#Eye Exam: Have You Had One Recently?
#Eye Exam: Have You Had One Recently?
I don’t about you, but I tend not to get an eye exam unless I am having trouble seeing. Yes. I am bad. How do you practice good preventive care if you don’t get an exam? Big sigh…
When we are younger eye exams go hand-in-hand with having to have your yearly physicals and vaccinations for school. But when we are adults no one requires us to take care of ourselves. It is still a choice. Many health care plans offer discounts if you follow their preventive care and get those physicals done.
I find that older adults, like me, typically don’t get preventative care. They see their physician if they have a problem.
My eyes are unique. Seriously… There are very few people who have my eye conditions. I have to see an eye specialist who not only understands my conditions, but knows how to both treat them and how to look for anything unusual.
Kansas City Eye Clinic
Photo Credit: Kansas City Eye Clinic website
When I began looking for an ophthalmologist in my area I found the Kansas City Eye Clinic. They either offer the services I need or they refer out to those who do. They do not refer out much because they have so many specialists onsite.
I made what I thought would be a routine eye exam appointment. I went through all the normal testing. Then my doctor began to discuss with me what she found. First and foremost we agreed that because of my conditions we needed to establish a baseline to refer back to for future exams. She will request my past records to see if anything was noted on them regarding the conditions she found. I also scheduled another follow up appointment for further testing.
Until all the testing is completed we will not know if treatment for certain findings is indicated. I am not having a problem right now so it is early stages if it is an issue.
Once we have all of the above mentioned items addressed I will also know what my future treatment options are, if any are necessary.
I was surprised by some of the findings, not surprised by others. This exam really drove home the point that having regular eye exams should be part of my preventative health care. Once you begin losing your sight it is really too late to address some of the issues that cause loss of sight.
One of the eye diseases that is tested for is Glaucoma. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States according to the Mayo Clinic. By the time you experience symptoms it is basically too late to do anything about it. The only way to know is to be tested. That’s why routine eye exams are crucial.
Most of us take our sight for granted until it is threatened. How important is your sight to you?
Until next time…
Geek Grandma
Cheryl, I hope all the testing comes back with good results. But you drove home a point…it's time to get me into the eye doc. It's been a few years…I should know better. I cannot image being sightless and you are so right that we take sight for granted. Even folks like me who have been wearing corrective lenses since childhood. Be well my friend.
I have exams scheduled in 2 weeks for mom and I both. I’m worried about her having Glaucoma but because of the RA medicine I take it’s important to check once a year to make sure it hasn’t damaged my eyes and because I can tell my eyes are getting worse. So I’m thinking stronger reading glasses are now needed. Great advice October seems to be the time to get everything checked at once.
One of my beliefs is that if I don't have my health, in every way, nothing else – nothing – matters. I have annual exams for general health, including eye exams. Sometimes my eye exams were twice a year because I used to wear contact lenses more than I do now and that required this. Spot on Cheryl – preventative!
Having had glasses since I was literally a baby, my eyesight is one thing I definitely don’t take for granted. I’m quite sure a lot of people don’t realize that there are preventative measures that can be taken to prevent loss of vision and just accept it as part of aging. Hopefully people read this and share it like crazy so people will think to include vision screening in their yearly health exams.
It's good you're going to the eye doctor to get everything checked out. I've been wearing contacts since the end of fifth grade, so that means I've never missed a yearly appointment. My eyes were always strong up until about six months ago, but I've always been pretty blind (as in can't see the big E on the chart). Turns out my computer habits are affecting my vision, so much that my contacts have been increased a whole unit of power plus I need to try to rest my eyes more often.
Used to have perfect eye sight but a few years ago had to start using reading glasses. And it works very well. Had my eyes examined by a doctor a few years ago and they didn't find any problems. Am certain, however, if I have an optician check my eyes I would end up with expensive glasses. Do I need them?