Everyone, even young children, should get their eyes examined regularly. It helps you protect your sight and see your best. Eye exams can also find some eye diseases, such as glaucoma, that have no symptoms. It's important to find these diseases early on, when they're easier to treat.
Depending on your eye health needs, you can see either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for an eye exam. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialise in eye care. They can provide general eye care, treat eye diseases, and perform eye surgery. Optometrists have had years of specialised training after college. They provide general eye care and treat the most common eye diseases. They don't do eye surgery.
A comprehensive eye exam might include:
• Talking about your personal and family medical history
• Taking vision tests to see if you have nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism (a curved cornea that blurs vision), or presbyopia (age-related vision changes)
• Tests to see how well your eyes work together
• Eye pressure and optic nerve tests to check if you have glaucoma
• External and microscopic examination of your eyes before and after dilation
