Comprehensive Eye Exams
Eye Exams in Edmonton
Regardless of your age or physical health, it’s important to have regular comprehensive eye exams. 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 diseases or ailments, 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. Vision by Design Optometry also has specialized equipment that allows us to monitor for diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts.
We recommend annual eye exams even if your vision is stable, as it allows us to monitor for diseases of the back of the eye, which often do not have any symptoms in the early stages.
Children’s Eye Exam Appointment
Some experts estimate that approximately 5% to 10% of preschoolers and 25% of school-aged children have vision problems. According to the Alberta Optometry Association, all children should have their eyes examined at 6 months of age, and then annually. Getting an annual exam appointment is recommended to monitor your child’s vision and ocular health. Often children will not complain of vision problems, so early detection is the key to successful treatment.
Children without vision problems or risk factors should have more frequent routine eye exams.
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 illnesses or diseases.
The Alberta Optometry Association
The Alberta Optometry Association (AOA) recommends that children who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses should have their eyes examined at least every 12 months or according to their eye doctor’s instructions.
For adults the AOA recommends annual exams for all adults if you wear glasses or contact lenses. If you do not wear glasses or contact lenses annual exams are still recommended as they allow us to monitor for diseases of the back of the eye which may not always have symptoms in the early stages. Doctors often recommend more frequent examinations for adults with diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders, because many diseases can have an impact on vision and eye health.
If you are over 40, it’s a good idea to have your eyes examined annually 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 60 should be examined annually. Taking charge of your eye treatment will help you maintain the best eye health possible now and in the future.
Clinic Gallery
