Can’t remember the last time you had an eye exam or saw your eye doctor? Trust us when we say this is not a good thing! But why do you need eye exams?

The health of your eyes is extremely important, especially if you want to be able to see. Keep reading to learn why you need eye exams!

1. Eye exams ensure that your prescriptions are up to date

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, you already know the importance of having an up to date prescription. This is necessary whether you’re nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism.

There’s almost nothing worse than walking around with a prescription that isn’t up to date! If you do wear glasses or contacts, you should see your eye doctor annually for an eye exam.

Your eye exam will allow them to check your eyes and make sure your prescription is current. If your eyes have changed or gotten worse, this is something you want to be reflected in your glasses, contacts, or both if you wear them.

2. Eye exams lead to early detection of other eye conditions

When you have a comprehensive eye exam with your ophthalmologist, they will check the back of your eye. This is only possible by dilating the pupils.

By dilating the pupils, your ophthalmologist can see everything that is going on inside of the eye. Having annual eye exams is a crucial part of detecting other eye conditions.

This includes conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. With these conditions, early detection is key because it leads to early treatment.

Often, this can mean avoiding vision loss or halting the progression of it. Without comprehensive eye exams, these conditions worsen and progress further.

3. Eye exams can lead to the treatment of dry eye symptoms

Do your eyes feel dry, scratchy, or irritated? Do you find it difficult to wear contact lenses?

These are some of the most common symptoms of dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome is a chronic condition that affects millions of people each year.

Sure, there are things that you can do on your own to help your dry eye, but you need an eye doctor to confirm if you have dry eye. Before this point, you can increase your water intake, use eye drops and artificial tears, or try to limit your screen time.

But after a certain point, you may find that these natural treatment options just don’t cut it anymore. If you get to this point, your eye doctor can perform an eye exam, taking special care examining your tear ducts, eyelids, and how you blink.

They will also examine your cornea, the interior of your eye, and measure the quality of your tear film. For many people, dry eye occurs because the tears being produced are low-quality or you are not producing enough tears.

If your ophthalmologist determines you have dry eye, they can recommend treatment options. How your dry eye is treated depends on the severity of symptoms and the root cause of the condition.

4. If you want a procedure like LASIK, an eye exam is necessary

Considering a vision correction procedure like LASIK? You’ll first need to have a comprehensive eye exam before you can move forward.

This is something that’s done during a LASIK consultation. Although it’s not technically an eye exam, it is one of the most important steps to determining if someone is a candidate for the procedure.

To get LASIK, you must qualify for a series of factors, including age, health, and other things. Examining your eyes is important because if you are a good candidate for LASIK, your LASIK surgeon needs measurements of your eyes.

During LASIK, the cornea is permanently reshaped. This is what lets refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism be fully corrected.

These measurements include your current prescription, as well as corneal thickness. The eye exam taken during your LASIK consultation may be the most comprehensive eye exam you ever have!

Don’t expect to be in and out in half an hour because it may take a few hours to accurately measure every inch of your eyes. This is one of the most delicate parts of the procedure.

If any of the measurements are off even a little, it could mean your vision is not completely corrected.

5. Getting an eye exam is the perfect opportunity for new frames

When you come in for your annual eye exam, it’s also the perfect time to get new frames. Wearing glasses can be a great way to express your individuality and style!

Since you’re already at your eye exam and seeing your eye doctor, why not stop into the optical shop for a new pair? It never hurts to have a spare pair of glasses, especially if you only have one pair.

If you mainly wear contacts but have an old pair of glasses as a back-up, you aren’t doing your eyes any favors. Having a new pair of glasses is a good idea, especially if you deal with allergies during allergy season.

Wearing contacts all the time during allergy season can tire your eyes out and lead to further irritation. It never hurts to have a plan B that is in good shape and easy to execute, like a cute pair of glasses!

Your eyes will also be better off if you take the time to take a break from contacts for a day or two during allergy season.

Are you still concerned about when your last eye exam was? Schedule an eye exam with the experts at Sugiki Portis Yim Eye Center in Honolulu, HI today and get your eyes on the path to happiness!