You might have had a wonderful sight in your childhood days. But as you age, your eye-sight starts to show problems. But how do you know if you have bad eyesight? For this, you need to get an eye exam conducted by an experienced eye doctor. With this eye exam, you can get to know the present health condition of your eyes. It also shows your ability to view properly.
Why eye exams are considered crucial?
You should visit the optometrist for the following reasons:
- Vision problems: There can be some changes taking place in your eyes, which is likely to affect your sight.
- Astigmatism, farsightedness & nearsightedness: Using laser surgery, contacts & prescription eyeglasses can help rectify refractive errors.
- Amblyopia: Your eyes may be normal when looking in a mirror. However, conducting vision exams may reveal amblyopia. This condition is caused when one eye requires higher correction or both or any single eye gets misaligned.
- Teaming: Both eyes need to work together to enjoy proper vision. Otherwise, you might experience eyestrain & headache and also have trouble to read correctly.
- Focusing: Those facing trouble to focus properly on their eyes are likely to experience reading & seeing problems.
- Strabismus: It is also referred to as turned or crossed eyes & affects depth perception. You may develop amblyopia if not corrected immediately.
- Eye diseases: How do you know if you have bad eyesight caused by diseases? People are generally diagnosed with vision issues like:
- Cataracts
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Glaucoma
However, several diseases might not give out any early warning signs. The disease could be in advanced stages, when you start to notice the difference in your vision. Conducting comprehensive exams can help detect such signs.
- Health concerns: The eye specialist on conducting the exam will try to detect the early signs & symptoms of medical problems. It includes high cholesterol, cancers, high blood pressure & diabetes.
Need for periodic eye exams
Children should visit the optometrist periodically to have eye exams. This will ensure that your little one develops the correct vision. Also vision-related problems can be identified at an earlier stage & rectified. The specialists recommend undergoing eye exams for children at 6 months, on completion of 3 years & before joining the school. Adults between the ages of 8 & 60 are recommended to undergo comprehensive exams at least every two years. Those above 61 years of age are recommended to go for an annual exam.
