“None of the eye muscles need strengthening—they’re all strong enough to do the job they need to do,” says Jeffery Anshel, O.D., FAAO. “For example, the muscles on the outside of the eye, that move the eyes up and down and left and right are 200 times stronger than they need to be to move an eyeball.”

So eye exercises—or more accurately eye techniques—are intended to help the eyes focus (aka control the muscles), stay flexible (move from looking up close to afar), and coordinate (which actually occurs in the brain). 

Eye exercises can be useful 1for those with strained eyes (usually from looking at something closely for long periods), light sensitivity, motion sensitivity, and more. 

So we tapped into three experts for their most recommended eye exercises.