Staying fit and healthy is a good thing but when you are taking your health seriously you must also take care of your eyes and vision.
We often take our vision problems lightly and that can eventually snowball into serious vision problems as we age.
Hence, you must get your eyes checked regularly to ensure that you have perfect vision and that you can prevent it from worsening when you have time.
Most people visit ophthalmologists only when they have serious vision issues and by that time your vision might have weakened to some extent which eventually will lead to wearing prescription glasses. Even if you don’t have prescription glasses you need to get your eyes examined regularly.
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How often should you schedule an eye exam?
Here, we unravel the essentials you ought to know about how often you should schedule an eye examination.
Do You Have Vision Issues?
If you have serious vision issues you need to visit ophthalmologists immediately irrespective of when your eye exam was done.
If you have issues like red and itchy eyes, frequent headaches, difficulty reading street signs, or when you feel nauseated and find it hard to follow moving objects, or when you squint excessively when reading books or newspapers.
These signs would indicate that you might have serious vision problems and therefore you need to get your eyes examined in time.
As a Parent
However, if there are no signs you can get your child’s eyes tested after six months of age. Also, you can get your kid’s eyes tested before you enroll him or her in kindergarten.
This would allow you to be safe and ensure that your child has no vision issues. Most ophthalmologist recommends getting their eyes checked every two years to ensure that there are no vision problems.
As Adult Young Individuals
When you are a grown-up you can go for an eye exam every two or three years to ensure that you don’t have vision problems.
Most people between the ages of 20 and 40 do not have vision problems and therefore might not need to visit for eye examination annually. Hence, you can schedule an eye exam every two years to ensure that you have perfect vision.
However, if you have a family history of eye disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure or you have an eye injury you must visit the ophthalmologist annually to be on the safe side.
As Middle-Age Individuals
Our eyes undergo a lot of changes once we cross the age of 40 and that is when most people have a diminishing vision and an increase in lens prescription changes.
Presbyopia is far more common in individuals nearing the age of 45 and therefore you need to visit your ophthalmologist probably annually or once in two years.
As Senior Citizens
Once you reach the age of 60 and above, there are more vision-related issues and therefore annual visits are highly recommended.
This would allow you to keep track of issues like cataracts and macular degeneration. Hence, once a year visit to your ophthalmologist would help you prevent any eye complications.
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Chibueze Uchegbu is a certified medical physiologist with a great passion for healthy living.