People that see without picking up a pair of prescription glasses are less inclined to worry about their eye health and the need for a yearly exam like those nearsighted or farsighted folks. You may even have counted yourself among the lucky ones with perfect vision. However, time and living does have a knack of sneaking up that can clue you into potential eye problems. A problem with aging is that the body has a tendency to gradually break down from younger days. In fact, certain conditions of the eyes such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma often don’t manifest themselves until they are far gone. Therefore, it pays to recognize when you may need an eye exam for maintaining eye health for the best vision.
One clue to look for is if you’re squinting more than what you did in the past. Everyone squints to a certain extent when exposing the eyes too bright sun, which is why we depend on wearing sunglasses. Nonetheless, if you notice your eyes can’t take that bright sunlight as much, then an eye exam is something to think about. The reason is that you could have something wrong with the cornea.
Your eyes could also suddenly feel gritty, sore, and bothered by the light and gazing too long at your computer screen or smart phone as well. This could be caused by dry eye developing or inflammation that could be found through an eye exam. Those issues could be relieved easily enough with lubricant eye drops, which are different from the eye drops that constrict blood vessels to get rid of red within the whites of your eyes.
Experiencing more headaches can mean it’s time to make an appointment not only for an eye exam, but with your physician for physical exam. After all, you could have high blood sugar that may indicate diabetes, high blood pressure or an auto immune disease that also would be wise to investigate.
Another clue you may need an eye exam for preserving vision is if you got hit in the eye area. The reason this is always a good idea is an ophthalmologist can spot a detached retina or too much pressure in the eye.
What else that could be a reason for concern about your eye health and the need for an exam is noticing strange specks suddenly in your line of vision. These are called floaters due to age and just getting older as bits of collagen surface from the back of the eye. (You can also develop floaters after cataract surgery).
Other eye changes that can signal trouble are distorted vision, flashes of light or maybe you are suddenly only seeing black for just a few seconds or so. Any of these problems are clues that an eye exam is in order.
Eye health is important. Take your vision seriously and keep a check with an eye exam regularly to protect that gift of sight.
I agree eye health is so important. I do see a few different eye doctors each year since I have very dry eyes and bad vision.