When You Need To Get An Eye Exam

Eye exams are important for many things, and not just when you're having vision trouble. Eye exams are important to monitor your visual health, check for any problems that may be just beginning, and make sure that your current prescriptions — if any — are still appropriate for you. However, if you are experiencing any issues in your eyes, even if minor, it may be time to set up an appointment.

1. You Wear Corrective Eyewear

Corrective eyewear is designed to help fix visual problems, but your eyes are constantly changing. Your vision can change over time, so a prescription that once helped you might not be as effective. Schedule an eye exam every one to two years to see what your current vision is like and whether you need to change your prescription. Wearing the wrong lenses can cause eye strain, which can lead to headaches and other issues, even if the lenses appear to be helping you.

2. You Experience Blurred Vision

Occasionally having blurred vision isn't something to worry about. It can happen if you have tears in your eyes, during allergy season or just after waking up. If you have constant blurry vision even when there appears to be no cause, however, you should get your eyes checked. Blurry vision could possibly be caused by something that needs work; even if it's nothing serious, it could be something that lenses alone cannot fix. An exam is even more of a necessity if this blurriness is coupled with pain, dry eyes, itching or redness.

3. You Have Puffy, Dry Eyes

Puffy eyes can also be caused by allergy symptoms, but also your diet, tear gland problems, styes, infections and other issues. Most causes are easily helped, but could develop into something worse the longer they go untreated.

Dry eyes are usually a result of poor tear production, which in turn can be influenced by age, whether you've had laser surgery, have any tear gland damage or a medical condition that reduces tear production. An exam can help you get relief for dry eyes, but it's also worth it to find the cause.

4. Your Eyes Are Yellow

If you've noticed that your eyes are looking yellow, this could be due to a variety of causes, but it's something you should get examined instead of waiting for it to go away on its own, even if you've experienced it before. Yellowing eyes can be a result of a subconjunctival hemorrhage, hyperbilirubinemia or leptospirosis. Additional symptoms can range from minor itching of the eyes to coughing, a sore throat, headaches and stomach pain if accompanied by an infection.

It's usually a good idea to see your doctor, someone such as Scott T Anderson OD, whenever you are feeling pain or having any vision problems, but you should still schedule complete eye exams on a regular basis.


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