Eye Health Center

Maintaining Good Eye Health

6. Visit Your Eye Doctor Regularly

Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and make sure that you are seeing your best.

Eye exams can also find some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, that have no symptoms. It's important to find these diseases in their early stages, when they're easier to treat. Depending on your eye health needs, you can see either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for an eye exam. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialize in eye care. They can provide general eye care, treat eye diseases, and perform eye surgery. Optometrists have had four years of specialized training after college. They provide general eye care and treat the most common eye diseases. They do not perform eye surgery.

A comprehensive eye exam may include:

• Talking about your personal and family medical history
• Taking vision tests to see if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism (a curved cornea that blurs vision), or presbyopia (age-related vision changes)
• Tests to see how well your eyes work together
• Eye pressure and optic nerve tests to determine if you have glaucoma
• External and microscopic examination of your eyes before and after dilation

You may also need other tests, depending upon your particular case.