Can We Really Improve Our Vision at Any Age?

Is there a ‘Simple Fix’ to Our Ageing Vision Challenges? Dr Bryce Appelbaum , an American neuro-optometrist has recently been in the news with claims that lifestyle changes and specific exercises can improve vision and change one’s need for glasses. Dr Ranjan Chatterjee , a popular UK media general practitioner, recently spent a week with Dr Appelbaum and wrote of his experience of improved vision following this. You can find his podcast here . Are these claims true and can vision, and your need for glasses, be improved in this way?

Consultant Eye Surgeon and OCL Vision Director Mr Romesh Angunawela was recently asked to comment for a Times article, How to Improve Vision at Any Age , (accessible if you subscribe to the Times)

Why Does Our Vision Change Over Time? Human vision changes from childhood into old age. A recent study published in 2024 shows evidence of a <a rel="noopener" href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F39317432%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmark.campbell%40oclvision.com%7Ca4ecb3d298cb4198d7d308de04e99683%7C91510bbc0eec4debadee4eda1729919e%7C0%7C0%7C638953598931097253%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=cVD7F0lJm3ldBV3Sh%2F%2BV89%2FDfabT9h5bCmZz2CMr3Pk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39317432/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-outlook-id="7d529042-0210-4902-bab8-05dfd3ea65dd" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1" data-anchor="?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F39317432%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmark.campbell%40oclvision.com%7Ca4ecb3d298cb4198d7d308de04e99683%7C91510bbc0eec4debadee4eda1729919e%7C0%7C0%7C638953598931097253%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=cVD7F0lJm3ldBV3Sh%2F%2BV89%2FDfabT9h5bCmZz2CMr3Pk%3D&amp;reserved=0">global increase in rates of shortsight (myopia) over the last 50 years. In some societies like Singapore, where comprehensive records were kept due to military conscription, rates of myopia have increased over decades from 50% to over 90% of the population. This has been linked to lifestyle changes including less time spent outdoors in natural day light, and intense near work on computers and screens. Whilst western countries have seen a similar rate of digitalisation, the rates of short sight have not increased at the same rate. These racial variations suggest that genetic, as well as environmental factors, determine the progression of myopia.

Vision Improvements in Children Beyond encouraging children to spend less times on screens (good luck with that!), and spend more time playing or sporting outdoors, there is now good evidence from well-constructed scientific studies that the progression of myopia in children can be slowed . The aim of this is to decrease the level of myopia achieved by late teenage years, after puberty, when progression general slows or stops naturally.

Effective treatments for children are low dose atropine eye drops, myopia control glasses or contact lenses such as MyoSmart or MyoSight, and orthokeratology contact lenses. You should speak to your optometrist if your child is myopic regarding this. These myopia control methods don’t work in adults.

Vision Improvements in Adults As working adults, we spend a large amount of our time staring at computers or at personal devices such as phones or tablets. At this close range the focusing muscles in our eyes must work to give us intermediate to near focus (known as accommodation). With our lives now spent nose to screen, these focusing muscles can become overactive and find it difficult to relax into a distance relaxed state. This causes levels of short sight to increase artifactually.

Thus, one can find that a visit to your optician seems to show that your short sight keeps increasing. At OCL Vision we often find levels of short sight to be lower when tested in the clinic prior to laser eye surgery compared to the glasses the patient is wearing. Particularly when we relax accommodation using an eye drop before testing.

Adopting the 20-20-20 Rule for Improved Vision The 20-20-20 rule is a simple lifestyle change we can adopt that helps relax these focusing muscles during our workday, and help reduce eye strain, fatigue, headaches and artifactual increase in myopia. The rule is simple but requires discipline to incorporate into busy lifestyles. 20-20-20 means looking away from focused close work to something 20 feet or more away (relaxes the near focusing muscles) every 20 minutes for 20 seconds. There are free apps that can blur your computer screen at predetermined intervals to act as a prompt to have a 20 second break.

