Like other muscle groups, the more you use your eyelid muscles the stronger they are, and the better they will protect your eyes. I recommend to my patients that they do “boot camp” eyelid exercises. All you have to do is squeeze your eyes shut so that you do not see any light and hold that tight squeeze. Think back to when you were 5 years old and you were pretending to be a sleep when your mother came to check on you. You squeezed your eyes closed so hard that you couldn’t figure out how she knew you were actually awake. Now before opening your eyes, relax your eyelid muscles to a natural closed eye, and then gently open them. Repeat this at least three times every twenty minutes. Think 20/20. Twenty minutes of work, twenty seconds of relaxation exercises. Now pretend your mother is in the room with you, what else are you going to do? Right, sit up straight, no slouching. Poor posture does create more neck muscle fatigue, and poor circulation which affects your dry eyes. Slouching also creates bad “photo op” of which your friends and family will take advantage of and post on Facebook for the world to see. By Richard Hector, MD
