Comprehensive Eye Exams
Comprehensive eye exams are an important part of whole health. Whether you’ve noticed that your vision has been a little blurry, or you’ve been experiencing dry eyes, irritation, or redness, a comprehensive eye exam can help diagnose issues and begin treatment.
What is a Comprehensive Eye Exam?
A comprehensive eye exam goes a step beyond a traditional vision test. During a vision test, the goal is to ensure that you have the right prescription for glasses and contacts. While this is important, it’s not everything you need to know to ensure that your eyes are healthy.
During a comprehensive eye exam, your eyes will be examined for any potential issues. This includes standard pressure checks and acuity tests, as well as dilation and examining the eye under magnification.
Because your eyes will be dilated during a comprehensive eye exam, you should have someone to drive you home. This is especially true if the weather is bad, or if you just don’t feel confident driving with blurred vision.
When Should You Have a Comprehensive Eye Exam?
Most people should have a comprehensive eye exam every year or every two years. It’s important to get comprehensive eye exams more frequently as you age, as changes to your vision may happen faster. Children also need to have annual eye exams to detect issues that could cause them physical distress, or could cause them to fall behind their peers in school.
Your optometrist may advise you to get an exam more frequently if it appears that your vision is changing quickly. Your optometrist will compare your prescriptions from year to year for this reason.
A comprehensive vision exam is a fast, non-invasive process, and it’s something that everyone should do either on a regular basis or whenever they suspect they may have an eye-related issue.
