These structures have a value and a responsibility of primary importance in statics and posture, but - due to negligence or lack of knowledge - they are often neglected.
Visual training is therefore part of "self-care" in a broader sense than mere sports, aesthetic and functional training, perfectly marrying the innovative concept of total functionality; let's see better what it is.
Eye gymnastics or visual training in total functionality
The concept of fitness, born in the last decades of the twentieth century, has been progressively replaced by that of wellness (well-being, psychophysical balance), instead characteristic of the millennial passage.
Today, however, we already hear about a further different, more evolved principle, which implies cognitive and behavioral adaptations necessary to evolve physically and psychologically to express the maximum potential in terms of well-being, health and athletic prowess: total functionality. Taking care of your body, not only with purely aesthetic purposes but also from a "perspective of functionality and physical and psycho-emotional well-being, outlines a completely different attitude of the average user compared to the past." For this reason, ocular gymnastics can be considered a latest generation practice.
In the modern concepts of physical training, it is more and more protracted towards the postural situation of the subject and on any interference towards the statics of an individual that can compromise the overall physical integrity.
The sensory information that comes from the eyes has an extraordinary correlation with human posture. The interaction of all the ocular musculature allows the eye to look in all directions and relate the body to its surroundings.
It should be noted that the curves of the spine in the frontal but also in the sagittal plane adapt to maintain the horizontality of the gaze. Consequently, if a visual problem arises, the body adapts to compensate for this deficit.
Vision remains among the main parameters of reference in human statics. In 1985 Herman et al. Demonstrated that sight is the main source of kinesthetic sensation, that is, the ability to perceive movement. The ocular system therefore allows you to code the movement, giving the sensation of the environment in which you are located (wide, narrow, short, long, low or high spaces); for this reason it is a controller of distances and surveys of the planes in space .
, despite their small size, they must always be well balanced between them to avoid incurring predominantly one over the other. If, for example, in the knee joint the hamstring muscles are stronger, rigid and retracted than their antagonists ( quadriceps), the knee will be subjected to a joint imbalance which will pose the joint in slight flexion (flexum), with all the damage and postural alterations that arise from it, due to the work of complex mechanisms of myofascial chain interactions.The same thing can happen in the eye muscles; the prevalence of one over its "antagonist" can compromise the visual balance of the eye; it is as if the strong muscle "pulled" from its side, going so far as to alter the visual perception. In this case it is part of functional visual problems and it is often essential to consult a specialist to rule out "ophthalmic pathologies"; the specialist in question is, therefore, the ophthalmologist, who with appropriate optometric and / or instrumental evaluations assesses the severity or otherwise of the dysfunction and will be able to recommend a possible treatment of the disorders.
Importance of ocular evaluation
However, there are some simple tests that can be performed to evaluate an "abnormality in the ocular musculature, giving us a clue to a possible triggering cause - fertile ground for a" postural interference.
In this case we speak of postural dysfunction of a descending type, therefore originating from above.
It should be remembered that in posturology even the slightest alterations can have repercussions that are disproportionate to their extent and manifest their imbalance even at great distances.
These concepts find wide space among children and adolescents who, due to wrong attitude or simple "vices", assume comfortable but deleterious positions throughout the day; this is also and above all true for the tensions and stress that often give themselves to the eyes.
After all, the technology favors the constriction of the field of view to less than 50 cm - mobile phones, computers, portable video games, smartwatches, etc.
It should also be remembered that the eye muscles are also active during sleep in the REM phase, which stands for Rapid Eyes Moviments, or the rapid movement of the eyes.
The great movement capacity of the cervical spine allows the head, and therefore the eyes, to be oriented in all directions but without these also working diagonally or on the lateral-lateral plane.Due to the oculocephalopower reflex, which puts the second and third cervical vertebrae (C2-C3) in close relationship with the ocular nervous structures, the eyes can be responsible for dizziness and feelings of loss.
In the field of personal training and physical education, one should always try to educate subjects to a healthy lifestyle.
In the literature there are tests of practical approach and easily proposed that enable those who deal with posture to understand a postural problem of ocular origin.
