The Health Nut Blog

Being your windows to the world it is important to keep your eyes in good condition. Remember your eyes are subject to wear and tear be it from the ultra violet rays of the sun, pollution and dust in the air, transmittable diseases or stress from looking at a computer screen all day.

We all regularly go to our family doctors for a physical exam to check how our overall health is.  The minority take their health for granted. Why is it then that many of us exclude our eye sight from the annual checkup? To guarantee healthy and normal vision, an annual visit to your eye doctor for your eye care exam is important.

Our brain receives sensory information from our eyes giving us a clear picture of our surrounds. Therefore keeping them in optimum shape will ensure proper signals being received by the brain insuring consequential action and reactions. If your vision is deteriorating your life performance will be affected.

We recommend that eye care exams should start from a very early age, that is even babies of 2-6 months should have their eyes checked to correct any abnormalities, while children entering primary school and again when entering secondary school should also have eye care exams which will detect any vision problems allowing corrective action to be taken to rectify the problem.

Unfortunately, as we age it becomes more important to have an eye care exam performed yearly, so that every time you visit your eye doctor they can evaluate any changes in your vision condition and help you correct any difficulties that you may have with your sight. Early diagnosis of problems will decrease the chance of severe damage to our sight.

It is proven that Elderly citizens are more susceptible to vision loss, they should be aware that the probability of having vision disorders increases with age, even though you might not be experiencing any problem, therefore you should visit your eye doctor regularly for an eye care exam.

Eye care exams are painless and informative methods for the assessment of your eyes. The eye doctors will test your visual acuity, (the clarity of your vision). During the eye care exam, the doctor will also check the muscles of the eyes, eye pressure, fluid circulation, retina and general condition of your eyes.. The routine eye examination is not painful or uncomfortable.

Doctors Who Do Eye Care Exams

Ophthalmologists are doctor’s who specialize in the comprehensive care of the eyes and visual system in the prevention of eye disease injury. They are medically trained specialists who can deliver total eye care exams, primary, secondary and tertiary care services and diagnose general diseases of the eyes.

Whereas the Optometrist is the health care professional who provides only primary care services. The services included are the comprehensive eye health and vision examinations: treatment and diagnosis of the vision disorders and eye diseases; the detection of general health problems; they prescribe the glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy, low vision rehabilitation and medications.

How Often Should You Have A Regular Eye Care Exam?

If you are having difficulties with your eyes, pain or visual disturbances or any other problem in the eyes, you should immediately make an appointment to see an eye doctor. However, if you are in good health and no known ailments, no vision problems, you can have an eye exam every two to four years provided your age is below forty.  However, for people with diabetes, you need frequent eye examinations to maintain good eye health.

The old adage "prevention is better than a cure”, so make sure you are aware of your vision and if you note any deterioration get on down and have an eye care exam.

# posted by NeilG @ 1:47 PM