How Often Should You Go for An Eye Examination
When it comes to your health, prevention is always the best medicine – and this rings true for your eye health! As such, it stands to reason why regular visits to your ophthalmologist are imperative when maintaining your vision, regardless of whether you have an eye condition or otherwise. Now that that’s out of the way, the question remains: how often should you go for an eye exam?
It’s not as straightforward of an answer – let’s take a look at some of the variables.
Eye Examinations for Children
Vision is the most important sense organ, and this is especially true for children, who use sight to gather information about the world around them. In fact, studies have shown that anywhere from 80-90% of learning occurs through a child’s visual pathways, in part due to the visual-centric classroom learning environment. As such, delays in a child’s visual development, as well as uncorrected vision problems, can interfere with their ability to learn.
Visual issues such as eye teaming, tracking, and near and far focusing disorders can lead to several learning-related visual impairments. Common signs include skipping words or lines, poor or declining reading comprehension, bad handwriting, and the like. Aside from putting them at a learning disadvantage, such implications will also affect the child’s self-esteem and confidence in their abilities. Beyond just learning, these visual issues can manifest into physical health problems, including headaches, stinging or burning eyes, and exhaustion. As such, it is imperative that children go for an eye exam.
It is recommended that children have their first eye exam at six months. The subsequent eye examination can be scheduled when they reach three years of age. If a child is not at risk of developing vision problems, they can continue having their eyes examined annually until age 18. Those that are, however, may need eye exams more frequently.
Eye Examinations for Adults
As with all parts of your body, you will start to notice changes in your vision as you age. The most common changes include presbyopia (the inability to see up close), difficulties distinguishing colours, and loss of peripheral vision.
As a general rule of thumb, adults aged 18 to 60 years old should have a comprehensive eye exam at least once two years. Those who are older should schedule an eye exam at least once a year. That said, if you experience symptoms of eye trouble, such as headaches, spots or flashes of light in your vision, be sure to visit your primary ophthalmologist right away, no matter how long your last eye check up might be.
Difference Between Comprehensive and Routine Eye Exam
Whilst they are crucial to maintaining your vision health, there is a big difference between a comprehensive eye examination and a routine one. Comprehensive eye exams are typically annual appointments where your optometrist will check both your vision and overall eye health. They will identify and diagnose any eye and health conditions that need to be addressed. On the other hand, routine eye check ups are appointments that you make when you need a new prescription for your glasses or contact lenses.
Get Your Eye Examinations at EMME Visioncare
Your eyes are the windows to your heart – quite literally! Not only do they help with your daily tasks, but the state of your eyes can also clue in the doctors about your overall health.
Prevention is always the best medicine. Safeguard your eye health and vision by scheduling an eye examination. Get your eyes checked at EMME Visioncare today and our team will not only help identify any vision problems, but also offer effective treatment methods for the improvement of visual skills. Visit our eye clinic in Singapore to learn more.