What’s the big deal with eye exams?
You may have found yourself wondering from time to time what the big deal is with eye exams. For those with poor vision, it’s easy to understand the benefit they provide. However, a portion of the population sees quite well without any corrective devices. But, every time you go to the Optometrist they always seem to stress the importance of regular visits. The answer is simpler than you think. Regular checks ensure that you understand your eye health better and result in identifying potentially harmful conditions before it is too late to do anything about them. Now the next question is how often should you go and does it depend on other factors.
Luckily the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO) has made your life easier by identifying some golden standards to this. They recommend starting eye exams between the age of 6-9 months. You may be wondering how your little one can perform the classic “1 or 2” test at such a young age. The secret is that we are fortunate enough to have a lot of wonderful technologies that are objective and don’t rely on patient input. The next recommendation is to make sure children under the age of 19 come in annually for an eye exam. Children’s vision can change much more rapidly than in adults and some components of vision are still in development throughout much of the younger ages. The good news is that Alberta Health Care will cover your children if they are under the age of 19, so make sure to bring them in! For adults between the ages of 19 and 64, eye exams are indicated at least every 2 years. However, there can be exceptions to this if there are risks for certain conditions, such as glaucoma or diabetes, that are being monitored. After the age of 64, annual exams are recommended by the CAO due to the increased risk of disease. The good news for those with Alberta Health Care is that those exams are covered. The last bit of information to cover is emergency eye exams. This is a fairly broad definition as it is anything from severe dry eye disease to eye infections to retinal detachment symptoms (flashes, floaters, shadows). Alberta Health Care covers this as well. We are fortunate to have great eyecare coverage in Alberta that can help you keep your eyes healthy while still being affordable.
Now that should give you a bit of insight as to what you should strive for to make sure your eyes are properly cared for! I’ll leave you with a story that shows the importance of these exams. I had a patient that came in for a regular eye exam reporting vision had been decreasing over time and seems to only be getting worse. During the testing I noticed that his vision was very decreased in one eye and somewhat decreased in the other. We tried to see if it may just be a change in prescription, but no matter what I showed him, the improvements were minimal. We ended up doing a dilation and an optical coherence tomography (OCT) test to visualize the posterior of the eye better. It was here that I was able to identify retinal bleeding and the retinal layers in the back of the eye showing significant distortion. He was urgently sent off to see an Ophthalmologist for further treatment, but this was a great example of someone who likely would have ended up with less severe results if he had come in earlier.
With all of this great knowledge about eye exams you can make informed decisions to help your friends, family, and even yourself to ensure you maintain your eye health!
