The Importance of Regular Eye Exams – Protecting Your Vision 

People know they need routine eye exams to keep their vision healthy. Many don’t realize that an eye exam can reveal various general health issues.

The classic eye exam involves reading an eye chart and shining a light in your eyes to see how your pupils respond. This is one of the best tests for detecting macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration, a condition that impacts central vision, can be detected by your eye doctor during an exam. If this is caught in its early stages, it can be treated with certain medications and prevented from progressing.

Other eye health conditions, like cataracts and glaucoma, don’t show any early warning signs and may go unnoticed until they reach the late stages. During a full eye exam, your eye doctor will observe the health of your retina and optic nerve, helping them detect these conditions in their early stages.

Another eye disease that is common among the older population is diabetic retinopathy. This can also be spotted during a full eye exam, as it affects the blood vessels in your eyes. This can be a warning sign of other health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease that causes vision loss, usually starting with peripheral or side vision. It’s caused by the drainage channels in your eye becoming clogged, leading to a build-up of pressure that damages the optic nerve. This glaucoma usually has no early warning signs and can only be detected by regular eye exams, often using dilating drops and a slit lamp.

Your eyes can also reveal many health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Your eye doctor will check your blood vessels in the retina to detect these and check for any abnormalities, such as a bulging pupil that can indicate a thyroid condition or inflammation, which may signal lupus or inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Your ophthalmologist will also test your color vision, depth perception, and how well you can move your eye muscles.

Diabetes

The long-term effects of diabetes can be devastating to your vision. Uncontrolled blood sugar damages blood vessels in the retina. Over time, this can lead to diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, cataracts and glaucoma. These diseases often do not cause symptoms until the damage is severe, but regular eye exams can help detect them.

If caught early, the eye doctor can treat these conditions to prevent further damage and vision loss. A comprehensive eye exam near me includes distance and near vision tests, depth perception, color vision, and eye muscle movement.

The doctor will also shine a light into your eyes and observe the shape of your pupil and eyelids. These observations can reveal abnormalities that indicate a health issue like thyroid disease, Graves Disease, or autoimmune disorders like lupus.

Eye Allergies

Eye exams are much more than a basic visual screening; they significantly affect your overall health. They are often the first place your doctor will notice signs of certain general health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

A common problem, eye allergies cause red, itchy eyes when airborne allergens like pet dander, dust, pollen, smoke, perfumes or foods come into contact with the conjunctiva (the transparent membrane that lines the front of your eyes).

Symptoms include watery eyes, sneezing, itchiness and a runny nose. An allergist/immunologist can perform skin or blood tests to identify the specific allergen causing your symptoms. They will also be able to educate you on how to avoid these triggers. This helps reduce the severity of your allergy symptoms.

Vision Problems

The eye doctor will do much more than test your vision during a comprehensive exam. He or she can also screen for common conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts. A visual acuity test will be conducted using the Snellen chart, which tests your ability to see tiers of letters.

An eye exam can reveal signs of serious health conditions such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and high blood pressure. These health problems can lead to blindness if not diagnosed and treated early. An eye exam can detect and treat these issues before they worsen, so it is important to get regular screenings.