Eye Exams For the Whole Family
Routine eye exams are important, regardless of your age or physical 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.
In general, we recommend an eye exam every 1-2 years. Individuals with certain eye conditions may need to come more frequently.
It is important to bring any glasses, sunglasses or contacts with you to your eye exam. It is helpful to bring a list of any medications you are taking. Adults should be prepared to be at their appointment for one hour.
Before you see the doctor, you will have preliminary tests with a technician. When you see the doctor, the first half of an eye exam will consist of an evaluation of visual acuity and binocular vision (how your eyes work together ). An updated glasses prescription will be measured & given to you. The second half is the evaluation of your eye health. Your pupils will be dilated to provide a thorough examination of your retina.
No, an eye exam does not hurt.
During an eye exam, we check for common conditions like dry eyes or allergies. We are also checking for many ocular diseases like glaucoma, macular degeneration, or a hole in the retina. Systemic diseases like high blood pressure can be detected in a routine eye exam.
At Brookswood Optometry we take the time to listen & communicate with our patients. We treat our patients as we would treat our families, which allows us to aim for the highest standard of care. At Brookswood Optometry we all work together as a team to ensure your visit is enjoyable. We hope you leave feeling well taken care of & educated about your eye health.
It depends on the individual. Please speak to the receptionist about this when booking your appointment.
Need an Eye Exam to Update Your Prescription?
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 year to assess your risk for potentially damaging eye conditions, as well as to keep on top of any changes in vision you may be experiencing.
Eye Care for Everyone
How Often Do You Need to See the Optometrist, Based on Age?
The AOA recommends an annual eye exam for any patient who wears eyeglasses or contacts. If you don't normally need vision correction, you still need an eye exam every year. Doctors often recommend more frequent eye examinations for people with diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders, because many diseases can have an impact on vision and eye health.
Since the risk of eye disease continues to increase with advancing age, everyone over the age of 60 should be examined annually.
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.
Eye Exams for Children
Some experts estimate that approximately 5% to 10% of pre-schoolers and 25% of school-aged children have vision problems. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), all children should have their eyes examined at 6 months of age, at age 3 and again at the start of school. Children without vision problems or risk factors for eye or vision problems should then continue to have their eyes examined at every year throughout school.
Children with existing vision problems or risk factors should 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
The AOA recommends that children who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses should have their eyes examined at least every 12 months or according to their optometrist's instructions. Read more about Pediatric Eye Exams.
Schedule an Eye Doctor's Appointment
Contact our eye care clinic to schedule an eye exam near you, today.