How to reduce eye number

Introduction

Eyeglasses are optical aids to enable us to see clearly. The lenses have a number to them depending on our eye condition. There are 3 types of eye power

Spherical eye power and Cylindrical eye power. Cylindrical eye power is also known as Astigmatism

1. Spherical eye power can be one of two
   • Plus eye power – Here we use a convex lens and we treat hypermetropia or farsightedness
   • Minus eye power – Here we use concave lenses and we treat myopia or short-sightedness
2. Cylindrical eye power – Here we use cylindrical lenses and we treat astigmatism with these lenses.

How is eye number treated by doctors?

 Usually, eye number is treated in the following ways

1. Eye Glasses – Corrective lenses
2. Contact Lenses
3. LASIK eye surgery – Refractive surgery

Can You Remove Eye Number Naturally?

Everyone wants to remove their eye number naturally and thus this is a very common question. There are a few things one can do to try and remove their eye numbers, however, before we list out natural ways of reducing eye numbers one must understand that the veracity of these statements has never held up to scientific scrutiny. At the same time, however, the medical fraternity also agrees that these exercises do not harm your eyes. It is therefore up to you to give these exercises a try, with a healthy dose of scepticism, to see if they work.

These exercises are not part of the specific ocularist-supervised programs to correct particular eyesight issues (like convergence insufficiency) and other binocular visual skills. These exercises claim to be able to correct refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatisms, which are errors stemming from altered eye anatomy or structure.

Eye Exercises to Reduce Spherical or Cylindrical Number

There are several commercially available exercise programs online, which are said to be devised by experts in this field. Most of them are similar and come with a disclaimer that the results may vary from person to person, and the duration of exercise for optimal results is also not specified. None of them offers any guaranteed results. Following are the basic exercises one can attempt knowing that these may not work.

1. Palming

The technique of covering both eyes gently with your palms is called palming. Eye yoga also talks about palming. It helps by relaxing the eyes and also resulting in the redistribution of tears on the eye surface. Experts recommend that you must take a deep breath and relax your neck muscles, closing your eyes. Make sure your forearms and elbows are well supported, and then close your eyes. Gently cup your eyes in the hollow of your palms for about a minute, breathing normally. Experts recommend repeating this exercise, several times a day for best results.

2. Blinking

Blinking is a reflex function but there is no conclusive evidence that it helps improve your eyesight. However, with our current use of gadgets, conscious blinking is a good idea since our blink rate reduces significantly when sitting in front of computers, televisions or smartphones. This happens because we tend to stare at the screens when looking at them. Blinking redistributes the tear film and makes the eyes lubricated, it also provides the eyes with some much-needed rest, therefore decreasing fatigue and strain.

It is claimed that it’s important to repeat the exercise many times, throughout the day to achieve the best results.

• Slow Blink- For 2 minutes, you must blink your eyes every 30 seconds, definitively closing them.
• Quick Blink- For 2 minutes, you must blink your eyes every 4 seconds, rapidly, for optimal benefit.

3. The Figure of Eight or circular eye movements

Imagine a large “8” figure in front of you, about six feet away, and you must revolve your eyes to trace its shape slowly in a clockwise direction. This process must be repeated for three to five minutes. After this, you must trace the shape of “8” in the anti-clockwise direction for the same duration.

This must be done several times during the day for the best results.

4. Convergence eye exercises

Convergence exercises are to strengthen your near vision muscles, also known as ciliary muscles, and also to help delay presbyopia by exercising the muscles responsible for focusing or accommodation. Presbyopia is needing to wear reading glasses after the age of 42 years of age. Usually, these exercises are done for a condition called convergence insufficiency.

Focus on a pencil tip held an arm’s length away. Focus on something far away to relax your eyes. Repeat this cycle for two minutes. Slowly bring the pencil tip closer until it is about 3 inches away from your face or the tip becomes blurred. Don’t take your eyes off the pencil tip. As we bring the pencil tip closer the tip will get blurred. Try and focus on it till it becomes clear again. You may also start seeing two tips. Again, focus on the tip and try and make it one. Move the pencil back to its original position with your arm stretched out as much as possible. Repeat this for at least ten minutes, and several times a day. It is possible that you feel a slight eye strain while doing these exercises.

5. Side-to-side movement

Moving the eyes from side to side also is said to relax the eyes and improve vision. For this, after sitting in a relaxed position, you must shift your eyes to the right, looking at something at least six feet away. After holding your gaze for a few seconds move your eyes to the other extreme. You must do this for three to five minutes, and then reverse the order of your gaze, starting first from a left-extreme gaze and moving to the right, for another three to five minutes. This also must be performed repeatedly.

How to reduce eye (specs) numbers with home remedies?

Eye power is present because of the anatomical shape of the eye. It is highly unlikely that home remedies (apart from exercises) will change or reverse the anatomical shape of the eye. It is however proven that there are various vitamins and minerals that will help different aspects of eye health. In fact, not only for the eye, these vitamins and minerals help with general well-being and also help in various body functions thus improving the overall quality of life. 

In most cases, experts seem to at least propose it is better to get one’s nutrients from the diet. As a result, it is better to prioritize your overall diet than supplement intake.

Vitamins A, C, and E, as well as the mineral zinc, contain antioxidants that can help prevent Age-related macular degeneration. It’s a condition in which the macula — the part of the eye that controls central vision — deteriorates.

