How to Improve Eyesight Naturally

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Is it possible to improve eye health and vision naturally
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Do you wish you had 20/20 vision? I have yet to meet anyone who wears prescription glasses or contacts and doesn’t wish they didn’t need them!

Turns out, you might be able to improve your eyesight without needing to revert to contact lenses or other eyewear.

Sadly, many people who wear glasses or contacts will need stronger prescriptions as vision slowly declines. But does it have to be this way?

While some eye health professionals insist that it is impossible to improve eyesight naturally, other experts believe that certain foods and practices can help you see better. Here’s what we know so far.

Are Glasses Prescribed Unnecessarily?

When my daughter was around four years old, she was diagnosed with mild vision problems.

She was devastated at the idea of wearing glasses, so I decided to research alternatives to see if any of them were legitimate. While I found a lot of conflicting information, I thought some of the methods were at least worth a try, and they certainly would not cause any harm.

One surprising piece of information I found was that glasses are often overprescribed to young children. One study found that nearly 20% of screened preschool children were prescribed glasses, while those screened by pediatric ophthalmologists recommended them to less than 2% of the kids. That’s a lot of young children wearing glasses unnecessarily!

After consulting with an eye specialist and determining that her vision did not appear to be getting worse without glasses, we decided to follow an eye relaxation and exercise program for a trial period to see if it would help her. Her vision (and her slight strabismus) improved, giving me hope that these natural methods were working.

What Causes Poor Eyesight?

Nearly a century ago, a breakthrough eye doctor named Dr. Bates believed that glasses and contacts only made vision problems worse. He founded the Bates Method, an alternative therapy that relied on eye exercises and relaxation. His theory was based on the idea that the muscles surrounding the eye can become unbalanced, causing strain that leads to vision problems.

However, many modern ophthalmologists argue with this idea, saying that it is the rods and cones in the eye that determine vision problems and that muscle tightness does not affect vision.

So what’s the bottom line? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. While eye exercises might not help everyone with vision problems, there is new evidence that relaxation practices can help reduce eye strain due to increased electronic and screen use.

How Our Eyes Get Strained

In our modern lifestyle, we really put our eyes to work in unnatural ways. Here are a few things that can strain our eyes.

  • Reading for long periods, especially small print.
  • Use of dim or artificial light (or not enough exposure to natural light!)
  • Spending a disproportionate amount of time looking at close-up print/screens/pictures compared to things at a distance.

It seems that these strain-related factors also contribute to poor eyesight. In countries like Japan, Singapore, and China, there is a high rate of vision problems in children. It is probably no coincidence that they also have a more intensive education system that focuses on reading small words at an early age. This leads to spending more time indoors studying with artificial light, rather than outside in natural light, which research suggests is important for protecting eyesight.

Researchers believe that the problem is environmental, not genetic. When people from these same ethnic groups moved to places like Australia or the US, their risk of vision problems decreased.

To help combat this widespread problem, scientists recommend taking ample time for breaks, as well as spending more time in natural light. While more research is needed to prove this, there is also speculation that countries that promote stretching and relaxation in elementary schools have lower rates of vision problems.

How to Do Eye Relaxation Exercises

Holistic eye doctors often suggest exercises to help strengthen and relax eye muscles to improve eyesight naturally and gradually.

So, how do you know if you’re relaxing your eyes properly?

We found a practitioner that suggested these relaxation exercises for our daughter to perform every day before school:

  • Rub your hands together for a few seconds to warm them, then loosely place your hands over your eyes for 10-20 seconds.
  • Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Rotate the upper body while swinging arms side to side, keeping hips stationary.
  • Massage your temples and the back of your neck to loosen muscles.
  • Trace a sideways figure eight with your eyeball while looking at a wall.
  • Roll the eyes in circles in each direction.
  • Place the eraser of a pencil on the nose, point the pencil at an object across the room and trace the object with the point of the pencil while keeping the eyes on the tip of the pencil.

