An eye exam can tell you a lot about your overall health. In addition to identifying refractive errors and eye diseases, an exam can help diagnose serious health problems. This is why routine visits to the eye doctor are so important, even for those who don’t wear glasses or contacts.

How often should you get an eye exam? The American Optometric Association (AOA), recommends yearly exams “for persons 18 through 64 years of age to optimize visual function, evaluate eye changes, and provide for the early detection of sight-threatening eye and systemic health conditions.” Your eye doctor can tell you, based on your specific health needs, if you need to come in more often than that.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• The role of eye exams in detecting health conditions
• Eye exams and vision problems
• Eye exams and detection of high blood pressure, diabetes and autoimmune conditions
• What to expect at an eye exam
• Understanding the frequency of eye exams

The Role of Eye Exams in Detecting Health Conditions

Routine eye exams are important because they help us maintain our ocular health. In addition, the AOA states that “an in-person, comprehensive eye exam with a doctor of optometry is the medically recognized standard to assure precise and healthy vision, enabling the doctor to uncover and diagnose more than 270 systemic and chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, glaucoma, macular degeneration, Graves’ disease, autoimmune disorders, and cancer—some of which can be cured or slowed through early diagnosis and treatment.”

While you’re getting your eyes checked, a doctor can detect variations in your blood vessels, optic nerve, or retina that indicate eye disease and other trouble.

Eye exams and vision problems

Routine checkups with the eye doctor make it easier to achieve early detection of vision problems such as:

• Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Hyperopia (farsightedness)
• Glaucoma
• Age-related macular degeneration

Glaucoma is a chronic and progressive eye disease that gradually damages the optic nerve. It can lead to vision loss and blindness. The key to preventing glaucoma-related vision loss is early detection. Treatment may include eye drops, laser treatment, or surgery.

Age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that affects your central vision and can lead to vision loss. Clumps of protein called drusen develop in the macula. This most commonly occurs in people over the age of 50. There are two different forms: dry and wet. Wet macular degeneration is when abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina and can leak fluid or blood. This condition needs treated with anti-VEGF injections.

Eye exams and high blood pressure

The eye is the only part of the body where doctors can view blood vessels and nerve tissue in their natural state. Routine eye exams allow doctors to identify signs of hypertensive retinopathy, which is damage to the retina from high blood pressure, before symptoms of vision loss become noticeable. If optometrists find indications of this problem, they may send patients to their primary physicians for additional testing for high blood pressure and treatment.

Eye exams and diabetes

Routine eye exams allow eye doctors to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy, a condition in which sugar levels damage blood vessels in the retina. It is much easier to manage the disease with early detection and treatment. Two other diabetes-related eye problems that eye exams help diagnose are diabetic macular edema and cataracts.

Eye exams and autoimmune diseases

Several autoimmune conditions are associated with inflammatory eye diseases such as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, uveitis, episcleritis, and scleritis. These are all inflammatory conditions of different structures of the front of the eye. These can be detected and treated during an eye exam.

What to Expect at an Eye Exam

During an annual eye checkup, the doctor performs a comprehensive exam with several tests. Some tests check for refractive errors. Others evaluate your eye health by screening for eye diseases that impact your visual acuity and overall well-being.

Here’s what you can expect when you get an eye exam:

• The technician will document your medical history, including any existing eye problems or family history of eye disease.
• Your visual acuity will be measured with be measured with an eye chart
• Your refractive error, eye muscle motility, pupillary reaction, and confrontation fields will be assessed
• A refraction is performed by looking into a machine called a phoropter in which several choices will be given to fine tune your prescription
• Eye pressure is measured by tonometry
• If warranted, a topography may be obtained to provide a 3D map of the cornea (typically performed for those who have Keratoconus or wear specialty hard contacts)
• A slit lamp exam is provided to assess the anterior and posterior portions of eye. This includes structures such as the cornea, lens, and retina

Understanding the Frequency of Eye Exams

Although the AOA recommends annual eye exams for most people, some patients may need more frequent eye exams. You may need frequent eye exams if any of the following risk factors apply:

• A family history or personal history of eye problems
• A systemic disease, like high blood pressure or obesity
• You engage in work or activity that puts your eyes at risk
• You take medications that present vision-related side effects or symptoms
• You suffer from partial or complete vision loss
• You wear glasses or use contact lenses
• You have a progressive refractive error

Children often begin receiving vision screenings in first grade. However, these screenings are not the same as a comprehensive eye and vision examination by a doctor of optometry. Eye doctors recommend an initial eye exam for children at 6 months, with annual exams after that or annual exams beginning at age 2 or 3. Eye exams for children can help doctors detect eye problems like crossed or lazy eyes.

If you experience any of the following conditions, don’t wait for your next routine checkup — visit your eye doctor immediately:

• Eye pain
• Persistent eye redness, dryness, or itchiness
• Draining of the eye
• Halos around lights
• Double vision
• Flashes of light

Time for an Eye Exam?

The Optometry Department of Florida Medical Clinic provides a full spectrum of optometry services, from routine vision screenings to medical management of various eye conditions. Our team of optometrists is dedicated to helping you take a proactive approach to preventing eye diseases and protecting your eyesight.

To meet all your visual needs, our optometrists collaborate with ophthalmologists and optical surgeons, allowing us to deliver revolutionary eye care. If it’s time for you to have a comprehensive eye exam, call 813-284-2300 or click here to make an appointment with Dr. Chelsey Shepos at a Florida Medical Clinic location in Land o’ Lakes or North Tampa.

Meet Chelsey Shepos, O.D.

A Pittsburgh native, board-certified optometrist Dr. Chelsey Shepos has a wide variety of experience seeing patients in different clinical settings. Dr. Shepos aims to help patients manage their eye health by providing comprehensive, compassionate care.

In addition to providing general eye care services, Dr. Shepos specializes in helping patients with ocular disease, dry eye, and advanced contact lens fittings.