It’s so easy for most people to ignore a very important fact. The human body is not bionic and needs maintenance.
If you do go for annual physical checkups and regular dental checks, you also need to go for regular eye checkups as well. If you don’t, well, you need to start. All of them. However, unlike going to your dentist, you don’t need to schedule an eye exam every six months.
Unless you have already been diagnosed with a problem, you can visit your optician at least every two years. If you suffer from illnesses like diabetes and other ocular diseases, you should have checkups more often. An eye exam can actually reveal a lot about your overall health.
There are certain signs and symptoms that mean you may need that checkup sooner rather than later. Here are 5 clues that should show you need an eye exam.
1. You Have Blurry Vision
Blurry and unfocused vision is one of the first signs you have an eyesight problem. This is usually a minor thing that most people live with for a long time before taking any step. If you wear contact lenses or prescription glasses, blurriness could mean that you need an update.
When you find that you squint your eyes so as to you need to see something clearly, then your vision is blurry and needs professional attention. If your eyes get blurry or you lose focus in either one or two eyes all of a sudden, it may be due to an underlying health problem.
This could be an even bigger issue, so you need to address it as soon as possible. If you find it hard to read a book or a road sign and you need to get up close, then you may be getting short-sighted and it could be a sign you need glasses.
2. Difficulty Seeing During the Night
If it’s been getting harder and harder for you to see clearly during the night, especially when driving, you need to go for an eye exam. You may be suffering from a cataract development, which is dangerous if not addressed.
Cataract development is not the only cause of night blindness so it could be other reasons. This is why you need to have an eyesight test.
Most people suffering from night blindness have clear vision inadequate lighting, and even though it’s not complete blindness, it could be very limiting. It may be caused by deterioration caused by the aging process. With time, the eyes become cloudy and less clear.
3. Having a Hard Time at the Computer
If you spend a lot of your time behind a computer screen, which a lot of people do, you may experience tired eyes, eye strain, and computer vision syndrome. The eyes react quite different from paper prints compared to computer prints. This causes computer vision syndrome.
All words and images on a screen are created using pixels, which tend to be bright at the center and get dark at the edges. This makes it hard for your eyes to stay focused and they drift off to the resting point of accommodation.
The RPA is the plane of the screen and your eyes move to it in order to refocus on the screen. This continuous flexing of your eye muscles creates strain and resorts into eye problems.
4. Frequent and Persistent Headaches
This one is the most underrated reasons for people going for eye checkups. If you have frequent headaches, it may be a sign of vision problems. Most of the time, vision changes happen very slowly, and it may be undetectable at first.
This is one of the reasons why a lot of people rule out eye problems when they suffer from headaches. However, a headache should be taken seriously, especially when it becomes a reoccurrence, and it could mean that you need to have an eye exam.
The major reason why your headaches are caused by eye problems is that the mechanism of your cornea is failing, and your muscles are forced to work harder. Sometimes being in an overly bright area or staring at the screen too long may be the reason.
Some of the eye problems that could lead to headaches include astigmatism, farsightedness, presbyopia, and nearsightedness. It may also be more serious eye conditions like cataracts and glaucoma. Having an eye exam is the only sure way to rule out these possibilities.
5. Experiencing Double Vision
Double vision, also known as diplopia, could occur in either one or both of your eyes. The causes of diplopia range from very minor to major issues that may need immediate attention. Monocular double vision, which affects one of your eyes, means that you can see normally once you close the affected eye.
It could be caused by astigmatism, dry eye, or a cornea illness like keratoconus. If you have a lazy eye, also known as amblyopia, it may significantly decrease your vision if you don’t have it treated during childhood.
Abnormalities of your cornea, retina, nerves, and even your brain may also be the reason for your double vision. If you develop cataracts in your eyes, then you may also suffer from diplopia. This is easy to correct with a cataract eye surgery though.
If you suffer from a double vision in both eyes, known as binocular double vision, your eyes point at different angles and send different images to your brain. It becomes difficult for it to create one clear image, which results in two different images. If you notice this, as slight as it may be, you need to visit optometrist services to determine the cause of your problem.
Be Sure to Go for an Eye Exam Before It’s Too Late
The five signs listed above are some of the most common, and usually the first symptoms you may notice, but they are more signs you should be aware of. One of the reasons might be you have been experiencing eye pressure, you may be at risk of glaucoma.
You might realize that you’re seeing flashes of light or floaters, it may be a retinal tear, which may be an indication of a serious eye disorder. All these are signs that you need to have an eye exam as soon as you can.
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