As you age, your eyesight can become compromised. Your risk for developing age-related eye diseases like glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and cataracts increases. Luckily, there are many things you can do to preserve our vision. The most important thing is to detect eye conditions early to get the right treatment. This is possible only when you submit yourself to an eye exam near me.
Pay Attention to your Vision
It is important to keep an eye on signs of changing eyesight. If you notice some changes in your vision like blind spots, blurred vision, halo effects around lights, and other changes, you must visit your eye doctor. Symptoms such as a sudden increase in floaters you see or bright flashes warrant an immediate appointment with your doctor. These are signs of retinal detachment and getting an immediate treatment can help you preserve your eyesight.
Aside from being watchful of the signs of vision changes, you must maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating healthy foods and staying active will help your eyes stay healthy. Also, this makes it easier to manage any conditions which impact your health such as diabetes.
Importance of Regular Eye Exams
Having your eyes checked by your eye doctor regularly can prevent diabetes-related vision loss. Also, regular eye exams are vital to diagnosing and slowing the progression of other eye conditions. Eye exams are especially important as you grow older since many eye conditions are age-related.
Common Eye Exams that can Help Save your Eyesight
Below are some tests that can help detect vision issues early:
- Dilated retinal exam. Your optometrist will make use of special eye drops to dilate the pupil. This allows them to see the back of the eye to find issues such as diabetic retinopathy.
- Tonometry test. This eye pressure test checks intraocular pressure to determine whether you are at risk of glaucoma.
- Slit lamp exam. This test allows your doctor to examine your eye microscopically using eye drops, a bright slit lamp, and a low-powered microscope.
- Visual field test. This test can detect blind spots and issues with peripheral vision. It examines the full horizontal and vertical range as well as your vision’s sensitivity.
- Refraction exam. This is a basic eye examination that identifies the prescription you need for glasses or contacts. As you age, you may start to develop presbyopia or blurred vision as the lenses of your eyes lose flexibility and a refraction exam can help address this condition.