Here are a few other exercises she can do at any time of day:

  • Hold a pencil at arm’s length and focus on the eraser. Slowly bring it closer to the eyes until it is about 6 inches from the eyes, then slowly bring it back out to arm’s length. Keep the focus on the eraser the entire time. Repeat 6-12 times per day.
  • Wear an eye patch on your better eye for about an hour a day to encourage the bad eye to communicate with the brain more effectively.

Though these exercises are not a replacement for modern eye care, they have helped our daughter to slowly fix her poor vision without the need for increasingly strong eyeglasses.

We also had our daughter wear blue-blocking anti-fatigue glasses any time she was looking at a screen to help reduce eye fatigue and strain. I now wear these any time I use a computer as well to help avoid any eye problems as I age.

How to Eat for Eye Health

Your diet plays a big role in eye health as well. Just like certain nutrients can support dental health, some particular vitamins and minerals naturally support the eyes.

Here are a few great nutrients that increase eye health:

  • Omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty fish and fish oil are great sources.
  • Vitamin A. Think orange foods, like carrots and sweet potatoes.
  • Lutein. Leafy greens, like kale and spinach, are best.
  • Vitamin C. Get lots of hearty veggies like cauliflower, broccoli or even sweet yellow peppers to get a good dose. You can also supplement with vitamin C.

Resources I Found Helpful

For further reading, I recommend the books The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses and Relearning to See.

We also used these videos to help correct my daughter’s strabismus in the beginning and teach her how to move her eyes correctly.

The Bottom Line of Eye Health

Our modern lifestyle contributes to a more rapid decline in eye health than nature intended. Factors like an increase in artificial light, TVs and computer screens, reducing stress, and a poor diet may all contribute to a decline in eye health.

Keep in mind that while reducing eye strain is great for your overall comfort, it might not always fix your vision problems. If you suffer from certain eye diseases like myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), severe vision loss or eye damage, cataracts, or macular degeneration, you’ll probably need glasses or contacts to correct the problem.

I am not a doctor and you should always do your research to see what works best for you. Visit an optometrist to receive regular eye exams and checkups to evaluate your eye health, and to see what they recommend for vision therapy.

This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Scott Soerries, MD, Family Physician and Medical Director of SteadyMD. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.

Do you or your children wear glasses? Ever tried anything other than the conventional methods to improve your eyesight?

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

101 responses to “How to Improve Eyesight Naturally”

  1. Cindy Perez Avatar
    Cindy Perez

    I purchased an expensive CD set from one of the first “Bates method” educators, but I need someone to walk me through it. Where do you live? I’ve desperately been trying to find someone reasonably close, who works with the Bates method (and the Grossman too, if possible.) I’m 61, have worn contacts/glasses for 51 years, and would love to at least improve my eyesight somewhat.

  2. Bob Arnold Avatar
    Bob Arnold

    I wore glasses for near-sightedness from the time i was 8 until now (43). Last year I started reducing my prescription to where I could read the 20/30 line on the eye chart. I started at -2.00 diopters in both eyes and now almost read the 20/20 line with only -0.25 lenses. I can see quite well even without my glasses if I don’t do too much close up work. I hope to be glasses free this year. Be kind to your eyes. Read holding the book away. Take breaks and look into the distance. Check out Jake Steiner. His blogs helped me a lot.

  3. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    The ancient art of Qigong has incorporated eye exercises throughout its history. I knew a woman who did exercises and was able to get rid of her glasses. She found out about these exercises through her Tai Chi instructor. I’m going to try it out myself – I have worn contacts/glasses for 23 years now.

  4. JoCarole Carpenter Avatar
    JoCarole Carpenter

    I have a lot of articles on eye health and I was looking at them today. About dry eyes, one expert said that eye drops may affect ocular circulation. I used to have dry eyes years ago and my opthamologist didn’t have a clue other then putting stents in my eye. Then he told me not to come back again anymore for it! Staring at a computer will dry out your eyes too. Here’s some eye experts you may want to check out online…..

    https://www.healingtheeye.com/
    https://acuvisiontherapy.com/about-dr-rosenfarb/dr-andy-rosenfarb/
    https://www.naturaleyecare.com/about-dr-marc-grossman.asp

