Why are regular eye exams so important?
- Posted on: Apr 15 2021
Your eyes are the window to your health, which is why it’s important that you get regular eye examinations. Even if you think you have perfectly healthy eyes and normal vision, regular eye exams will help you maintain the health of your eyes and alert your doctor to changes that can be corrected easily or conditions that need to be treated early before they cause permanent damage.
What happens during an eye exam?
Your eye doctor will check your eyes for common eye diseases and run a variety of tests, including a visual acuity test, which evaluates how clearly each eye is seeing. Your doctor will use reading charts to evaluate your vision.
Preliminary tests evaluate depth perception, peripheral or side vision, color vision, eye muscle movements and how well the pupils react to light. Keratometry is a test that tells your eye doctor the curvature of the cornea, which helps with accurate contact lens fitting.
An eye focusing test will show your doctor how well your eyes focus, move and work together. This will help them see problems that are keeping your eyes from working as they should. Your doctor may use eye drops during a refraction test to keep your eyes from changing focus while determining the lens power needed to improve nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
How often do I need to see an eye doctor?
Adults ages 18 to 60 should be getting a comprehensive eye exam every two years. If you are 60 or older, you should have an eye exam at least annually to detect age-related eye problems. If you have significant health issues such as diabetes, a thyroid disease or high blood pressure, or if you’re experiencing blurry vision or a loss of vision, you may need to see the eye doctor more frequently.
Regular eye exams are important to maintaining the health of your eyes, addressing and correcting problems with vision, and recognizing diseases at their earliest, most treatable stages. To schedule your next eye exam, contact our Everett office at (425) 259-2020.
Posted in: Routine Eye Care
