In general, it is best to have your eyes examined once a year.  It’s important to have routine eye exams, just as it is to have routine visits to your primary doctor, your dentist, or other health care professional.  Just remember prevention is the key for better health and sight.  It is really true that the eye is a window to your body.

First, an ophthalmologist can help provide you with the best possible vision by updating your glasses or contact lens prescription.  Wearing an old prescription can often lead to eye strain and headaches, so it makes sense to have your glasses prescription updated every 1-2 years. Your ophthalmologist can also examine your eyes to help evaluate and treat common eye problems such as dry eye, glaucoma, blepheritis, cataract and other eye problems. An eye exam can also provide information about your general health and in many cases even lead to diagnoses such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), autoimmune conditions such as thyroid disease, Lupus, arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, infections(syphilis, TB, HIV, Lyme disease) even a stroke, brain tumor, or other more serious condition.

For some patients with specific eye conditions, more frequent exams are warranted. We recommend that patients with glaucoma, for example, see an ophthalmologist at least two to three times a year and patients with macular degeneration once to twice a year. All patients with diabetes should schedule a yearly eye exam.  Diabetes can cause changes in the back of the eye that if left undiagnosed and untreated can cause permanent visual loss; therefore, it is important that your ophthalmologist evaluate your eyes at least once a year if you have diabetes.

What is included in a complete eye exam?

1.       Refraction:  Having your eyes examined includes a check of your visual acuity (i.e., how far down the vision chart can read) and a check of your glasses or contact lens prescription (which is a known as a refraction).

2.      IntraOcular Pressure(IOP):  During an eye exam, you should also have your eye pressure checked. Just as we have pressure in our blood vessels (i.e., blood pressure), we have pressure in our eyes, and it is important to make sure that the eye pressure is within the normal range. High eye pressure can lead to an eye condition called glaucoma, in which the pressure causes damage in the back of the eye, resulting in loss of peripheral vision. If pressure problems are caught early, loss of vision can be prevented.

3.      Slit Lamp Exam(SLE):  This is a complete evaluation of the structures in the front of your eye, including your eyelids and cornea for inflammation, allergy, and sun damage including skin cancer.

4.      Dilated Fundus Exam(DFE):  The final, and perhaps most important component to a routine eye exam, is dilation. Your eye doctor will place drops in your eyes that enlarge the pupil and allow him to look in the back of the eye. Through a dilated or enlarged pupil, he or she will be able to see many important structures in the eye including:

• The lens which provides focusing power for the eye.  The clouding of the lens is known as a cataract.  It can affect vision by causing loss of clarity, loss of color ranges, and glare with sun or headlights at night
• The retina, which lines the inside of the eye and like film in a camera, is responsible for capturing visual images.  Retina problems include macular degeneration, diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy, infection, retinal detachment or tumors (melanoma or other cancers).
• The optic nerve, which transmits visual images back to the brain for processing.  Since the optic nerve is composed of millions of neurons like a big nerve cable that travels through the brain, it may be affected by the problems in the brain.  The optic nerve can have inflammation secondary to other body conditions (Multiple Sclerosis, Syphilis, TB, Lyme disease, Sarcoidosis) or swelling secondary to increased pressure in the brain (from a brain tumor, aneurysm or other brain problem).
• Dilation will also allow your ophthalmologist a direct view of blood vessels in the back of the eye. This is the only place in the human body where blood vessels can be seen. Careful examination of these vessels can help your ophthalmologist diagnose conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, impending stroke (atherosclerotic plaques, blood clot), or vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessel secondary to autoimmune disease or infection).

If you have not seen your eye doctor in over a year, be sure to call and schedule an appointment soon 310-829-5475.