Food sources for these important nutrients include a variety of colourful vegetables and fruits, such as:

• Vitamin A (carrots, sweet potatoes, and cantaloupes) – If there is VIT A deficiency then one may experience night vision problems.
• Vitamin C (oranges, peaches, and tomatoes)
• Vitamin E (avocadoes, almonds, and sunflower seeds)

A few other nutrients are also keys to improving eyesight. Among them are lutein and zeaxanthin, which are carotenoids found in the retina. You can also find them in leafy green vegetables, broccoli, zucchini, and eggs.

Lutein and zeaxanthin can also be taken in supplement form. These carotenoids help protect the macula by improving pigment density in that part of the eye and absorbing ultraviolet and blue light.

If you are feeling that your eye muscles are weakening, you should try out this home remedy -Make green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, etc., a part of your daily diet. These vegetables are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin – the healthy antioxidants that prevent free radicals in the eyes.

There is an age-old Ayurvedic remedy that is instrumental in improving eyesight. All you need is a mixture of 7 almonds, 5-gram fennel seeds, and 5-gram mishri that are crushed into a powder. You should have one teaspoon of this powder every day with cold milk at night. Regular consumption of this powder helps in improving eyesight, thereby reducing the power of your spectacles.

Omega 3 fatty acids are another group of nutrients which help with the lubrication of the front surface of the eye and thus prevent dry eyes.

Eye drops to get rid of reading glasses

Very recently the United States Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first eye drop to improve age-related near-vision. Vuity is an eye drop solution that you can apply to have better vision throughout the day and you will no longer need your reading glasses everywhere you go. The drop is most effective in people aged 40 to 55 who struggle to see clearly when performing daily tasks—such as reading your phone or computer screen.

How it works

It is recommended to apply one drop to each eye daily. The drops start working 15 minutes after application and the effects last for about six hours.

Vuity is a formulation of a well-known drug known as pilocarpine. This drug is used in the treatment of glaucoma. Researchers used technology to allow for the eye drop to rapidly adjust to the pH of the tear film. Vuity reduces pupil size and thus near- and intermediate vision improves, while distance vision is retained.

This is a very recent development. Because this drug has been used in the past for other eye conditions we know the side effects of this drug. It may cause some eye strain or heaviness but nothing serious or long-lasting.

How to reduce eye number by practising yoga?

Eye yoga is also practised claiming to reduce eye number. Most of the eye exercises described above are also practised in yoga. As explained earlier there is no scientific evidence to suggest that these exercises are successful. On a practical note when we see patients who are undergoing eye yoga exercises to reduce their eye number, we do not see any reduction. 

Yoga in general focuses on relaxation techniques and breathing. These rituals are proven beyond doubt to benefit the individual’s well-being. In fact, one may argue that in today’s world yoga, breathing and meditation is the need of the hour. So yes, there is surely a feel-good factor when people practice yoga or meditation.

Eye Solutions sees a significant number of pediatric patients. Some of our parents are not happy that their children have glasses and start eye yoga with the hope that eye numbers will reduce. Out of all these parents, come visit us again to confirm if the eye number has reduced. We have not seen a single child whose eye number has reduced because of eye yoga. However, we also have not seen a single child who has been harmed by eye yoga in any way.

Eye number and diabetes

High blood sugar in diabetics is known to change eye power. Because the eye power can change again because of varying blood sugar levels it becomes impractical to keep making glasses of the latest eye power. 

Diabetes also causes diabetic retinopathy in the eye which is an irreversible blinding disease of the eye. It thus becomes important to keep your blood sugar levels under strict control.

How to remove/ decrease eye number with LASIK

LASIK eye surgery is a procedure in which a laser reshapes the front surface of the cornea. This reshaping helps the person to see clearly without glasses. There are a few types of LASIK eye surgery. 

LASIK uses cutting-edge technology and this makes the procedure very safe. The procedure is very quick and the most popular type of LASIK in which a flap is created hardly causes any discomfort to the patient.

Contact Eye Solutions

At Eye Solutions, we recommend patients do some eye exercises for eye conditions related to binocular vision. We have not found enough evidence to suggest to patients exercises to reduce their eye number. For those who are very keen to get rid of glasses, we suggest LASIK eye surgery. This procedure gets rid of glasses very quickly.

Frequently asked questions

Can you reduce your eye number fast?

While we all wish for that, there is really no way to reduce your eye number fast naturally or by performing eye exercises. LASIK eye surgery would help you get rid of your number completely very fast and that is something that you can consider if you are keen to be glass free.

How can I get a 20/20 vision?

You can get 20/20 vision by wearing glasses or contact lenses or by getting LASIK done if you want 20/20 vision and not wear glasses. The chances of your number completely going away only by performing exercises is very slim.

How to reduce eye specs number?

There is no evidence in the scientific world that eye specs number can be reduced. Exercises or eye yoga have not been shown to really reduce eye power. At the same time, ophthalmologists agree that they don’t harm the eyes in any way. One is most welcome to try these exercises and hope for the best.

Can we remove the specs permanently?

Yes, you can.  Unfortunately, this may not be possible with eye exercises alone. You may have to undergo a procedure called LASIK eye surgery which would get rid of your specs.