Have you been facing problems with your vision lately and you don’t know why? Have your eyes been crying from pain even when you are not spending much screen time?
Well, these could be signs that you need to visit an optometrist as soon as possible. People don’t take their eye exams seriously. They think that it is a waste of their time and money. However, just how you schedule regular health checkups, visiting your eye doctor once every year won’t hurt either.
With the importance of regular eye tests in mind, read further to know the top 7 benefits of comprehensive eye exams.
Benefits of eye exams
Just as you visit your dentist regularly to ensure optimum dental health, make sure you take regular eye exams to see that everything is healthy and working inside your eyes.
1. Improve vision
An eye test includes a general vision screening test. No matter if you have eyesight problems or not, taking an eye test every two years will keep you updated on your ocular health.
Our eyesight degenerates slowly. We won’t always have a 20/20 vision all our life. It makes sense that we visit our eye doctor regularly to know when we need prescription glasses.
Good vision adds to the quality of your life. Daily activities such as driving or reading become so much easier and more fun when your visual performance is excellent.
Poor vision can lead to other physical discomforts such as headaches and neck or shoulder pain. These symptoms are more strongly felt when you have high screen time. To make sure that your vision doesn’t get affected by your screen habits, wear blue light filter glasses.
Blue light glasses reduce vision distortion and discomfort when you are focusing on digital screens. They reduce glare and make screen time unharmful for your eyes.
2. Rule out eye conditions
Eye conditions are vision threatening and barely show up with symptoms. Even when they do, these signs are so subtle that you may not even notice them.
Severe eye disorders such as cataracts, glaucoma or macular degeneration do not occur overnight. They progress slowly and may even lead to vision loss if not treated at the right time.
Eye exams detect even the slightest possibility of the occurrence of these disorders so that they can be corrected with prescription glasses. Early detection of these problems has higher success rates than the ones that are diagnosed when the situation has got out of hand.
3. Up-to-date prescription
If you have vision problems, you are required to undergo an eye exam once every year. If you do so, you will always be equipped with your latest prescription and have the best vision.
Those who don’t update their prescription from time to time often face eyesight issues. Also, using outdated prescriptions can even result in discomforts such as headaches, eye pain and blurry vision.
When you have your latest prescription in hand, you can buy glasses online with the correct optical power whenever you want.
4. Brain health
Not all of our vision problems are related to our eyes. Impaired visual functions can also be a signal of deteriorating mental health or dementia.
As our brain cells and optic nerves are so closely connected, any kind of issue with the brain will reflect on your vision. Regular eye exams will rule out the reason behind your bad vision. If there is found to be a problem with your mental health, your eye doctor will refer you to a neurologist for better treatment options.
5. Cost-effective
Having an eye test won’t rob you of your money. With free eye tests offered by the NHS to the citizens of the UK, you don’t have to pay anything for these exams. The NHS also distributes optical vouchers so you can buy glasses or contact lenses at affordable rates from the optical stores that offer fast delivery on glasses.
Not only this, there are some opticians and eyewear stores in the UK that offer free eye exams to everyone. So, getting your vision tested in the UK is free of cost.
6. Health problems
Eye tests have the power of diagnosing severe health problems such as diabetes, blood pressure or cardiovascular problems. Some health conditions have an impact on our eyesight. Thus, your eye doctor may detect a potential health condition while checking up on the health of your eyes.
7. An overall great health
You can’t live life to its fullest when your eyes are not feeling great. Your vision is an important part of your overall health. It determines the quality of your life and makes you self dependant. Make sure you don’t forget those important appointments with your eye doctor.
