Spending hours glued to a screen can leave you with sore, twitching eyes and blurred vision.
But a short ‘eye yoga’ session could help ease the strain and improve your eyesight — according to Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney and legions of devotees on TikTok.
The exercises, which Sir Paul, 82, has long claimed helped his vision, aim to strengthen the eye muscles.
Routines online suggest regularly rotating the eyes and moving them from side to side or focusing on something close by and then something far away.
But experts often warn they aren’t convinced these strange-looking workouts will work and claim there is no scientific evidence behind them. So what’s the truth?
TikTok account dedicated to ‘face yoga’ @allyoucanface, which has more than a million followers, claims eye yoga can ‘wake up’ our ‘tired and fatigued’ eye muscles
@allyoucanface argues we are ‘barely using our eyes to the maximum’ when we are staring at a screen which can ‘inhibit blood circulation’ making us look less awake and fresh
Sir Paul can be seen demonstrating his eye yoga routine, in a video recently shared to TikTok by social media user @oobujoobu, who has 21.3k followers.
The pop legend was taught eye yoga during a trip to India in the late 2000s and has said the practice has stopped him needing to wear glasses.
‘The idea is in the eyes we have muscles just like everywhere else and we don’t use them well enough.
‘We sit at computers or watch TV all day or read books, so you are basically just using one set of muscles,’ he said in the video.
The eye yoga exercises involve looking up, to the centre and down for three sets held for three seconds, then doing the same but looking side to side, while keeping your head straight.
He then explains you need to look diagonally before looking at your nose three times and circling your eyes.
Paul McCartney can be seen demonstrating his eye yoga routine, in a video shared to TikTok by social media user @oobujoobu, who has 21.3k followers
The star claims he was taught during a trip to India in the late 2000s how to do eye exercises and said if you repeat them regularly ‘it is supposed to be very good for your eyes’
Sir Paul goes on to say he was told to look at something in the distance, such as a tree, for three seconds before looking at the lines on your hand and repeating.
And he’s not the only one praising the technique, with social media users sharing how different eye exercises can help relieve strain.
TikTok account dedicated to ‘face yoga’ @allyoucanface, which has more than a million followers, claims eye yoga can ‘wake up’ our ‘tired and fatigued’ eye muscles.
In a video the social media user suggests people focus on their index finger as they move it closer and away from their nose to ‘increase and improve your vision’.
She also urges people to move their eyes side to side, up and down and in circles, like Paul McCartney’s tips.
Social media user @pouyayoga, who has two million followers on TikTok, suggests doing these simple eye exercises will help keep you eyes ‘healthy’
In the video, he suggests the moves if completed every few hours will provide ‘big relief in how your eyes feel’ if you have been starring at a screen
@allyoucanface argues we are ‘barely using our eyes to the maximum’ when we are staring at a screen which can ‘inhibit blood circulation’ making us look less awake and fresh.
Similarly, in another video posted by social media user @pouyayoga, who has two million followers on TikTok, it suggests doing these simple eye exercises will help keep your eyes ‘healthy’.
He also recommends an eye workout routine that involves looking side to side and in circular motions as well as blinking.
In the video, he suggests the moves if completed every few hours will provide ‘big relief in how your eyes feel’ if you have been starring at a screen.
‘Eye yoga can be helpful for relieving tired eyes, particularly for those who spend long hours in front of digital screens,’ Tina Patel, contact lens optician at Feel Good Contacts, told MailOnline.
She added: ‘However, there is no scientific evidence to support the use of eye yoga for treating glaucoma, dry eyes or cataracts.’
For those suffering from digital eye strain, eye yoga is an easy and quick way to give relief to tired or overworked eyes, she explains.
But warns: ‘Just remember to remove your glasses or contact lenses before practising eye yoga.’
Researchers have explored whether exercises such as these actually improve your eye health, but found no evidence these moves will improve your eyesight or slow the progression of conditions such as glaucoma, which erodes the optic nerve.
One 2012 study that evaluated the effectiveness of these exercises found that for people with astigmatism and refraction errors showed little to no objective improvement.
Another 2018 study published in the International Journal of Yoga suggested that eye yoga could help bring down intraocular pressure inside the eye.
This could potentially slow down the progression of glaucoma, but there have been no trials to prove this theory.
However, there is some evidence the technique could relieve symptoms of eye strain.
A 2016 study of 60 nursing students who completed eight weeks of eye yoga, found the eye routines stimulated and strengthened the muscles and helped the students remain focused and brought down stress levels.
Specsavers Clinical Services Director Giles Edmonds said: ‘There are some eye exercises which can help to reduce eye strain but we’d encourage people to be wary about eye yoga as there is currently no scientific evidence that it helps your vision.
‘Eye yoga will not improve your eyesight or help manage or reverse any eye conditions you may have.’
Instead of ‘eye yoga’ optician recommend practicing the 20:20:20 rule if you are suffering screen related eye strain.
This technique is recommended for all screen users. It simply means you should take a small 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.
