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Advice for Exercising with Glaucoma

Glaucoma is an eye condition that mainly affects the optic nerve. The optic nerve transfers visual information from the eye to the brain and allows us to see. While the exact cause is unknown, the damage that occurs can lead to irreparable sight loss. 

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with glaucoma or you’ve been living with the condition for a while, you might be wondering if exercise is still possible. Generally, if glaucoma is caught and managed early, patients can maintain a normal, healthy lifestyle and routine.

Here, we’ll guide you through the advice for exercising, including the dos and dont’s, and our tips for maintaining healthy eyes. 

Can you exercise with glaucoma?

Glaucoma patients are permitted to exercise as part of maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle. If you have any questions or concerns, it’s important to seek the advice of a healthcare professional following a diagnosis 

Benefits of exercising with glaucoma

Those living with glaucoma can benefit from certain types of exercises. Some advantages include:

  • Helping to maintain a healthy lifestyle: When included as part of your typical daily or weekly routine, exercise can help glaucoma patients keep up with a healthy lifestyle.
  • Lowering intraocular pressure (IOP): Low-intensity exercise can slightly lower the pressure in the eyes, which can help since glaucoma occurs when eye pressure becomes too high and damages the optic nerve.1
  • Helping manage other risk factors: Exercise can reduce the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, all of which can worsen glaucoma or complicate eye health.2 
  • Improving general quality of life: Living with glaucoma can cause stress due to fear of vision loss or changes to usual daily life. Exercise improves mood, particularly if the person did lots of exercise pre-diagnosis and would like to continue doing so.

Exercising with glaucoma: dos and don’ts

There are different types of exercises and considerations to take when diagnosed with glaucoma. 

Best exercises for glaucoma patients

Light to moderate aerobic exercise is recommended for patients with glaucoma because it can help lower IOP and improve blood flow to the optic nerve.1 

This is better than strenuous activity since it avoids the pressure spikes that come with these types of activities, alongside being gentler and more sustainable. These types of exercises should be easier to practice and incorporate into your routine without putting extra strain on the eyes. 

Some examples of light to moderate aerobic exercise include: 

Walking

Whether you go for a stroll around the park or walk on the treadmill, walking is a light aerobic activity that’s recommended.

Light jogging

Jogging at a slow or moderate pace, being sure to avoid straining, is also an activity that can be done outside or on a treadmill.

Swimming

Swimming is a gentle aerobic exercise. To keep the eyes protected, glaucoma patients can wear a diving mask, but need to avoid swimming goggles. It’s also best to avoid holding your breath excessively or diving upside down to help prevent a spike in IOP.3 

Bike riding

Cycling outdoors or on an indoor exercise bike at a light to moderate pace, without sprinting or uphill straining, is recommended. 

Exercises to avoid for glaucoma patients

Any exercises that may raise your eye pressure, reduce optic nerve blood flow, or increase the chance of eye injury should be avoided since these activities can worsen vision loss for some people with glaucoma.4

This includes exercise such as:

  • Heavy lifting
  • HIIT workouts
  • Contact sports (e.g. rugby)
  • Sports with excessive movements (e.g. Pilates or yoga)
  • Extreme sports (e.g. scuba diving or bungee jumping)

Tips for maintaining eye health whilst exercising with glaucoma

From wearing protective eyewear to keeping yourself hydrated, there are several things you can do to help maintain your eye health when exercising with glaucoma. Below are a few helpful tips. 

Wear protective eyewear

If required, wear protective eyewear like sunglasses or specially designed eyeglasses. This can be especially important when an activity could affect the eyes, such as exercising outdoors or swimming in chlorinated water.  

Regulate your breathing

Incorrect breathing techniques during exercise can build pressure in the eyes, increasing the risk of common conditions, like glaucoma.5 

Regulating your breathing can help reduce IOP, especially during exercise. For instance, research on the ‘365 breathing technique’, which means you’re taking slow, steady breaths three times a day, for six cycles per minute, for 5 minutes each session, suggests that it can reduce IOP, as well as help regulate stress, blood pressure and metabolism for those with glaucoma.6 

Stay hydrated

Keeping the eyes hydrated by regularly drinking water and using hydrating eye drops when exercising can help avoid symptoms of dry eye.7 

Use preservative-free eye care products to manage dry eye symptoms

Those using eye drops containing preservatives may experience dry eye symptoms, which may worsen while exercising.8 Dehydration, outside exercising and exposure to air conditioning in the gym can affect your eye health. 

