Regardless of your age or physical health, it's important to have regular eye exams.
During a complete eye exam, our eye doctors in Winnipeg, MB will not only determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health.
A comprehensive eye exam includes a number of tests and procedures to examine and evaluate the health of your eyes and the quality of your vision. These tests range from simple ones, like having you read an eye chart, to complex tests, such as using a high-powered lens to examine the health of the tissues inside of your eyes.
Eyecare experts in Winnipeg recommend you have a complete eye exam every one to two years, depending on your age, risk factors, and physical condition.
Eye Exams for Children in Downtown Winnipeg, MB
Some experts estimate that approximately 5% to 10% of pre-schoolers and 25% of school-aged children have vision problems. The Candian Association of Optometrists (CAO) suggest that all children should have their eyes examined at 6 months of age, at age 3 and again at the start of school. Our doctors advise annual exams thereafter until the age of 18 even if the child has no visual complaints. Many eye diseases can go undetected and our symptomless until the disease is well-advanced. There is more to vision than 20/20!
Children with existing vision problems or risk factors should have their eyes examined more frequently. Common risk factors for vision problems include:
- premature birth
- developmental delays
- turned or crossed eyes
- family history of eye disease
- history of eye injury
- other physical illness or disease
The AOA recommends that children who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses should have their eyes examined at least every 12 months or according to their eye doctor's instructions.
Annual Eye Exam at Armstrong & Small Eyecare Centre in Winnipeg, MB
We generally advise eye exams every two years for those aged 19 to 64 years of age. Overall health will, however, play a factor with the frequency of eye exams. Patients with a history of diabetes are advised to have annual eye exams. Our doctors will always do their best to provide the family physician of our diabetic patients with a report of their overall oculo-visual status. Other diseases that can impact eye health are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, multiple sclerosis and those patients taking Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine) as a medication. All patients with these risk factors are recommended to have eye exams annually no matter what age they are.
If you are over 40, it's a good idea to have your eyes examined by a professional optometrist in Winnipeg every two years to check for common age-related eye problems such as presbyopia, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
Because the risk of eye disease continues to increase with advancing age, everyone over the age of 60 should be examined annually.
Click here to view the Frequency of Eye Examinations Guideline from the Canadian Association of Optometrists.