  5. Dawn Avatar

    I know this article discusses vision but do you have any thoughts/knowledge regarding dry eyes? My 14 year was having problems reading and he started constantly blinking, as if there was something in his eyes. Took him to the eye doctor 2 days ago and he said he was very surprised but my son miserably failed the tear test. Meaning he has extremely dry eyes. The dry eyes were what was affecting his sight. He said this is extremely unusual for a boy, let alone his age. My son has to use eye drops every 2 hours, every day. So, I am wondering if there is a nutrient he could be taking for this. I heard Omega-3s could help but am not finding back up to that so far (but I literally just started searching today!). Thank you so much for your blog and such great information. I have been reading it for some time! Blessings to you!

  6. Connie Burriss Avatar
    Connie Burriss

    I am looking for a holistic options to improve my eyesight.
    I have glocoma and I do not want to get surgery. Can you offer any suggestions. My right eye is cloudy.

  7. Matthew Avatar

    Great topic. Also, check out endmyopia.org. The guy who runs the site, Jake Steiner, reduced 5 diopters of myopia naturally. He also has some resources for child myopia on his site.

  8. JoCarole Carpenter Avatar
    JoCarole Carpenter

    I do eye exercises daily, some are Eden Energy and some are TCM.

    I go to an opthalmology acupuncturist /ND and he has helped my eyes a lot when my old eye doctors said there was nothing wrong with my eyes. Their equipment cannot pickup problems until it is too late.

    He has written several books on the eyes explaining how foods affect the eyes and how the organs also affect the eyes. The liver is an important organ for health. Chinese herbs also are of value. Flax seed oil can improve vision according to my research. If anyone is interested in learning about TCM and how it can heal the eyes, here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Your-Eyes-Chinese-Medicine/dp/1556436629/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=ca0afcfc105bbd1cf9ecc3b6daecd4ed

  9. Ella Avatar

    I have been obsessed with the subject of natural vision improvement for the last 20 years. I believe there is something to it, but ‘exercises’ per se don’t work. The Bates Method is pretty useless to be honest. A much better resource is the Janet Goodrich Method.

    That said, I would say that most causes of myopia are emotional. I stopped wearing my glasses about fifteen years ago, in that time my eyesight has improved by one whole diopter from – 5 to – 4.

    Eye exercises will never work if the cause of the myopia is emotional. The brain is automatically blurring out the world as a protection device. I’ve experienced moments of complete clarity myself for short periods, linked to my emotional state. The blur usually comes back.

    I believe this emotionally induced blur results from emotional trauma in childhood, usually school and is very difficult to reverse. Interestingly, some former European communist countries used to provide preventative eyesight classes for pupils who were showing signs of myopia. They knew that if caught early it could be prevented.

    Eyesight and our psyche are inextricably linked. Our eyes are not passive cameras as the optometry world would have us believe. They are in fact windows to the soul and this why they flutter uncontrollably during REM sleep.

    Another good, and free resource is gettingstronger.org

  10. Kristin Avatar

    I found this article because I was google searching “my vision is healing”. I have the MTHFR gene mutation and have been diagnosed with several auto immune diseases before I turned 30 and was in pretty good health before. My most recent diagnosis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, has wrecked my life. Thankfully, I found a great group on Facebook (Hashimotos 411) with over 50 thousand members who have been at it a long time. They recommend what’s called an AIP diet or Auto-Immune Protocol to reverse the damage caused by auto-immune diseases and heal your body. Yes, it IS possible! You can google the diet as there’s lots of information out there but basically I had to cut out everything but most vegetables, fruit, meats, and oils. It’s been hard but I can tell an improvement as my digestion has improved and I no longer have the pain I used to. I also started making my own toothpaste and deodorant a few months ago to cut down on chemicals. One thing I’ve noticed in the last week is that my vision has improved. I’ve worn glasses since the 3rd grade and contacts for the last 10 years or so. I’ve been getting bad migraines that start behind my eyes at the end of the day so I have to take my contacts out and I’ve discovered that I can see! My vision was so bad that I could only make out shapes and forms in a blurry mess, I’m basically blind without lenses or glasses. But now, I can see lines and things are much, much clearer. The reason I was getting headaches is because my contacts are too strong for me now. My eyes also feel stronger than before which is hard to explain. This is all very bizarre to me and I can’t find much information out there but I’m here to tell you that healing your vision or eyesight is absolutely possible. I’m going to continue researching and see what I can find since this is all new territory for me.

