Regular Eye Checkup: Importance, What to Expect and Benefits

1. The first eye examinations of a child are done in the sixth month to ensure their visual abilities and help detect abnormalities like strabismus, lazy eyes, ptosis or droopy eyelid, cataract and blocked tear ducts. If not treated at the earliest, these conditions can lead to poor vision or vision loss shortly. 
2. The next eye test is recommended just before starting school when poor eyesight and other eye problems can create discomfort for a child to read what is written in the books or on the board.
3. From 20-39 years of age, an eye test once every 2-4 years is enough to maintain good eye health unless recommended otherwise. 
4. Between 40-64 years of age, eyesight changes and diseases like diabetes and hypertension, potentially affecting vision, are more likely to set in. So schedule a check-up at least once every two years. 
5. At 65 years, a regular eye check-up, once every year after that, is a must. Older adults are at an increased risk of vision loss and other conditions like cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and dry eye syndrome due to insufficient and poor-quality tear production and diabetic retinopathy.

During The Check-up

1. Inquiry About Your Medical History
   1. If this is your first-ever eye check-up, your doctor will ask several questions. Those often include your family history of diseases, the medications you are on at the eye check-up, allergies, your medical history, and whether you have had eye surgery before.
   2. If you wear contact lenses or glasses, you can be asked about their power, for how long you have been wearing them and how that makes you feel.
2. Visual Acuity Test
   1. Through this test, your efficiency of near and distant vision is assessed.
   2. The test is done separately for the right and left eye using lenses of different powers.
   3. ​​​​​​​During the trial, your doctor will see your ability to read alphabets of gradually decreasing size printed on a board fixed at a distance. If required, you will be prescribed contact lenses or glasses at the end of the test to correct your vision.
3. Eye Pressure Assessment
   1. Eye pressure is assessed using a tonometer, and the process is known as tonometry. This is used to evaluate the possible risk of glaucoma in a patient. Tonometry is of two types-applanation tonometry and non-contact tonometry. Before applanation tonometry, your eyes will be numbed with anaesthetic drops. 
   2. However, during non-contact tonometry, no eye-numbing drop is needed as there is no device touching your eyes. The pressure of the eyes is estimated using a puff of air.
4. Dilated Evaluation
   1. During this test, your pupil is dilated by using dilating drops, which can take about an hour to show effect. The dilation allows a better view of the back of your eye, called the fundus. It will enable the doctor to examine your retina, optic nerve and blood vessels.
   2. A  special fundus camera and ophthalmoscope are used during the test. It can help detect age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetes, retinal degeneration, etc. 
   3. However, post a dilated evaluation, you will have blurry vision for some time. Besides, the light will make your eyes uncomfortable. So, confirm with your doctor if they are performing the test on you so that you can make arrangements in advance to return home. 
5. Eye Muscle Test
   1. This is known as extraocular muscle function testing. The purpose of this test is to evaluate if the muscles of the eyes are functioning correctly. During the test, you will be asked to keep your head straight. 
   2. An object 40 centimetres from your face will be moved in different directions, usually eight. You will be asked to trace the object's motion with your eyes without moving your head. 
   3. A cover/uncover test might be performed. You will be asked to focus on a distant object during the trial. One of your eyes will be covered for a few seconds. You will be asked to continue focusing on the thing even after it is uncovered. The movement of the eye after getting revealed is assessed for problems.
6. Slit-lamp Examination
   1. The slit-lamp examination is primarily done to evaluate the front part of your eyes. The slit-lamp is a binocular microscope and uses a narrow, intense beam of light to augment the anatomical features of the eye.
   2. Clear 3-D images allow the doctor to evaluate the eyelids, skin around your eyes, sclera, iris, cornea and eye lens. A special dye is used to stain different eye structures and detect abnormalities easily. 
   3. When used with an ophthalmoscope, the retina can also be evaluated. However, before that, the pupils must be dilated using dilating eye drops to allow a detailed view. 
7. Perimetry
   1. Perimetry assesses the visual field of a person. Visual field refers to the maximum extent in your periphery to which you can see while focusing on a central point. Perimetry is of two types- Goethe dmann field exam and automated perimetry. 
   2. A screen is placed 3 feet away from the patient in Goldmann perimetry. The patient is asked to focus on an object and report when that moves into peripheral vision.
   3. In automated perimetry, the patient needs to focus on an object present in the middle of a concave dome they are made to sit in front of. They are asked to press a button in response to observing flashes of light.
   4. Perimetry can help detect eye diseases like optic nerve damage, neuropathy and scotomas. 
8. Refraction Test
   1. This test is used to detect the refractive error in your eyes. The result of this test determines whether you need corrective glasses or contact lenses or not. You will be asked to look through a refractor device during the trial.
   2. The device can move lenses of different power to your view.
   3. Through the lenses, you will focus on an eye chart placed six metres apart and report the clarity of your vision. After that, your doctor shines light into your eyes through a specialised device and draws conclusions based on the type of refraction observed.
   4. You will have a typical vision if light focuses on the retina after refraction. Otherwise, you will need corrective glasses or contact lenses. This test can detect conditions like myopia, presbyopia, corneal infections, astigmatism, retinal detachment etc.

Your doctor might also recommend some follow-up tests if they detect any possible disease. Those will, however, not be a part of the routine eye check-up.

After The Check-up

After all the tests have been performed, your doctor will discuss the results with you. That will give you insight into the strength of your vision, the risk of diseases, and whether you will be required to implement vision correction measures to incorporate to maintain optimal eye health.

1. To Detect The Onset Of Life-threatening Diseases
   1. A closer look gives the ophthalmologist an insight into your general health. Several severe diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia can be detected early during an eye check-up. 
   2. This not only gives you a chance to save your eyes from the harm those diseases can cause but also to take preventive measures and manage their progression, which can be fatal if left untreated. 
2. To Manage Inherited Eye Diseases
   1. Some eye problems have a genetic basis and are inherited through generations. These include cataracts, glaucoma, colour blindness, strabismus, age-related macular degeneration, etc.
   2. If you have a family history of these diseases, you are at an increased risk of developing the same. In that case, it is imperative to have regular eye check-ups done so that they can be detected and corrected before they start affecting your vision.
3. To Make Day-to-day Life Comfortable
   1. Vision is amongst one of the senses. However, when it deteriorates, the quality of life is severely hampered. Therefore, a regular check-up can help with the early diagnosis, leading to the implementation of effective corrective measures. Even if it is just an altered power of your eye lenses, delayed diagnosis can put you through days of discomfort, headache, eye pain, and blurred vision.
4. In addition, conditions like astigmatism, dryness of the eyes, allergy, and itching in the eyes are competent enough to bring down the quality of life. Early detection will ensure better management of such conditions and enhance comfort in your day-to-day life. Moreover, during a regular check-up, your doctor will also discuss healthy foods for your eyes and lifestyle changes you can incorporate for better eye health.