By focusing on maintaining healthy, hydrated eyes, you can help manage dry eye symptoms.

At Théa, our range of preservative-free dry eye products can help, including:

  • Thealoz Duo®: Our preservative-free eye drops are gentle on the eyes, provide immediate and lasting comfort, and offer protection and hydration.9
  • Hyabak®: Suitable for contact lens wearers, Hyabak® dry eye drops can moisten and lubricate the eyes, protecting against the symptoms of dry eye.10 

Looking for further advice about glaucoma? Advanced Glaucoma Practitioner, Julia Phillips, offers more expert-led reading for glaucoma patients. 

Glaucoma patients can stay active, and it’s important to do so to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Our advice on living with glaucoma can help with everything from diagnosis to treatments and surgery. 

If you have any concerns or notice any changes in your eye health, please seek guidance from your eye care professional. 

References:

  1. Janicijevic D, Redondo B, Jiménez R, Garcia-Ramos A, Vera J. The intraocular pressure lowering-effect of low-intensity aerobic exercise is greater in fitter individuals: a cluster analysis. Res Sports Med. 2024 Jan-Jun;32(1):86-97. doi: 10.1080/15438627.2022.2079987. Epub 2022 May 24. PMID: 35608210.
  2. Williams PT, Franklin B. Vigorous exercise and diabetic, hypertensive, and hypercholesterolemia medication use. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Nov;39(11):1933-41. doi: 10.1249/mss.0b013e318145b337. PMID: 17986900; PMCID: PMC2818731.
  3. Kumar H, Taneja S. Commentary: Exercise and Intraocular Pressure: Friends or foes? Indian J Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec;70(12):4236-4237. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2258_22. PMID: 36453322; PMCID: PMC9940544.
  4. McMonnies CW. Intraocular pressure and glaucoma: Is physical exercise beneficial or a risk? J Optom. 2016 Jul-Sep;9(3):139-47. doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2015.12.001. Epub 2016 Jan 12. PMID: 26794458; PMCID: PMC4911456.
  5. Kulkarni A, Kamath Y, Shetty L, Kuzhuppilly NIR. The Effect of Specific Techniques of Nasal Breathing [Pranayama] on Intra-Ocular Pressure in Normal Individuals, a Randomized Trial. Clin Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec 9;16:4047-4054. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S389495. PMID: 36532821; PMCID: PMC9748160.
  6. Dada T, Gwal RS, Mahalingam K, Chandran DS, Angmo D, Gupta S, Velpandian T, Deepak KK. Effect of "365 Breathing Technique" on Intraocular Pressure and Autonomic Functions in Patients With Glaucoma: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Glaucoma. 2024 Mar 1;33(3):149-154. doi: 10.1097/IJG.0000000000002356. Epub 2024 Jan 9. PMID: 38194285.
  7. Sherwin, Justin & Kokavec, Jan & Thornton, Simon. (2015). Hydration, fluid regulation and the eye: In health and disease. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 43. 10.1111/ceo.12546.
  8. Walsh K, Jones L. The use of preservatives in dry eye drops. Clin Ophthalmol. 2019 Aug 1;13:1409-1425. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S211611. PMID: 31447543; PMCID: PMC6682755.
  9. Fondi K, Wozniak PA, Schmidl D, Bata AM, Witkowska KJ,Popa-Cherecheanu A, Schmetterer L, Garhöfer G. Effect of Hyaluronic Acid/Trehalose in Two Different Formulations on Signs and Symptoms in Patients with Moderate to Severe Dry Eye Disease. J Ophthalmol. 2018 Aug 1;2018:4691417.
  10. Hyabak Patient Information Leaflet 2024
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