Even though we may seem heathy from afar, nobody can know what’s going on in the inside. This is why everybody should do regular health checkups, including eye exams. Here is what you should know:
Why Do People Get Eye Exams?
Glasses are prescribed to those with detected certain vision problems. If those people never went to an optometrist or ophthalmologist in the first place, they would never have worn glasses and their eyesight would have just kept getting worse. To conclude, we don’t visit doctors just in cases of emergency, but also to prevent ones from happening.
The Risks & Glaucoma
Additionally, if we haven’t developed an eye problem until our 30s, it doesn’t mean we won’t have one in our 40s. Most vision issues are transmitted genetically and are activated further in life by certain triggers (stressful situations, trauma, loss of immunity, age…). To prevent this from happening, we must do regular exams.
One of those conditions is glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye condition which slowly develops (the signs are very tough to recognize) and if left untreated, it will most definitely lead to total blindness. Statistic think that by 2020, 80 million people in the world will have this condition. But if glaucoma is treated, blindness can be stopped and this is why 80% of blindness cases could have been avoided.
How often is regular?
So, we mentioned “regular checkups” a few times. But how often is regular? Well this frequency of eye exams varies from person to person and depends on age, medical family history and general health. Here is how often you should visit an optometrist if you don’t have any eye conditions in your family tree and if you are overall healthy:
- Every 5 years (20-39 years of age)
- Every 2 to 4 years (40-54 years of age)
- Every 1 to 3 years (55-64)
- Every 1 to 2 years (from the age of 65 and above)
As you go on your first eye exams, the doctor will tell you if you have certain predispositions for an eye condition. If you know that you have eye problems in your family tree, make those exams more frequent and take great care of your eyes.
If you have other health issues like diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, lupus, thyroid diseases and rheumatoid arthritis, doing more frequent exams is necessary. This is because these particular medical conditions are connected with our eyesight system and largely influence it.