6 Reasons to Visit an Ophthalmologist Regularly

Although you might see a primary physician or dentist every year for routine procedures or checkups, you might often skip seeing your ophthalmologist. However, this is a mistake because a variety of health problems pertaining to your eyes can develop suddenly and progress without ever showing a symptom. If a problem becomes worse over two or three years until you finally notice problems in your vision, correcting the problem might be impossible.

Glasses

If you wear glasses, you will benefit from a regular checkup during which your eye doctor will be able to assess your lenses and determine if the current prescription still offers maximum clarity. Because your eye lenses and the shape of your eyes can change over time, a particular type of lens might not work as well after a year. Detecting such changes early can help you enjoy your books, movies, and road signs.

Blood pressure

Ocular tension can be a problem that can progress over time until it reaches the point your vision is put at serious risk. Although the symptoms for this type of eye problem might be noticeable, people often dismiss headaches or eye pain as stemming from stress or even lack of caffeine. More importantly, the increased blood pressure in your eye cannot be cured, but the problems you experience can be somewhat decreased with treatment.

Eye health

If you do not have glasses and do not ever want to have them, it is important to have your vision checked regularly because an eye doctor might be able to detect problems early on and issue corrective lenses that help eradicate slight problems in your eyes. Similarly, your doctor can identify if one eye is worse than the other. Many people who initially wear glasses find their eyes become fixed after wearing the glasses for six months or even a year.

Underlying health problems

Often, when you see a doctor, you are seeing him or her for a particular problem. Consequently, other problems might go undiagnosed if you are not complaining about a particular set of symptoms. However, an eye doctor’s exam actually uncovers a variety of potential problems with your health, and these problems include the following serious diseases or disorders.

Additionally, an eye exam can also uncover such things as brain tumors. The reason an eye exam works so well at uncovering existing problems is that the blood vessels and nerves in your eyes show indications of problems elsewhere in the body. Because these problems are often missed in a physician’s visit, you could end up going years without knowing you are in danger of dying.

Once a problem is diagnosed, a physician like Dr Cameron McLintok Ophthalmologist can then refer you to a physician for a more thorough body exam. Additionally, depending on your family history, eye cancer is something that an eye doctor can catch, and this disease is one you want to catch before it spreads throughout your body.

Blindness

Obviously, you would notice if you were going blind. However, this supposition is actually false because such diseases as glaucoma can steal your vision, and you will never really suspect anything until the problem is far too advanced. A routine visit to your eye doctor can help diagnose such problems and your doctor can offer you preventative measures that you can take to keep the problem from getting out of hand.

The important thing about glaucoma is that the damage it causes is irreversible, but it is preventable. In fact, if you diagnose it soon, your eye doctor can prescribe you some medical eye drops to help you, or he can prescribe medicine that you can take by mouth.

Eye strain

In today’s electric world, most people stare at their cellphones or computers for hours at a time. The light from these objects can cause eye strain, and this eye strain can develop into such things as headaches. Although eye strain is not as damaging as other problems, it can be a source of daily discomfort if you are bent over your phone playing games or chatting. Your eye doctor can give you advice to help lessen headaches or help alleviate dry eyes.

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Elizabeth Marks is a renowned leader in the space of Health and Mental Wellness topics. Her work has appeared on more than a dozen influential sites and blogs. Her articles both focus on providing valuable information and an entertaining read that her readers enjoy. More about her work on – ELIZABETHMARKS.me