Whenever I meet people and they find out what I do for a living, people who haven’t been to see an optometrist for many years (or who have never been!) often try to rationalize that decision to me.
“No one in my family wears glasses.”
“I can see just fine!”
“If I have a problem seeing then I’ll come in and see you.”
Those objections are so frustrating to a eye health professional! The one thing all of those statements have in common is that the person says that they see just fine so why see an eye doctor? Nobody is thinking about the health of their eye! If you’ve been reading my blog, you already know that there are so many diseases that affect the eye that do not cause vision problems (at least not in the earliest stages). That’s not even mentioning the many diseases that affect your whole body that we can see in the eye. In previous blogs I’ve talked about things like Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration and the importance of early detection and intervention. There are a host of other diseases that can also show up in the eye - things like Diabetes, MS, certain types of cancer , high blood pressure, high cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis and more.
So how often should you come to see an optometrist? Yearly eye exams are what I always recommend. Why? The reason is that even if your vision hasn’t changed or seems fine we need to keep an eye on your health (pun intended)! A lot of people seem to think yearly eye exams just aren’t that important because they haven’t noticed a problem. When someone tells me that I ask them how their teeth are. Are they still chewing well? Did they still see a dentist this year or even in the last six months? The answer is of course they did! Even if their teeth seem fine they get them checked because there might be a cavity or another issue they weren’t aware of. In surveys, the ability to see consistently ranks among the most highly valued abilities that we have and loss of vision one of the most terrifying disabilities. When you know that most eye disease has no symptoms and you could lose your vision by not having regular eye exams why would you not schedule a yearly check?
We would love to see you at Eye Spy Optometry and we try to make appointments easy. We offer evening, weekend and early morning hours. You can call us at (403) 474-6744 to book an appointment or you can book online here! We try to make ourselves easy to contact and you can reach us on on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.
For more information about the importance of yearly eye exams check out these links!
All About Vision - Why Are Eye Exams Important
Doctors of Optometry - The Eye Exam
American Optometric Association - Comprehensive Eye and Vision Examination