Protecting The Health and Performance of Your Eyes with Annual Exams

Having 20/20 vision is great! Having good eyesight without the need for corrective lenses is amazing! But how can you possibly have eye issues when you can see perfectly fine? Let’s take a closer “look” at eye health and why it’s important to get your eyes checked annually, even if you have perfect vision.
 

The eye has many different components, over 2 million working parts! The most important structures for vision are the cornea, lens, macula, retina, and optic nerve. You need all these features to work together to see clear. If one of these components starts to fail, you could end up with difficulty seeing or have the potential for blindness.
 

Your central vision, 20/20 vision, and color vision comes from the same little area called the macula, which is about 5-6mm in size. The rest of the back of the eye is comprised of vitreous (clear gel in the eye), the optic nerve (connects the eye to the brain), and retina (used for peripheral vision).
 

Certain eye conditions can linger without even knowing. Especially if you have a family history of eye disease. Macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal detachment, cataracts, corneal disease, and retinal disease can all lead to vision loss and blindness. You can have one or more of these conditions and still maintain 20/20 vision with or without glasses. How is that possible?
 

Age related macular degeneration or ARMD, affects your central vision. Some of the first signs of ARMD are little yellow flecks in the macula, called drusen. These signs are observed on comprehensive examination and will start to show up before your vision is affected. If detected early enough, implementing the proper treatment has been shown to slow down the effects of ARMD which can help preserve your central vision.
 

Glaucoma is an optic nerve disease (often referred to as the thief in the night). It affects your peripheral vision until you are left with tunnel vision and ultimately blindness. Today glaucoma can typically be treated with eye drops and can prevent you from losing vision or going blind. Symptoms typically don’t occur until about 70% of your peripheral vision is gone.
 

Retinal holes or tears are often located in the far periphery of the eye. You typically don’t even know they’re there until it turns into a retinal detachment. At that point you are at serious risk of blindness if left untreated. Retinal holes or tears are more easily treated than retinal detachments.
 

Cataracts are cloudiness to the lens inside the eye. They cause subtle vision loss over time, which often goes unnoticed until your vision is greatly reduced. Proper treatment and protection may slow the progression of cataracts, preserving your vision longer.
 

Corneal disease and dystrophies affect the front surface of the eye and might cause clouding or vision loss as well. They are usually genetic traits we inherit. Most conditions are treatable and much easier to fix when they’re detected in the early stages.
 

As you can see, annual eye exams are important to protect the lifelong health and performance of your eyes. With early detection and treatment, you can enjoy a lifetime of being able to see clearly. So, remember to get your eyes checked regularly, once a year, and don’t forget to wear sunglasses with full UV protection when outdoors.