move his eyes from side to side to prepare. If only one eye is squinting, the other one is covered with a bandage during classes.

The main set of exercises for children over 3 years old:

This exercise requires a sheet of pictures that will differ only in some details. The child must find and name the differences.
You can also use images of animals and plants. The child is asked to name each figure, determine its position (left, right, below, above), and examine the details. Pictures must be clear and understandable.
Older children (4-5 years old) start with a labyrinth from which they need to find a way out. An element of game is also introduced into the exercise: a bunny got lost in the forest and you need to help him find a way out, the hockey player must score the puck.
It is useful for a child with strabismus to watch the spinning top. Movable pictures attract children's attention and involuntarily force them to concentrate.
For the next exercise you need to make a circular layout with holes of different sizes. The child is asked to thread the lace through all the holes.
In this exercise, the child needs to find identical images on a sheet with many pictures.
The child is seated at the table and a lamp is turned on 40 cm from the eyes. You need to close your healthy eye and place a small ball next to the lamp. The child must look at the ball for 30 seconds, then he is shown cards with pictures until the bright images disappear from his field of vision.

Parents can teach their child to relax the eye muscles and do palming. It is better for small children to do palming on their own, telling a fairy tale along the way so that the child is not afraid of prolonged darkness.

Strabismus in a baby

In the youngest children, strabismus is diagnosed mainly at 8-9 months, when signs of visual impairment become noticeable. The exact diagnosis is determined closer to 2-3 years when the friendly functioning of the eyes is formed.

Classes with infants are carried out for 10-15 minutes, avoiding overtiring or irritation of the child. An adult needs to have a rattle, a bright-colored ball, cubes with pictures, and a thick blindfold on hand.

During the procedure, the child should sit in a comfortable position. An adult blindfolds one of his eyes, takes a rattle and smoothly moves it in different directions. The rattle should be kept 30 cm from the baby's face. It is necessary to ensure that the child does not turn his head and watches the rattle. After several approaches, the bandage is changed to the other eye and the exercise is repeated. At the end, the bandage is removed and the rattle is slowly brought closer to the child's face. When the exercise is successfully completed, the eyes synchronously move towards the bridge of the nose.

Another activity for little ones involves working with shoelaces. You need to cut a circle out of plastic or thick cardboard and make holes of different diameters and shapes in it. The child is given a circle and a bright cord, asking him to thread it through the holes. This activity, as a rule, engages the child for a long time and allows him to involuntarily strain the muscles of the eyeballs.

Working with babies is always difficult, but after 2-3 months of hard work you can hope for a positive result. However, in this case, the improvement does not cancel the treatment, and classes will have to be continued until complete recovery. This usually occurs after several years of complex therapy.

Strabismus and amblyopia

Treatment of lazy eye syndrome is carried out according to one scheme: the healthy eye is eliminated from visual function, shifting all the work to the eye with amblyopia. This is done by covering the healthy eye with a special bandage. The bandage is usually worn all day.

At the beginning, such therapy causes severe discomfort to the child, so parents need to take care of his psychological state. If the child resists, treatment begins with one hour a day. Treatment of strabismus is carried out in parallel.

Parents should teach their child to do exercises diligently and constantly. It is very important not to interrupt strabismus therapy in order to have time to correct the defect before the visual system fully develops. Otherwise, the squint will remain for life.

Sources used:

Prevention of low vision and blindness in children / E.I. Kovalevsky. - M.: Medicine, 1998.
Selected sections of clinical ophthalmology. (Manual for the practitioner) / M. Zolotareva. - M.: Belarus, 1993.
Reasons for the development of myopia and its treatment / M.V. Kuznetsova. - M.: MEDpress-inform, 2005.
The University of Chicago's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science

Exercises for divergent strabismus

If a person has a sore eye turned in the opposite direction, closer to the temples, you can perform the same exercises, only try to make the eye work in the direction closer to the nose:

You must place any object in front of you. The healthy eye is blocked. If the left organ of vision is affected, the object is placed on the right and they try to examine it.
Cover the affected eye and place a pencil near the bridge of the nose. Gradually they begin to move it forward, while it is necessary to concentrate the organ of vision on it.
Exercise with the help of a mask, sit sideways, with your healthy organ of vision facing the TV. At the same time, they will concentrate their gaze in the opposite direction. For example, if the left eye is affected, look over the right shoulder.

If, while doing the exercises, the eyes begin to hurt very much, they should be stopped for a short period of time, then repeated again.

Principle of exercises

The tasks that are recommended for strabismus work according to a specific algorithm:

aimed at relaxing muscles (eyeballs can move synchronously);
aimed at concentrating the gaze at one point;
lead to the combination of a pair of images that both eyes observe separately.

During the exercises, if you manage to connect these two pictures, this means that you have achieved a result.

Exercises for children

In order for a child to want to do exercises, all of them must be carried out in the form of a game:

Small holes are cut out on white cardboard. The child must insert multi-colored laces into them. Thus, the vision function is concentrated, the muscles begin to work.
For the exercise, take a sheet of paper. It is divided in half. On one side they draw various objects in a certain order, on the other side there should be the same objects, only arranged chaotically. The child must use a pencil or pen to connect objects in pairs.
It is possible that the child is still too young to perform complex exercises. Then the healthy organ of vision is blocked and the rattle is shaken in the direction where it is necessary to measure the position of the diseased eye. Gradually he will try to move his gaze.

Strabismus in children is easily treated if treated at an early age.

Disease in children

Strabismus can be congenital or acquired.

There may be several reasons for the acquired disease:

nervous diseases;
stressful conditions;
infections affecting the head;
head bruises.

Congenital strabismus occurs when:

the child suffers from prematurity;
there were birth injuries;
genetic predisposition.

Regarding congenital forms, there are pathologies:

paralytic form of strabismus, when one eye looks askance, the so-called concomitant strabismus, when two eyes look askance;
vertical strabismus is diagnosed when the eye tends to look up or down;
converging - when the gaze is directed to the bridge of the nose;
divergent - there is a feeling that a person is looking in the temporal direction.

Treatment should be started as early as possible; the child’s eyes should be examined after severe fright, head injury, various infections - scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, when visual acuity decreases. If you contact an eye doctor early, he will prescribe therapeutic exercises that can be done at home without resorting to hospitalization.