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Eye Health: Preventive Care
Preventive care is important to detect and treat eye diseases as early as possible. Eye conditions that could harm your vision or your family’s vision can happen at any time. You and your family should have eye exams regularly.
The guidelines below are based on the recommendations of the American Academy of Ophthalmology for the frequency of eye exams:
Infants and Toddlers
Ages 0 to 2: Screening during regular pediatric appointments. Infants and Toddlers should be screened for common eye problems, such as strabismus (crossed eyes) and amblyopia (lazy eye) during regular pediatric appointments.
Ages 3 to 5: Screening every one to two years during regular primary care appointments. Vision testing is recommended for all children starting at about three years of age.
Children and Teenagers
Ages 6 to 19: Schedule examinations as needed. Children and teenagers should wear protective eyewear when playing sports, doing yard work, working with chemicals or while doing other activities that could harm their eyes.
Adults
Adults should have a complete eye exam according to the following schedule:
- Ages 20 to 29: one examination.
- Ages 30 to 39: two examinations.
- Ages 40 to 65: examination every two to four years.
- Ages 65 and over: examination every one to two years.
A complete eye exam includes dilating your pupils. This means drops are put into your eyes to enlarge your pupils. When your pupils are dilated, your eye doctor can easily examine the back of your eye.
People with Risk Factors
Check with your eye doctor to see how often you should have a complete eye exam if any of the following risk factors apply to you:
- History of eye injury.
- Diabetes.
- Family history of eye problems.
- African American over age 40.
