What to do if your eyes become bloodshot when you stand upside down

Some people see acrobats often performing handstands, so they practice handstands at home. Because they find that their eyes become bloodshot when doing handstands, they are very worried that their eyes will be damaged to a certain extent. In fact, bloodshot eyes are a normal physiological reaction when doing a handstand. This is caused by the blood in the whole body gathering to the head when doing a handstand. If you stand upside down for too long, it may cause increased intraocular pressure. If the eye congestion is severe and eye discomfort occurs after inversion, seek medical attention immediately.

1. Why do eyes become bloodshot when doing handstand?

When practicing handstand, blood from all over the body will converge to the head, causing the blood vessels in the head to expand, and the eyes and face to become congested.

2. Is standing upside down bad for your eyes?

There are disadvantages. Doing handstand exercises is harmful to the eyes, especially for too long, which may cause increased intraocular pressure, eye congestion and other symptoms.

3. What are the harms of inversion to the eyes?

When doing handstand exercises, the body becomes inverted, and blood circulation changes. Even if you only do it for a few minutes, the intraocular pressure and retinal artery pressure will increase significantly, and the values ​​can be twice or more than the normal level. The sharply increased intraocular pressure compresses the optic nerve, causing damage to the delicate optic papilla, which can cause temporary blurred vision, unclear vision, and red and swollen eyelids. In severe cases, it can lead to varying degrees of decreased vision in both eyes and retinal lesions in both eyes, causing visual distortion, visual field loss, glaucoma, retinal lesions, and even blindness.

4. What to do if your eyes are bloodshot when you stand upside down

1. Stop the handstand

When you do a handstand, more blood will flow to the brain, increasing the blood supply to the brain. At the same time, more blood will fill the blood vessels in the eyes. If some blood vessels are relatively fragile, they may rupture, causing bleeding and congestion of the eyes. Because the body can gradually absorb the blood, it is recommended to stop doing a handstand. Generally, you can return to normal after a few minutes of rest.

2. Cold compress

Cold compress can accelerate local blood vessel condensation and contraction, effectively reduce bleeding exudation and edema, relieve capillary bleeding, and at the same time can also play a role in local cryosene and analgesia. Specific method: Wrap ice cubes in a towel or use an ice bag to cool the skin around the eyes. The time should not be too long, about 5-10 minutes is enough.

3. See a doctor

If the eye congestion is severe after inversion and is accompanied by eye discomfort, you should seek medical attention and treatment promptly.

4. Can people with severe myopia do handstands?

Don't do it. Headstand can cause a sudden increase in intraocular pressure. If people with high myopia do headstand, they are at great risk of developing eye diseases such as retinal detachment, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Therefore, people with high myopia should not do exercises such as headstand that will increase intraocular pressure. In addition, surfing, diving, bungee jumping and other sports are also not suitable.