Blinking Exercises

Blinking Sequence

Close – Pause – Pause – Squeeze – Open – Relax

1. Read the blinking sequence and follow.  It is very important to do the squeeze step to stretch the blinking muscle (orbicularis oculi) so you can make complete contact between the upper and lower lids. When you are doing the exercises correctly you should feel no movement under your fingers except when you squeeze.

2. If you are unsure that you are doing them correctly, hold your fingers at the corners (lateral canthi) of your eyes.  If you feel any movement under your fingers, you are “scrunching” your eyes by using your defense muscles that run along the side of your head.

3. Blinking can be very task-dependent. For example, if you spend a lot of time on the computer, you are probably blinking much less frequently and might want to post a copy of the blinking exercises nearby. Other pastimes that decrease the blink rate are reading, driving, video games, etc.

4. In addition to consciously incorporating the blinking exercises into your schedule (i.e. 5x/hour) you might want to think about something that you do often in your daily routine, such as answering phone calls, sending emails, drinking sip of water, applying lip gloss, etc. If you can condition yourself to make a full blink and give a little squeeze every time you perform this action to help make it a habit.