Superior rectus

Looks like

A strap muscle above the eyeball, running from a tendon ring at the back of the eye socket to the top of the eyeball.

What it does

Turns the eye upward, most strongly when the eye looks outward, and helps roll it inward.

Keeping it well

Powered by the oculomotor nerve. Sudden double vision needs urgent assessment; thyroid eye disease can also stiffen eye muscles.

Related conditions

• Blepharitis & styes
• Botulism
• Cataract
• Conjunctivitis
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Hyperthyroidism & Graves' disease
• Keratitis (corneal infection and ulcer)
• Keratoconus
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscular dystrophy
• Myasthenia gravis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Presbyopia
• Retinal detachment
• Retinoblastoma
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Sjögren's disease
• Squint & lazy eye
• Tetanus
• Uveitis & iritis