Do You Need an Eye Exam in Milton, ON?
Regular eye exams are important, regardless of your age or health. During a complete eye exam, your eye doctor will not only determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health.
A comprehensive eye exam includes a number of tests and procedures to examine and evaluate the health of your eyes and the quality of your vision. These tests range from simple ones, like having you read an eye chart, to complex tests, such as using a high-powered lens to examine the health of the tissues inside of your eyes.
Eye care experts recommend you have a complete eye exam every one to two years, depending on your age, risk factors, and physical condition.
Pediatric Eye Exams
Approximately 1-in-4 school-aged children have vision problems. According to the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO), all children should have their eyes examined at 6 months of age, and then between 2-3 years of age, and again prior to starting kindergarten. Children should continue to have their eyes examined at least once a year throughout school. In Ontario, children are covered by OHIP to have an eye examination with an optometrist each year, as well as for any intermittent eye-related problems.
Children with existing vision problems or risk factors may need to have their eyes examined more frequently. Common risk factors for vision problems include:
- premature birth
- developmental delays
- turned or crossed eyes
- family history of eye disease
- history of eye injury
- other physical illness or disease
We recommend that children should have their eyes examined at least every 12 months or according to their eye doctor’s instructions.
Read about Children’s Eye Exams.
Adult Eye Exams
At Martin Street Optometry, our optometrists recommend having a comprehensive eye exam every 1-2 years, depending on your age, your overall health, and any eye conditions you might have. In keeping with the recommendations of the Canadian Association of Optometrists, we recommend more frequent eye examinations for adults with diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders, because many diseases can have an impact on vision and eye health. In addition, it is best practice to have your eyes examined annually if you are a contact lens wearer.
If you are over 40, it’s a good idea to have your eyes examined every one to two years to check for common age-related eye problems such as presbyopia, cataracts and macular degeneration. Because the risk of eye disease continues to increase with advancing age, everyone over the age of 65 should be examined annually.