Comprehensive Eye Exams For Clear Vision And Healthy Eyes
Routine, comprehensive eye exams are essential for everyone, no matter what age or physical health. Children should have a yearly eye exam before beginning school each year. Similarly, adults and seniors should have their eyes examined once a year. Many eye conditions and diseases are easily treated with medication, corrective lenses or surgery. If caught early enough, some of these conditions may be stopped and even reversed.
A comprehensive eye exam can diagnose the following conditions:
- Myopic Vision (Near-Sightedness)
This is a condition where light entering the eye does not directly focus on the retina, but instead focuses in front of the retina, causing objects seen at a distance to be out of focus while close objects remain in focus.
- Hyperopic Vision (Far-Sightedness)
This is a condition caused by an imperfection in the eye when the eyeball is misshapen or cannot function correctly, and causes objects to be out of focus and blurred.
- Glaucoma
This is a group of eye diseases causing pressure in the eye and damage to the optic nerve. This results in permanent blind spots in the field of vision. Glaucoma is a primary cause of blindness worldwide, especially in the elderly. Early detection and treatment are crucial to prevent optic nerve damage and vision loss.
- Cataracts
This is a condition of the eye that occurs when protein accumulates in the lens of the eye preventing light from passing through causing the eye to become cloudy and resulting in loss of vision. When new lens cells form on the outside of the lens, all the older cells are compacted into the center of the lens resulting in the growth of a cataract.
- Diabetic Eye Disease
This is condition causing either a temporary (reversible) blurring of vision, or a more severe, permanent loss of vision. Diabetes also increases the risk of developing cataracts and glaucoma. It is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness in the world and the most common cause of blindness in people younger than 65 years of age.
- Dry Eye
This is a condition when there are insufficient tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears are necessary to maintain the health of the eye and to provide clear vision. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or have a poor quality of tears. Dry eyes feel uncomfortable and may sting or burn.
- Hypertensive Retinopathy
This is a condition caused by damage to the retina of the eye from high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol or smoking. The higher the blood pressure and the longer it has been high, the more severe the damage is likely to be. Symptoms may include double vision, dim vision, vision loss, and headaches. Most people with hypertensive retinopathy do not have symptoms until late in the disease.
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration
This is a condition that affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the blood vessels in the retina. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults. This condition can be treated with laser coagulation and medication that stops and sometimes reverses the growth of the blood vessels that cause this condition.
Routine, comprehensive eye exams from an optometrist (such as one from Eyes on Second), can diagnose all of the above conditions and if treated early, can prevent more serious and permanent damage later. For that reason, comprehensive yearly eye exams are crucial for clear vision and healthy eyes.