The Fidelis Care Blog

• Once between birth to 12 months of age
• At least once between the ages of 3 and 5
• Annually for everyone ages 6 and older

An eye exam can detect if a child needs eyeglasses or contact lenses. It is recommended that all school-age children get an eye exam in the summer before they start each new school year, or as needed during the year.

 

During an eye exam, your eye doctor will do tests to look at the health of your eyes. An eye exam can tell a lot about your general health. It can reveal serious problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration. Eye doctors can provide proper corrective eye wear, including contact lenses as necessary. Your eye doctor will assess:

• Visual acuity measures how well you can see details at a specific distance
• Binocular vision is how well both eyes work together to see one picture
• Depth perception is your ability to understand how far away things are from you
• Color vision is the ability to see and understand different colors
• Peripheral vision is what you see out of the corner of your eye

Diabetic Eye Exams Can Help Prevent Damage

For patients who have diabetes, an annual diabetic eye exam is important to monitor for possible issues with your eyes. Diabetes is a condition that prevents the body from using and storing sugar properly. As a result, excess amounts of sugar remain in the blood. If uncontrolled, it can cause damage to the small blood vessels all over the body, including those in your eyes. The damage can lead to two conditions that can become sight threatening:

• Diabetic Retinopathy occurs when the blood vessels inside the eye start to leak blood and fluid into the retina, causing damage and vision loss.
• Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a complication of diabetic retinopathy and occurs when the center of the retina (macula) swells. The macula is responsible for your central and color vision. When the macula swells, it damages the blood vessels and can cause vision loss.

Early detection and treatment are crucial to prevent permanent damage to your eyesight. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes have a higher risk of diabetic retinopathy, but those with controlled diabetes are still at risk. For this reason, eye doctors recommend annual diabetic eye exams for early detection of the disease. Regular monitoring is important to detect any changes in your eyes as early as possible for the best treatment options and outcome.

Overall, annual eye exams are an important part of your healthcare. Get regular checkups to take care of your eye health and find any vision problems early.

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For active Fidelis Care members seeking additional information, please visit our Vision Care Resources page.