The eyes are one of the essential senses and are among the most sensitive organs of the body. Taking care of your eye health is just as important as looking after the rest of your body. The general perception about eye testing is that it is only for checking the power of the glasses that are required. Whereas there is much more to an eye examination than visual acuity tests. A full eye examination covers deeper aspects of the visual function.
The recommended eye examination frequency
Whether a patient will need a visual acuity test or a comprehensive examination is purely dependent on the current ocular health of the patient. Therefore get your eyes examined regularly by the best ophthalmologists in Kolkata to maintain healthy eyesight.
Children need less frequent comprehensive eye examinations compared to adults. Doctors recommend that adults should get their eyes checked at least once in 2 years for overall ocular function.
Individuals whose job requires heavy visual engagement are advised to get their eyes completely checked more often than once in two years.
Importance of regular eye check-ups:
- Regular eye check-ups are important for the visual function for both proximal visions as well as distance vision. It indicates the corrections required periodically based on the improvement or deterioration of visual function. Having your vision corrected improves the quality of your day to day life.
- Ophthalmologists also look for ocular problems such as nearsightedness and farsightedness. Scheduling regular eye exams are the most efficient way to assess the risk of nearsightedness and farsightedness. If detected early, the measures can be taken to slow the progression to reduce the risk of serious eye problems later in life.
- More than 75% of cases of blindness are preventable if they are identified in time. Getting your eyes tested can help prevent or limit the damage caused by several eye conditions as more than 50% of sightless is preventable.
- Very common issues such as astigmatism require cylindrical power, identified during the eye check-ups by the optometrists.
- Several ocular symptoms and conditions once developed are very difficult to cure or irreversible at later stages. Hence a thorough examination of the lens retina and optic nerves is very important.
- Glaucoma is known as the silent thief of eyesight because there are no discernible symptoms in most cases. People become aware of it only after they have sustained permanent vision loss due to the development of glaucoma. By that time, it gets very difficult to control glaucoma and prevent additional vision loss. Therefore routine eye exams help in the early detection of the risk factors of glaucoma and prevent the disease from damaging the eyesight.
- Cataract results in the lens of the eyes becoming opaque and thus results in blurry and cloudy vision. Proper eye examination, timely identification and lens replacement surgery is very essential to restore normal vision.
- Full eye check-up also has the ability to identify age-related macular degeneration, which could lead to sight loss.
- Properly scheduled eye exams can detect several serious health problems. Eye doctors can evaluate the health and condition of the blood vessels in the retina, which are a predictor of the health of blood vessels throughout the body. Several health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia can be detected by changes in the appearance of retinal blood supply and blood vessels. Proper annual exams are especially important for anyone with diabetes or someone who might be at risk of diabetes. Diabetes is one of the primary leading reasons for blindness among adults. In the early stages, diabetic eye disease has no such visible symptoms. Therefore only a comprehensive eye check-up can detect the signs of the disease so that doctors can begin the treatment to prevent vision loss.
Graves disease that is bulging or protruding eyeballs is a sign of thyroid problems. Eye inflammation can be a symptom of an autoimmune disorder such as lupus. Unusual eye structure can be a sign of eye cancer ( ocular melanoma). Irregularly shaped pupils droopy eyelids can be a sign of a neck tumour or an aneurism.
Regular eye check-up is very important to keep an eye on the health of your eyes. Regardless of how keen your eyesight is, scheduling regular eye exams is an essential way to protect overall health and wellness.
