Tunnel Vision

Given that vision is the most important of the five senses, healthy aging means the ability to maintain your functional vision as you continue to age. One of the problems of the aging eye is the development of tunnel vision.

Tunnel vision is impaired peripheral vision. Your peripheral vision is critical to your everyday life, such as driving, walking, and engaging in activities at work and at home. Peripheral vision is side vision. When you were young, you had sharp peripheral vision. Unfortunately, as you grow older, you tend to lose much of your peripheral vision due to concentration with a fixed gaze straight in front of you. The good news is that you can improve and enhance your peripheral vision.

1.     Hold two pencils, one in each hand, about 12 inches in front of your eyes.

2.  Look straight ahead, past the pencils, into the distance. It is important that you only notice the pencils, but without directly looking at them.

3. Now, you move your pencils in different directions, such as clockwise, anticlockwise, downwards and upwards.

4.    Continue to look into the distance, while noticing the movements of the pencils.

It is important that you allow your side vision to come into focus naturally without effort. Practice your peripheral vision while you walk, drive, read, or engage in any physical activity, with your eyes looking straight ahead of you. Practice your peripheral vision as often as you can to avoid developing tunnel vision that may affect your healthy aging.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau