Spending hours glued to a screen can leave you with sore, shaky eyes and blurry vision.
But a short session of “eye yoga” could help relieve tension and improve eyesight, according to Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney and legions of devotees on TikTok.
The exercises, which Sir Paul, 82, has long claimed have helped improve his vision, are aimed at strengthening the eye muscles.
Online routines suggest regularly rotating your eyes and moving them from side to side or focusing on something close and then something far away.
But experts often warn that they are not convinced that these strange-looking exercises work and claim there is no scientific evidence to support them. So what is the truth?
The TikTok account dedicated to ‘face yoga’ @allyoucanface, which has over a million followers, claims that eye yoga can ‘wake up’ our ‘tired and fatigued’ eye muscles
@allyoucanface argues that we “barely use our eyes to their full potential” when looking at a screen, which can “inhibit blood circulation,” making us look less awake and refreshed.
Sir Paul can be seen demonstrating his eye yoga routine, in a video recently shared on TikTok by social media user @oobujoobu, who has 21,300 followers.
The pop legend was taught eye yoga during a trip to India in the late 2000s and said the practice allowed her to stop having to wear glasses.
‘The idea is that we have muscles in our eyes like everything else and we don’t use them well enough.
“We sit in front of computers or watch TV or read books all day, so we’re basically only using one set of muscles,” he said in the video.
Yoga exercises for the eyes involve looking up, to the center and down for three sets held for three seconds, then doing the same but looking from side to side, while keeping the head straight.
He then explains that you have to look diagonally before looking at your nose three times and making circles with your eyes.
Paul McCartney can be seen demonstrating his eye yoga routine, in a video shared on TikTok by social media user @oobujoobu, who has 21.3k followers.
The star claims she was taught during a trip to India in the late 2000s how to do eye exercises and said that if she repeats them regularly “it’s supposed to be really good for the eyes.”
Sir Paul goes on to say that he was told to look at something in the distance, such as a tree, for three seconds before looking at the lines on his hand and repeating.
And he’s not the only one praising the technique: social media users are sharing how different eye exercises can help relieve tension.
The “face yoga” TikTok account @allyoucanface, which has over a million followers, claims that eye yoga can “wake up” our “tired and fatigued” eye muscles.
In one video, the social media user suggests people focus on their index finger as they move it toward and away from their nose to “magnify and improve their vision.”
He also encourages people to move their eyes from side to side, up and down and in circles, like Paul McCartney’s advice.
Social media user @pouyayoga, who has two million followers on TikTok, suggests that doing these simple eye exercises will help keep your eyes “healthy.”
In the video, he suggests that the movements, if done every few hours, will provide “a huge relief to the sensation in your eyes” if you’ve been staring at a screen.
@allyoucanface argues that we “barely use our eyes to their full potential” when looking at a screen, which can “inhibit blood circulation,” making us look less awake and refreshed.
Similarly, in another video posted by social media user @pouyayoga, who has two million followers on TikTok, he suggests that doing these simple eye exercises will help keep your eyes “healthy.”
He also recommends an eye exercise routine that involves looking back and forth in circular motions, as well as blinking.
In the video, he suggests that if you do these movements every few hours, it will provide “a huge relief to the sensation you feel in your eyes” if you’ve been staring at a screen.
“Eye yoga can be helpful in relieving tired eyes, especially for those who spend long hours in front of digital screens,” Tina Patel, contact lens optician at Feel Good Contacts, told MailOnline.
He added: “However, there is no scientific evidence to support the use of eye yoga to treat glaucoma, dry eyes or cataracts.”
For those suffering from digital eye strain, eye yoga is a quick and easy way to relieve tired or strained eyes, she explains.
But she warns: ‘Remember to remove your glasses or contact lenses before practicing eye yoga.’
Researchers have explored whether exercises like these actually improve eye health, but found no evidence that these movements improve eyesight or slow the progression of diseases like glaucoma, which erodes the optic nerve.
One 2012 study Those who evaluated the effectiveness of these exercises found that people with astigmatism and refractive errors showed little or no objective improvement.
Another 2018 study Published in the International Journal of Yoga suggested that eye yoga could help reduce intraocular pressure within the eye.
This could potentially slow the progression of glaucoma, but no trials have been conducted to test this theory.
However, there is some evidence that the technique may alleviate symptoms of eye strain.
A 2016 study Of 60 nursing students who completed eight weeks of eye yoga, they found that the eye routines stimulated and strengthened muscles and helped students stay focused and reduce stress levels.
Giles Edmonds, clinical services director at Specsavers, said: ‘There are some eye exercises that can help reduce eye strain, but we advise people to be cautious with eye yoga as there is currently no scientific evidence that it helps vision.
‘Eye yoga will not improve your eyesight or help you control or reverse any eye problems you may have.’
Instead of “eye yoga,” opticians recommend practicing the 20:20:20 rule if you suffer from screen-related eye strain.
This technique is recommended for all screen users. It simply means that you should take a short break every 20 minutes to focus your eyes on something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
This will help your eye muscles relax and reduce the likelihood of digital eye strain, experts say.
