Why Are Eye Exams Important?

During a comprehensive eye exam, an eye doctor does much more than just determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses. He or she will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health.
Therefore, annual eye examinations are an important part of health maintenance for patients of all ages. Adults should have their eyes tested to keep prescriptions current and check for early signs of eye disease, while children require regular eye exams in order to ensure normal vision development.
During the average eye exam, your eye doctor will check your eyes for abnormalities and issues that could lead to vision loss. Here are some examples of the conditions that your eye doctor will be looking for:
Refractive error. This refers to nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Refractive errors are corrected with eyeglasses, contacts or refractive surgery.
Strabismus. Strabismus is defined as crossed or turned eyes. The examiner will check your eyes’ alignment to be sure that they are working together. Strabismus causes problems with depth perception and can lead to amblyopia.
Eye teaming problems. Even if your eyes appear to be properly aligned, it’s possible they do not work together efficiently as a team. Such binocular vision problems can cause headaches, eye strain and other problems that can affect reading and other near vision tasks.
Focusing problems. These problems can range from incompletely developed focusing skills in children to normal age-related declines in focusing ability (presbyopia) among older adults.
Eye diseases. Many eye diseases, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, have no symptoms in their early stages. Your eye doctor will check the health of your eyes inside and out for signs of early problems. In most cases, early detection can help reduce your risk for permanent vision loss.
Other diseases. Eye doctors can detect early signs of some conditions and diseases by looking at your eye’s blood vessels, retina and so forth. Your eye doctor may be able to tell you if you are developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other problems.
Treatment plans following an eye exam can include a prescription for glasses or contact lenses to correct refractive errors, vision therapy or strabismus surgery for binocular vision problems, medical treatment for eye disease or simply a recommendation that you have your eyes examined again within a specific time frame.
No matter who you are, regular eye exams are important for seeing more clearly, learning more easily and preserving your vision for life.
Schedule your next exam today at Bayside Eye Center in order to ensure your prolonged overall health. Dr. Roger Young is a seasoned optometrist. Bayside Eye accepts Medicare, Medicaid and most health insurances and features a helpful and knowledgeable staff more than willing to assist in the scheduling, exam and treatment processes. For an appointment or further information on eye exam procedures, call (609) 886-1578. Bayside Eye Center is located at 2004 Bayshore Rd., Villas.