You feel perfectly comfortable with your vision and might be delaying your regular visit to the eye doctor. But do you know that at this moment you might have an undetected eye problem?
“Many eye diseases have no early warning signs,” says Dr. Janine Austin Clayton of NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. “You may not notice anything. So it’s critical to have your eyes examined on a regular basis.”
Sometimes eye disorders like diabetic eye disease or glaucoma are detected too late. This makes it impossible to regain lost vision. Having regular eye checkup can help in early detection of problems. This can help in reversing or halting such problems that could otherwise lead to visual impairment or blindness.
According to a study conducted by NIH’s National Eye Institute, more than 11 million Americans have uncorrected refractive errors. It is quite possible that people suffering from refractive errors may not realize that they are not seeing properly. A Comprehensive dilated eye examination can detect this error and treat the problem through corrective eyewear.
Comprehensive dilated eye exam conducts a variety of tests and procedures. These test and procedures help in checking the overall health of your eyes and quality of vision. Some tests that are conducted in a comprehensive dilated exam are — retinopathy, slit-lamp examination (gives magnified view of the eye structures), refraction, tonometry (glaucoma testing) etc.
It is suggested that regular eye checkup is important for everyone — people having family history of eye disease, diabetics, African Americans over 40 years of age and those who are over 60 years.
If you have not had eye examination for sometime, it is the time to do that. Healthy vision can help you enjoy life and keep you safe when you are driving or participating in recreational activities. Most important is, once you lose your vision, nothing can replace it.
