Comprehensive Eye Exams 5 min read
A lot can change between eye exams.
When was the last time you had a comprehensive eye exam? Last year? A few years ago? If you’re having trouble remembering, it may have been longer than you realize.
For many people, an eye exam doesn’t make it onto the calendar until something feels noticeably different. But changes in vision aren’t always sudden. They can happen gradually, and you may start adapting to them without giving it much thought.
Maybe you’re reaching for your sunglasses more often in the Florida sun. Maybe following your golf ball down the fairway isn’t quite as easy as it used to be, or glare off the water is becoming more noticeable during an afternoon at the beach.
You may notice it after sunset, too. Headlights seem brighter. Driving at night feels a little less comfortable. Reading a menu in a dim restaurant takes more effort than it used to.
Small changes are easy to dismiss, especially when you can still see well enough to do the things you normally do. But they can also be a good reason to ask yourself: When was the last time I actually had my eyes checked?
Your Vision Can Change Gradually
When vision changes little by little, we tend to compensate.
You turn on another lamp to read. You increase the font size on your phone. You hold something a little closer, or a little farther away. Maybe you avoid driving at night when you don’t have to.
Eventually, those adjustments simply become part of your routine.
And being able to read an eye chart doesn’t always tell the whole story. Research published in The Journals of Gerontology examining older drivers with cataracts found that cataracts were associated with greater difficulty in challenging driving situations.
That’s one reason it’s worth mentioning everyday changes to your eye doctor, even when they don’t seem particularly dramatic.
An Eye Exam Is About More Than Your Glasses
It’s easy to think of an eye exam as the appointment where you find out whether your glasses prescription has changed.
A comprehensive medical eye exam goes further.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Comprehensive Adult Medical Eye Evaluation Preferred Practice Pattern describes a comprehensive evaluation as an assessment of both visual function and the health of the eyes. The examination can help identify eye disease, address refractive problems, and, in some cases, reveal findings associated with systemic disease.
In other words, you don’t necessarily have to notice a major problem for an eye exam to be worthwhile.
How Often Should You Have an Eye Exam?
There isn’t one schedule that’s right for everyone. Your age, medical history, family history, existing eye conditions, symptoms, and other risk factors can all affect how often your doctor recommends seeing you.
For adults without symptoms or additional risk factors for eye disease, the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s current guidelines recommend a comprehensive medical eye evaluation:
- Under age 40: every 5–10 years
- Ages 40–54: every 2–4 years
- Ages 55–64: every 1–3 years
- Age 65 and older: every 1–2 years
These are general guidelines. Your ophthalmologist may recommend a different schedule based on your individual eye health and risk factors.
Regular eye care may become particularly important as we age. A longitudinal study of more than 14,000 Medicare beneficiaries published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that people who received eye examinations more regularly experienced less decline in vision and functional status during the study period.
Pay Attention to the Little Things
You don’t need to diagnose your own vision. Instead, pay attention when something that used to be easy starts requiring a little more effort.
Maybe you’re squinting more outside. You need brighter light to read comfortably. Your current glasses don’t seem to help as much as they once did. Or nighttime driving has slowly gone from routine to something you’d rather avoid.
Those experiences are worth talking about.
Night driving is a particularly good example. Cataracts can increase the scattering of light inside the eye, contributing to glare and halos that may be particularly noticeable after dark. In a study of older drivers, those with cataracts were two to four times more likely to report difficulty with nighttime and other challenging driving situations.
Sometimes the answer really is as simple as updating your glasses. Sometimes there’s something else going on.
The important part is finding out.
“But My Vision Seems Fine.”
That’s one of the easiest reasons to put off an eye exam.
You can still read. You can still drive. You can still watch television, play golf, go to the beach, and do everything else you normally do.
“A comprehensive eye exam isn’t only for the moment when you realize something is wrong. It’s also an opportunity to evaluate your current vision and eye health, notice changes over time, and talk with your doctor about anything that has started to feel different.”
So if someone asked you today when you had your last comprehensive eye exam, would you know the answer?
If not, it might be time to put one back on the calendar.
Are Your Eyes Trying to Tell You Something?
If it’s been a while since your last comprehensive eye exam, now is a good time to get back on the calendar.
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