Eye Exams: What You Need to Know

The best way to make sure you have healthy eyes and optimum vision is by having regular comprehensive eye exams. At Vision Professionals of Leawood, we recommend our smallest patients have exams at three years and again right before they start school.

Children and adults with no vision problems can visit our office for an exam once every three years, but once you turn 40 we'll want to see you every year. Exams aren't just for checking visual acuity; the checks we do after finding your eyeglass prescription can find developing eye diseases long before you notice any symptoms.

Things We Look For

The beginning of every eye examination is a test for visual acuity, or the ability to see things around you clearly. Our optometrist will be able to find out if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. He'll also look for physical problems like amblyopia, or lazy eye, misaligned eyes, or problems tracking moving objects.

After checking your eyes' abilities, we'll check the health of your eyes. Many serious eye diseases begin and grow long before they cause any noticeable symptoms. If left untreated, these diseases can eventually cause serious damage or blindness. Some of the conditions we look for are:

• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Macular degeneration
• Diabetic retinopathy

Most of our patients are surprised with their diagnosis since they didn't notice any changes in their vision, but early diagnosis is actually a good thing. The earlier our doctor finds signs of the disease, the more successful treatment can be for delaying or preventing progression of any of these conditions. With proper treatment and lifestyle changes, we can slow the development of most eye diseases, giving you years more time with clear eyesight before having to consider surgery.

Dilation

Some patients object to having their eyes dilated because it can cause extreme sensitivity to light, but it's important for allowing our optometrist to see the entire interior of your eyeballs. If you have problems dealing with dilation, we're happy to allow you to stay in our office until it begins to wear off, or we can give you temporary dark glasses to block out the majority of the sun's rays. If you still have problems, ask someone to come with you to drive you home.

Make an Appointment Today

If you haven't had your eyes examined in a while, it may be time. Call our office at 913-239-9446 to schedule an appointment today.