The Importance of Eye Exams
In the last several months, many people have gone without their regular preventative healthcare appointments. Eager to free up staff for more urgent care needs, many healthcare facilities have deferred or canceled preventative visits. For patients anxious to avoid exposure to COVID-19, it was an easy choice to avoid these non-urgent appointments. However, as this pandemic stretches on, it’s important to ensure that you’re taking care of every aspect of your health – not just avoiding the virus.
When it comes to our eye health, regular eye exams are incredibly important. Many of the most common eye conditions are easy to treat, and symptoms can be managed easily. However, if left undiagnosed and untreated, these conditions can worsen, and trigger more severe conditions which may result in macular degeneration and eventual blindness.
Signs You May Need an Eye Exam
The CDC estimates that 50% of all cases of visual impairment and blindness could have been prevented by early intervention. That’s why it’s recommended that most adults over the age of 40 have a dilated eye exam every 1-4 years. If you have diabetes, you should visit your ophthalmologist every year at least to ensure your eye health is on track.
Another reason to seek out an eye exam is if you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms:
- Blurry vision
- Decreased vision
- Eye pain
- Double vision
- Itchy eyes
- A circle (or halo) appearing around lights
- Red eyes
Why Are Regular Eye Exams So Important?
All of the symptoms we listed above may seem minor in isolation, but could be an indication that there are bigger issues at play. The biggest reason why regular eye exams are so important is because of how quickly eye and vision issues can develop undetected. Cataracts, glaucoma, and many other eye diseases have virtually no early symptoms. By the time you’re experiencing noticeable symptoms, it’s already too late to reverse the damage.
Here are some other reasons you should consider getting regular eye exams.
1. They can detect serious health problems
Our eyes and vision don’t exist in isolation. Vision-related symptoms could be a sign of eye disease, or they may be connected to a health issue affecting another area of your body. Diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol all cause visible changes to the blood vessels in our retinas, which can be detected during a simple eye exam.
2. You have diabetes
Annual eye exams are especially important for people with diabetes, prediabetes, or even a family history of the disease. Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication related to diabetes, and is currently the leading cause of blindness in American adults. That’s more than 5 million people in the United States affected by retinopathy. If retinopathy is detected early, it can be managed through diet, exercise, and non-invasive treatments. However, if it’s allowed to progress untreated, it can eventually lead to vision loss in both eyes.
3. They help spot age-related eye conditions
As you hit 40, you’ll start to realize that there are parts of our bodies that don’t work as well as they did when we were 20. That’s true of your eyes, too. Age-related eye conditions like presbyopia or cataracts can occur even if you’re in perfect health. It’s important to identify these conditions early, so they can be treated before they worsen and affect your long-term vision.
Safety Precautions to Take Before Going into a Las Vegas Eye Doctor
Our Las Vegas eye doctors and support staff pride themselves on providing a professional and warm environment for our patients. These days, this also includes taking all necessary safety precautions to protect our patients from COVID-19.
Our employees are armed with plenty of supplies and are cleaning high-touch surfaces like door handles, touchpads, and railings frequently. Our ophthalmologists change or clean their safety equipment between every patient, to make sure there’s no cross-contamination.
We’ve added hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the facility, and at the check-in and check-out counters. Patients must wear face coverings over their nose and mouth while they’re in our facility. When you arrive, feel free to wait in your car until your appointment time, and we’ll call you when we’re ready for you.
We’re doing everything possible to meet and exceed CDC guidelines for safety, cleanliness, and virus prevention. To read more on how we’re handling all clinic-related safety precautions, click here.
At Abrams Eye Institute, We Take Your Health Seriously
The most effective way to treat any eye condition is to have it diagnosed early. Comprehensive eye exams performed by the ophthalmologists in our Las Vegas clinic can help you by diagnosing and treating any eye condition in its infancy.
At Abrams Eye Institute, we provide comprehensive eye exams to diagnose and treat glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, dry eyes, and other typical eye conditions. During our eye exams, we also check for hypertension, which can cause bleeding in the eye.
Don’t wait until your symptoms pile up, or you experience blurry or decreased vision that makes everyday activities unsafe. Come in to see our skilled ophthalmology physicians, and they’ll perform a full eye exam to set your mind at ease. Get in touch today to schedule your appointment.
