Effects of yogic eye exercises for myopia among students

Abstract

Objective: To find the effectiveness of yogic eye exercises for myopia and to find whether there is reduction in eye power of individuals after sessions of yoga. Methodology: A randomized control trial was conducted. Ninety-six participants diagnosed as myopia by ophthalmologist were included in the study. Qualifying individuals were assigned into two groups using simple random sampling. Group A (n = 48) received yogic eye exercises with three sets of 10 repetitions, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, and continued with their use of spectacles as advised by the ophthalmologist. Group B (n = 48) was a control group that did not receive any exercises and continued with their use of spectacles as advised by the ophthalmologist. Pretreatment and posttreatment refractive power was taken with automated refractor as an outcome measure. Results: In the study group, the pretreatment right eye refractive power was −1.48 which reduced to −1.45, while in the left eye, it reduced from 1.58 to 1.53. Individuals in Group A showed meager improvement, but it was not statistically significant. In the control group, the power of −1.12 in the right eye and −1.21 in the left eye remained the same. Conclusion: This study concludes that there was change in refractive power in the experimental group after intervention of yogic eye exercises. This suggests that there are clinical benefits of yoga in treating individuals with myopia.