Most health conscious people around the world would flock to gyms to keep their bodies fit and toned. They’d undertake diets, follow strict regimens and whatnot, but hardly anyone keeps such vigilance over one of the most important parts of our bodies, our eyes. Vision defects are now much more common than they were in the decades prior. Perhaps it’s the pollution, or the proliferation of technology and our constant dependence on devices with screens, but whatever the reason, you’d find many more people with vision defects now than a couple of generations ago. Also, people with contact lenses or regular eyeglasses can consider the following tips to avoid future circumstances.
The world is going digital, and an increasing number of people now spend their time staring at computer screens for hours together throughout the day, for years and years together. Obviously this isn’t helping our vision in any way. The solution is simple, but unfortunately ignored. All it takes to make sure that your eyes are in the best condition is a visit to your local optometrist. Eye exams are not particularly expensive or time consuming, yet we seem to overlook this small detail but consider going to the gym as more important.
So arises the question, how often do you need to get your eyes checked? It actually varies for age groups and prior family history. If your family has had a history of vision defects, it would be wise to get your child’s vision checked before the age of 4. Adults, regardless of family history, should regularly get their eyes checked after 40 years of age or so, because that’s usually when problems start to manifest. Even if you’ve never thought you needed glasses, at a certain age you will most probably require them, for reading at least. We recommend eye checkups at the following intervals:
- Up to age 30: Every 2 years
- Age 40-60: Every year
- Age 60 and above: Every six months
What we’ve recommended is just to be on the safe side, and if you really think your vision is perfect, as in you can see both far and near objects perfectly clearly, then perhaps you won’t need an eye exam. However, if you seem to be experiencing headaches, difficulty in reading text far or near, and fatigue upon extended computer use, you should get your eyes checked immediately.
Cataracts are a well-known eye condition, which is commonly seen in older people. The eye lens goes opaque and stops light from hitting the retina, thus impairing vision. Above age 60, it becomes very important to check for cataracts, which is why frequent checkups are recommended. Other than cataracts, a condition called glaucoma can seriously damage your eyes and even lead to loss of vision. Glaucoma occurs when there is excess pressure on the fluid of the eye, and is caused by a variety of reasons, one of which is genetics.
Symptoms of glaucoma include:
- Loss of vision
- Redness in the eyes
- Hazy eyes
- Tunnel vision
- Nausea
- Halos around lights
These symptoms appear very gradually, and that’s why it’s important to get your eyes checked regularly to keep the condition at bay. Of course, glaucoma is just one of the reasons you should be getting your eyes checked regularly, there are many more disorders that can harm you. Plus, thorough eye exams, the ones that use an ophthalmoscope and probe the back of the eye, also hint at some future disorders such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
If you suffer from hypertension, high blood pressure or diabetes, consider frequent eye exams regardless of your age, because you’re at a high risk of vision defects. Also, if you’ve been recently injured or hit around the eye area, it’s a good idea to see if everything is in working order. It is quite possible that damage has been caused to your eyes but you don’t know it just yet. Better safe than sorry, right?
Regular checkups are one thing, but if you suffer from any one or more than one of the following, it’s a sure sign that you need to get your eyes checked:
- Squinting
- Excessive moisture in your eyes
- Prolonged redness of the eyes
- Itchiness in the eyes
- Headaches
- Difficulty in reading
- Difficulty in making out shapes or colors
- Difficulty in gauging depth
- Difficulty in focusing on a single object for an extended period of time
- Light sensitivity
Basically, if anything seems out of the ordinary, don’t hesitate to get an eye exam done as soon as possible. If you’re a parent of a young child, keep an eye on how your child looks around and if he or she seems to have difficulty in reading or looking at things. Kids might not fully understand that squinting or tearing up is out of the ordinary, so you’ll have to keep a constant vigil on them.
We hope that cleared out all your questions about when you need to get an eye exam. There’s absolutely no harm in getting it done even more frequently than we’ve recommended, a yearly checkup is also a good practice. But if it’s been 2 years or more since you’ve visited your optometrist or ophthalmologist, make a call right now and fix your appointment, because it’s been far too long since your eyes have gone under the scanner!
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Image Sources: margolisvision.com, mid-day.com, climonomics.com.