From Pickleball to Pilates: How Popular Fitness Trends Impact Your Vision

Fitness is constantly evolving, even while popular weight-loss methods like GLP-1s dominate the headlines. Over the past decade, recreational and competitive activities such as pickleball, run clubs, and Pilates have become popular ways to stay in shape and meet new people.

But did you know that some of these popular fitness trends can improve your eye health, with proper precautions?

How does exercise benefit your eye health?

Exercise can improve more than just your muscle tone or endurance. By exercising regularly throughout the week, you can:

Reduce digital eye strain

Extended time in front of a computer or on your smartphone can cause eye strain, dry eye, and headaches. The more time you spend away from blue-light-emitting screens, the less likely you are to experience these symptoms.

Increase blood flow

Proper blood flow is necessary for good eye health. By engaging in an invigorating game of pickleball or enjoying a run on the greenway, your circulatory system, including your eyes, benefits greatly.

Reduce your risk of eye disease

Many common eye diseases are associated with a lack of consistent exercise, including:

• Diabetic retinopathy
• Macular degeneration
• Glaucoma

Adding Pilates, HYROX, or running to your week can help reduce your risk of developing or worsening these conditions.

What precautions should you take while exercising?

However, fitness does come with inherent risks if not performed properly. To avoid major injuries and protect your eye health, you should:

Wear protective eyewear

Just like tennis, pickleball can result in black eyes or corneal abrasions. Wearing protective goggles can keep your eyes safe during an intense game.

Clean your equipment

Even if you wash your hands frequently, you are still likely to encounter germs and bacteria on your exercise equipment — especially in group classes. Be sure to wipe down your Pilates machine and yoga mat before and after using them.

Avoid touching your eyes

Similarly, sweat and hair products can drip down to your eyes and cause red eye, dry eye, and potential infection. Try to avoid rubbing your eyes with your hands if you sweat and use a headband to keep your brow dry.

Treat your seasonal allergies

Outdoor fitness like run clubs can leave you sniffling and sneezing from seasonal allergies. Itchy eyes can also occur, leading to more eye touching and more chances for infection. Using non-drowsy antihistamines can help along with immunotherapy.

What should you do if you do need eye care?

Even with the best intentions and a routine workout schedule, eye infections, injuries, and disease can happen.

“Exercise has so many benefits such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow, and reducing risks for Type II Diabetes,” says CEENTA cataract surgeon Payal Patel, MD. “These benefits help promote eye health. However, sometimes our eyes affect our ability to participate in activities that we enjoy.

If your eye health is preventing you from enjoying the latest fitness trends, CEENTA’s board-certified ophthalmologists can help with surgical and nonsurgical treatment methods.

To get started, schedule your next eye appointment with Dr. Patel at CEENTA Matthews or Monroe online or through myCEENTAchart.

This blog is for informational purposes only. For specific medical questions, please consult your physician.