The interpretations of these tests can also be useful for those who do not deal exclusively with posture but work in the field of sport-fitness or physical education, thus having the possibility of directing their client-student to a possible specialist visit.
or a piece of cardboard.
At this point there may be three cases:
- In the first case, the eye that was covered when it is discovered does not show important movements and remains fixed; we are in the presence of "orthophoria" that we could define ocular balance.
- In the second case, the eye that was covered when it is uncovered presents a return movement towards the nose, this means that when covered it was deviated towards the temples; we are in the presence of an "exophoric deviation", therefore an eye that deviates laterally.
- In the third case, the eye that was covered when it is uncovered presents a return movement towards the temples and this means that when it was covered it was deviated towards the nose; we are in the presence of an "exophoric deviation", therefore an eye that deviates medially .
The tests must be repeated on both sides and more than once to confirm a functional problem.
Proximity Point of Convergence (PPC) Test
Another easy to apply test is the "Proximity Point of Convergence Test" (PPC).
In this procedure, the subject is invited to focus on a pen or other object at a distance of about 40 cm and slowly brought it towards the tip of the nose, observing the behavior of the eyes when they converge towards the root of the nose.
It may happen that at some point, during the approach, an eye turns sideways and is unable to maintain the view, hence the convergence. This point where the eye deviates is called the "breaking point" and should never be greater than 6-7 cm; any breaking point greater than this distance should be investigated by a specialist.
The pen is then brought back to the starting point by evaluating the "recovery point", that is the point where the eye recovers the view. This should happen no further than 2-3 cm from the breaking point.
o of the physical educator will therefore be to inform the tested subject of a possible ocular interference. This is because, always and in any case, the eyes must have due attention; in fact, according to William Horatio Bates (1860-1931) - American doctor who devised a method for treating visual defects, not recognized by mainstream medicine - every visual problem is due to strain or efforts to see better.His method proposes a gradual and slow recovery of what can be defined as the "correct ocular posture", through a progressive "re-education" of the orbicular muscles, re-establishing the relaxation necessary to eliminate the "tension".
Many doctors oppose Bates's theory, defining it as unreliable (a duty to report), while the supporters of this method claim that they can solve even significant problems. In the wake of this system, several have found advantages with what is called ocular gymnastics or, for supporters of Anglo-Saxon terms, visual training.
With ocular gymnastics we try to restore that "equilibrium of the ocular muscles put to the test in the hours of work or leisure.
The ocular musculature, in structural terms, has the same characteristics as all the other skeletal muscles of the human body. Basically, there is no difference between an eye muscle and for example a hamstring - apart from the innervation for the number of motor units.
Training the muscles against resistance leads to an adaptation of that structure which in return will become stronger and more trophic. We can use the isometric tension of a muscle by fixing a specific point and exploit the counter-resistance of its antagonist.
The exercises can be performed in front of a mirror comfortably seated and staring at one's own reflected eye image.
Supervision by an ophthalmologist or orthoptist is the safest guideline for practicing these exercises. So it is a good idea to start sessions with a specialist and then continue your eye training alone.
Useful exercises
There are several exercises you can practice:
- the first exercise consists in fixing a point on one's face such as the forehead, nose, mouth, etc., and lowering the chin as far as possible and then lifting the chin while keeping the gaze fixed, same thing towards the right side and then the left . You can also use different angles and train those positions where you have greater difficulty. So the gaze is fixed and the head moves in all directions. Repeat several times.
- The second exercise consists in keeping the head still and fixing different points in space. In the first phase it can be fixed upwards, downwards, right and left and then in the high and low angles. Repeat several times.
- The third exercise consists in fixing a pen held in front of the eyes at a distance of about 20-25 cm and in the "other hand" another pen in front of the nose. We will start by fixing the farthest pen and approach it until the two points match. Repeat several times.
- The fourth exercise consists in closing and opening the eyelids quickly for about 15-20 seconds. Then keep your eyes closed for a few seconds, tightening them vigorously and reopen them keeping them wide open for a few seconds. Repeat several times.
More imagination can be used to create fun exercises, especially for children and adolescents who spend many hours in front of the television or computer.
Make visual training a fun game to be repeated several times throughout the day or during physical education lessons in schools.
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