Exercise for Eye Health
My husband and I went to the ophthalmologist today for eye exams for the first time in longer than I’d like to admit.
What I thought would be a pretty general, if not downright uninteresting, appointment ended up being very eye-opening (couldn’t resist the pun).
When the doctor was examining my husband’s eyes, she asked “Do you exercise?” Then she gave him the compliment of the century by following up with, “Actually, I can tell that you do.” It turns out, though, she wasn’t referencing his impressive physique. She meant she could tell that he exercises by his eye pressure measurement. What??
Being in the fitness industry, I was dying to know more, so I prodded. She explained that there is a normal range for eye pressure measurements. (According to this article on WebMD: “Eye pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Normal eye pressure ranges from 10-21 mm Hg.”) She said that when you see a measurement that is quite low for a patient’s age group, it can often be attributed to regular exercise.
When it was my turn, my measurement was 12 mm Hg. “Like a teenager,” she said. Ha! Well, if exercise can keep any part of me as young as a teenager, I’m in.
A notable eye disease that is related to high eye pressure is glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness (according to this article on medicinenet.com). My doctor told us that elevated eye pressure can be treated with medication. However, she made the point that regular exercise can decrease your eye pressure by 2-3 points. With medication, they can only hope for a drop that large.
Yet another example of a serious condition that can be treated, and prevented, sans drugs, with regular exercise (proper nutrition helps too, not surprisingly).
So, if you needed another excuse to get up and move your body today, do it for your eyes! And PSA, go get your eyes checked too.
p.s. For my yogis and yoginis – the reason why you sometimes hear your instructor say that students with eye issues should not invert is that gravity can cause an increase in eye pressure when you are upside-down. The more you know…