Weakening of near focusing muscles is what leads to the need for reading glasses in middle age. This natural and inevitable change is called presbyopia. Can presbyopia be delayed? Maximally near/intermediate focused eyes exhaust the near focusing muscles of the middle-aged eye and these muscles find it more difficult to relax at this age because they’re naturally having to work harder. Thus, accommodative spasm and eye strain are not uncommon. This can bring forward the need for reading glasses. The 20-20-20 rule as well as near convergence exercises, such as pencil push-ups, can boost middle aged near-focusing fitness and delay the inevitable need for reading glasses. Going for a walk outdoors instead of lunch spent staring at one’s phone is also a good habit to let the eyes rest and gain some daylight exposure.

Triggers and Lifestyle Factors in Vision Challenges As the eye ages further, presbyopia is inevitable as is the clouding of the natural lens with age, leading to cataract. Cataract surgery is now the most performed elective surgery in Western countries. There is good evidence from several population-based studies, including from <a rel="noopener" href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F7634999%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmark.campbell%40oclvision.com%7Ca4ecb3d298cb4198d7d308de04e99683%7C91510bbc0eec4debadee4eda1729919e%7C0%7C0%7C638953598931181631%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=l5CA73mv%2FnhIr9iTlWT4WewSdqhkY2VJcfbqaT1hv0Y%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank" title="Original URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7634999/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-outlook-id="42e2c54b-1388-40cd-8f17-826ea2f18ac5" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="6" data-anchor="?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F7634999%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cmark.campbell%40oclvision.com%7Ca4ecb3d298cb4198d7d308de04e99683%7C91510bbc0eec4debadee4eda1729919e%7C0%7C0%7C638953598931181631%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=l5CA73mv%2FnhIr9iTlWT4WewSdqhkY2VJcfbqaT1hv0Y%3D&amp;reserved=0">JC Javitt and HR Taylor , that excessive sun exposure can contribute to cataract formation. Whilst excessive sun exposure may be wishful thinking in the UK, it is beneficial to wear good UV protection glasses when in the sun for excessive periods of time. This may slow hardening of the natural lens and presbyopia, as well as delay cataracts, although there are other factors such as genetics, general health, and conditions such as diabetes that are also in play.

Can You Train Your Brain to Improve Your Vision? What of the idea that the brain can be trained to see better? Whilst the common assumption is that it is the eye that sees, the eye is in fact a visual data capture device. The retina of the eye acts as a sensory array to capture visual data, converting this to nervous impulses transmitted via the optic nerve through the visual pathways to the most active part of the brain - the visual cortex.

Visual cortical processing occurs in real time, to give us a lag-free perceptual awareness of the world around us. This requires incredible processing power and a very active blood supply. Like any system dependent on data transmission, this data can suffer from interference, be corrupted, or be lost or jumbled.

Well established scientific studies have shown that the visual pathways can be trained to optimise function and reduce noise with commensurate improvement in vision in a wide variety of eye conditions, including childhood amblyopia (lazy eye), where it was previously thought that vision could not be improved in adults. This has been shown to be helpful in retinal conditions, post cataract surgery visual adaptation, conditions such as keratoconus, glaucoma and wide variety of other conditions. At OCL Vision, we offer patients the Revital Vision visual system optimisation program, which is followed online by the patient in their own time.

Book a Consultation with OCL Vision to Improve Your Vision So, is Dr Appelbaum right? Yes, one can follow a few lifestyle and active exercise programs to improve sight. The problem, like getting fit, is practice and consistency.

Book a consultation with Mr Romesh Angunawela to find out more.

Can We Really Improve Our Vision at Any Age?

Mr Romesh Angunawela

Book a Consultation

Laser Vision Correction

Cataracts

Lens Replacement Surgery

Procedures

Eye Examinations

Prices & Finance

Resources

Professionals

About Us

Can We Really Improve Our Vision at Any Age?

Mr Romesh Angunawela

Related Blogs

Book a Consultation