Do eye exercises help myopic people?

Wiki eHow shows How to Exercise Your Eyes to "keep them healthy and take away eye strain."

Currently, there is no cure for shortsightedness (myopia) and overcorrection with glasses can make it worse. There are popular books on the market claiming that eye exercises alone can improve myopia but I have not found any evidence about it. On the other hand, Chinese authors claim that acupuncture helps myopic children.

I know that Dr. RW thinks that most alternative medicine is a form of scam but in the absence of effective treatment for myopia, it may be time to conduct studies involving alternative treatment methods.

Alternative medicine seems to be gaining traction recently. There is a PBS documentary featuring several medical directors of alternative treatment centers. One of them is Tanya Edwards who is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative Medicine.


How to Exercise Your Eyes - Howcast | July 23, 2010.

References:

How to Exercise Your Eyes. Wiki eHow.
Myopia. Clinical review. BMJ 2002;324:1195-1199 (18 May)
Shortsightedness: A Review of Causes and Interventions. AFP 9/2002.
What does the science say about acupuncture? Consumer Reports health blog, 12/2007.
Image source: OpenClipArt.org.

Related reading:

Vision Correction Lens Works from the Inside Out. Cleveland Clinic News, 03/2008.
The Recent History of Acupuncture. Edzard Ernst, MD. Am Journal of Medicine, Volume 121, Issue 12, Pages 1027-1028 (December 2008).

Scientists identified a gene that causes short-sightedness - RASGRF1 http://goo.gl/cATk

Acupuncture May Help Lazy Eye - Results as Good as Patching
Does traditional Chinese medicine have a place in the health system? http://goo.gl/RH04o
Impact of Pediatric Vision Disorders in Adulthood - impacts health, self-perception, educational attainment, job choices http://goo.gl/y1EHg

Self adjustable spectacles. Which idea is likely to make the biggest impact on healthcare by 2020? BMJ http://goo.gl/sKnrS
People with low vision can drive with 'bioptics' -  small telescopes mounted on eyeglass frames  http://goo.gl/sUIQh and http://j.mp/qEJZv7
20-20-20 rule: For every 20 minutes of reading a screen take a 20-second eye break, look at something beyond 20 feet. NYTimes, 2012.