  11. Rafael Giusti Avatar
    Rafael Giusti

    Great advice to follow…Regarding screens, it’s not only the time you spend there, it’s actually the stress you get in the activity. I know people with perfect vision that spend a lot of time in Computers/VideoGames. I notice they are very relaxed when performing this activities. In my case I used to get very stressed in video games that I think affected my vision back in the days.

  12. Daniel Avatar

    I used to eat a lot of carrots when I was a kid, probably inspired by Bugs Bunny the cartoon. I could eat a whole kilogram of carrots in a matter of hours. Since carrots were cheap those days (a dollar could get you like 5kgs) mom used to get them in plenty for me. And the myth about eating carrots to improve eyesight I can attest to it that it is true.

    As an adult I realized that I have such a perfect eyesight than the average human being. My right eye can see a distance of approximately 80 meters. I can recognize faces and people clearly. My left eye on the other hand can view up to 40 meters clearly. Somehow my left eye finds it easy to read and view things that are near and vice-versa.

    Computers changed much, however. I realized that using a computer for longer periods made my eyes strain. Basically, I work online and most of the time am hooked up to my computer’s screen. In order to make my eyes feel better, I bought a pair of sunglasses (brownish tint) and always made sure that the display’s brightness is at the lowest point. I also wash my eyes with clean water everyday for like a two minutes on average and take a walk in the evening. Somehow, being exposed to natural light helps the eyes to recover faster.

    After instituting these measures, I am yet to encounter any eye strains or aches and my vision is still exemplary.

  13. Kelly Avatar

    I have recently found this website: https://endmyopia.org/ It has been very helpful. He talks a lot about reducing your prescriptions by wearing lower prescription glasses and spending more time outside. Lots of useful information there

    1. Matthew Avatar
      Matthew

      Second on that. Endmyopia is great. Lots of free information!

      1. Lisa Avatar

        Third Endmyopia. Lots of great info that I have had personal success with. Eyes locked on to screens for too long at a time is not good. Looking out in the distance and focusing on something until you can see it clearly really helps over time. Make it a habit and your eyes will get better. Great topic.

  14. Justin Knox Avatar
    Justin Knox

    Thank you for the help. I just got my first pair of glasses and am trying to maintain my vision as well as possible. I had never heard of eye relaxation practices. Do you think that would be of benefit to me as well?

  15. Kellie Avatar
    Kellie

    We do something very simular. We go to Vision Therapy which has done wonders for our kiddo. He still needs glasses but due to extreme prematurity (23 weeks weighing 13 ounces) it was his eye brain connection but therapy helped tremendously.

  16. Azadeh Fariba Avatar
    Azadeh Fariba

    Hi,
    I am 30 years old and I have been suffering from floaters for about 6 weeks now… I am pretty near sighted but up until 6 weeks ago I never had floaters. I went to my eye doctor and she said that it is normal and that it will be like this forever. I am extremely depressed as they are annoying and distracting. I would appreciate ANY help. Thank you so much.

  17. Rafael Avatar
    Rafael

    I have been improving my eyesight over the last 6 years after being tired of getting stronger glasses formulas every year. I am still nearsighted, but I feel much better and I’m using weaker formulas only for driving though because I got used to do everything else without glasses 😀 even sports, and specially swimming which I noticed I have perfect vision underwater!!

    Anybody interested should look at advise from Dr Bates as suggested in this post. (To sum up: It’s all about relaxation)

  18. Kyler Avatar

    My wife has always been battling bad vision issues her whole life. I really appreciated this post, and I think that my wife would benefit from reading it as well. This is the first time I have ever heard of the idea that eye exercises will help with vision. Thanks for sharing this.

  19. dijana Avatar

    You can better give her flaxseed oil instead of fish oil because fish is loaded with mercury.

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