Ocular Health Testing Does not include an updated glasses prescription.
Routine eye exams are important, regardless of your age or physical health. During an ocular health exam, your eye doctor will 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.
We recommend you have a complete eye exam every year to assess your risk for potentially damaging eye conditions, as well as to keep on top of any changes in vision you may be experiencing.
Eye Care for Everyone in Victoria & Nanaimo
How Often Do You Need to See the Optometrist, Based on Age?
The CAO recommends an annual eye exam for any patient with a prescription. If you don’t normally need vision correction, you still need an eye exam every year. Doctors often recommend more frequent eye examinations for people with diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders, because many diseases can have an impact on vision and eye health.
Since the risk of eye disease continues to increase with advancing age, everyone over the age of 50 should be examined annually.
If you are over 40, it’s a good idea to have your eyes examined every one to two years to check for common age-related eye problems such as presbyopia, cataracts and macular degeneration.
Eye Exams for Children
Some experts estimate that approximately 5% to 10% of pre-schoolers and 25% of school-aged children have vision problems. According to the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO), all children should have their eyes examined at 6 – 9 months of age and again between the ages of 2 and 5. School aged children between the ages of 6 – 19 should then continue to have their eyes examined every year throughout school.
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 CAO recommends that children who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses should have their eyes examined at least every 12 months or according to their optometrist’s instructions.
Schedule an Eye Doctor’s Appointment
Contact our eye care clinic to schedule an eye exam near you, today.