Protect Your Eyes with Eye Exams
Eye exams are an essential component of overall wellness. During a comprehensive eye exam, your doctor will assess much more than your visual acuity. He or she will test for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together and evaluate the health of your retina, optic nerve and retinal blood vessels.
Comprehensive eye exams actually offer an accurate indication of your overall health because ophthalmologists are often the first healthcare professionals to detect chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
Visit the Carolina Eyecare Physicians for your next eye exam.
When Should You Book an Eye Exam?
The American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends adults (18-64) have comprehensive eye exams:
- At least every 2 years for low-risk patients
- At least once annually for higher-risk patients
For seniors (age 65+), the AOA recommends annual eye exams. However, seniors with eye problems or a higher risk of eye conditions may benefit from more frequent examinations.
Patients can also visit their optometrist for common eye care needs. For example, your optometrist can diagnose and treat eye infections like conjunctivitis (pink eye). You can also visit us for optical wear and contact lens fittings.
What Happens During an Eye Exam
If it’s been several years since your last exam, you may wonder what is involved in getting a comprehensive eye exam. While tests will vary based on your doctor and your medical history, most comprehensive eye exams include the following tests:
- Visual acuity to assess the sharpness of your vision, usually using the “Big E” or Snellen chart.
- Visual fields test to determine if you have blind spots or peripheral vision issues.
- Cover test, which can identify strabismus or binocular vision problems.
- Retinoscopy, autorefractor or aberrometer to approximate your eyeglass prescription.
- Refraction to fine tune the final eyeglass prescription using a phoropter.
- Slit lamp exam to detect common eye diseases and conditions. This instrument allows your doctor to examine the structure of your eye to assess its health.
- Glaucoma test, known as tonometry, measures the pressure within your eye.
- Dilation of the pupil and ophthalmoscopy to examine the optic nerve, retina and blood vessels.
What are the Benefits of a Comprehensive Eye Exam?
One of the greatest benefits of comprehensive eye exams is that you receive immediate feedback about your eye health. Your ophthalmologist or optometrist will test for conditions such as:
- Refractive errors: nearsighted, farsighted or astigmatism
- Focusing problems, including presbyopia
- Other vision problems, such as amblyopia or binocular vision
Possibly the best advantage of routine comprehensive eye exams is prevention. Nothing is as precious as your eyesight, and healthy vision requires regular maintenance. Neglecting preventative vision care can have lasting consequences when it comes to degenerative eye disease.
Certain diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy have no symptoms in the early stages and can develop slowly and painlessly. If left untreated, the vision loss is usually irreversible. Seeing your eye doctor on a regular basis can protect your vision through early treatment. Another significant benefit of early diagnosis and early treatment is reduced medical cost. Identifying eye disease in the early stages will save you thousands of dollars in treatment and help preserve your vision as well as your quality of life.
Make Healthy Vision a Priority
Protecting your eye health is essential for clear vision. At Carolina Eyecare Physicians, we’re dedicated to delivering compassionate, trusted care to help our patients protect and preserve their sight. Book an appointment today for an adult or senior’s eye exam.
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