How Often Should You Get an Eye Exam? | Blog

An eye exam is a powerful tool that can improve and protect your vision for the rest of your life. But it can be hard to know exactly how often you should get your eyes checked, and there’s some conflicting information out there.

Here’s what the top eye doctors want you to know:

How Often Should Adults Get Eye Exams?

The leading group of optometrists in the United States (the American Optometric Association, or AOA) recommends that all healthy adults get a routine, comprehensive eye exam every year. This is generally the same no matter how old you are.

The AOA’s recommendation only applies if you aren’t at higher risk for certain eye conditions or if your vision or eye health hasn’t changed. Call an eye doctor if you think something is wrong with your eyes or eyesight — don’t wait for your annual eye exam.

Some people need more frequent eye exams

People with certain conditions or risk factors might have to go to the eye doctor more often. Follow-up visits can help an optometrist or ophthalmologist monitor your eyes for changes and start treatment as soon as possible.

Your eye doctor might want to check your eyes more often if you have:

A high level of nearsightedness or other refractive error

An eye disease

A family history of eye disease

A health condition like diabetes or high blood pressure

A previous eye surgery

A past eye injury

Latino ancestry, Black ancestry, or other high-risk backgrounds

Medications that can affect your eyes

These aren’t the only reasons you might need more checkups each year. Your eye doctor and medical team can look at your personal history and talk to you about how often you should get an eye exam.

How Often Should Children Get Eye Exams?

Even basic eye problems in kids can lead to other issues if they aren’t diagnosed early on. An eye doctor can prescribe kids’ glasses or other corrective lenses to give your child the best chance at lifelong, clear vision.

If a child doesn’t have any other known risk factors, the AOA asks parents to follow this schedule:

Infants – One eye exam between 6 and 12 months old.

3 to 5 years old – At least one eye exam during this period.

6 to 18 years old – One eye exam before first grade, then annual eye exams after that.

Remember, these are recommendations for in-person comprehensive eye exams with an eye doctor. While a vision screening is a helpful tool, it is typically very basic. It won’t catch many conditions that affect the physical health of their eyes.

Children with certain eye conditions or a higher risk of developing them may need to get exams more often.

Eye doctors, family physicians, pediatricians, or other medical professionals may also conduct basic assessments between eye exams, such as:

A basic test of eye reflexes shortly after a baby is born.

A check for problems with eye alignment and other eye conditions, typically between ages 1 and 3.

Routine vision screenings at school or community events.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommends scheduling a complete eye exam if:

You see any signs your child may need glasses or suspect any other eye problems.

Your child fails a vision test or screening.

Their vision test is inconclusive or can’t be finished.

Their pediatrician, school nurse, or other medical professional recommends it.

Your child has a learning, developmental, behavioral, or psychological condition or disability.

Why Are Eye Exams So Important?

Optometrists and ophthalmologists use eye exams to check for problems related to your eyes, vision, or even overall health.

Many issues are straightforward to correct and treat. But if the condition is more serious, catching it early during an annual eye exam could help preserve your vision.

A yearly eye exam helps your eye doctor diagnose:

Common vision problems

Refractive errors are the most common vision problem in the world. Prescription eyeglasses, contacts, or reading glasses can help most people with refractive errors see clearly.

There are four main refractive errors:

Nearsightedness – Distant objects look more blurry.

Farsightedness – Closer objects look blurry.

Astigmatism – Both near and far objects could look blurry.

Presbyopia – It gets harder to focus on close-up objects as you get older (usually sometime in your 40s).

Conditions like cataracts can be diagnosed during an eye exam, too. This common clouding inside the eye usually affects older people, but it can happen at any age.

Potentially serious eye conditions

Some eye conditions don’t cause noticeable symptoms until they damage your eyesight.

With early diagnosis and treatment, many eye problems can be cured. If the disease is longer-lasting (chronic), early treatment and management can help slow or stop its progression.

Your eye doctor will look for these and other potentially vision-threatening problems during your exam:

Glaucoma

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Diabetic retinopathy

If your eye doctor finds signs of a chronic or severe eye problem that needs specialty care, they may refer you to an ophthalmologist (medical eye doctor) or other specialist.

Seemingly unrelated health problems

Despite its name, an eye exam can also tell you a lot about the rest of your body.

Some people find out they have a health problem (or are at risk for one) when they go to the eye doctor. This can help them get medical care much earlier than they might have otherwise.

Your eye doctor may be able to see signs of conditions like these when you get your eyes checked:

Diabetes

High blood pressure

Heart disease

High cholesterol

Disorders that affect your blood vessels

Lyme disease

Sickle cell disease

Certain autoimmune diseases

Some sexually transmitted diseases

Some cancers

Your eye doctor can refer you to another doctor or specialist if they see any signs of these problems.

Signs You Need an Eye Exam

Schedule an eye exam if you notice one or more of these symptoms:

Blurry vision

Squinting your eyes to see more clearly

Tired or sore eyes, especially after focusing on something for a while

Difficulty focusing on a book, cell phone, and other close-up objects

Headaches

Glare or halos around lights

Double vision

These can be signs that you need new glasses or can be caused by an underlying health condition, even when your symptoms seem mild.

If you have a common refractive error like nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, new glasses can give you sharper vision and make your eyes feel more comfortable.

More urgent eye symptoms

Some symptoms may be caused by a severe eye problem that needs quick treatment. Visit an optometrist or ophthalmologist as soon as possible if:

Your eye begins to hurt a lot

You injure your eye

You suddenly lose part or all of your vision

You have any other sudden eyesight changes, like sudden blurriness or flashes of light

These symptoms don’t always mean there’s a serious problem, but it’s usually best to get your eyes checked to make sure. New or sudden pain or changes in vision need attention right away. When in doubt, don’t wait to ask an eye doctor or other medical professional for help.

What to Expect During an Eye Exam

Eye doctors use different tests to check your eye health and measure your vision for prescription glasses or sunglasses. These tests don’t take very long and won’t hurt at all.

You can expect to have some or all of these tests during your eye exam:

Visual acuity test – Most of the time, you’ll look at a Snellen chart across the room and read the smallest row of letters you can. This can measure the sharpness of your vision with and without your glasses (if you already have a pair).

Refraction – You look through an instrument while the doctor switches its lenses and asks you which ones make the chart look clearer. This is an important part of finding your prescription for glasses.

Tonometry – A machine checks the pressure inside your eye with a quick puff of air or another pain-free method.

Slit lamp test – The doctor shines a bright light into each pupil and looks at your eye through a magnifying lens. They use this to check different parts of your eye for problems.

Ocular motility test – Your doctor checks your eye movement by slowly moving a handheld light and asking you to follow it with your eyes.

Cover test – You cover each eye with a paddle (one at a time) and read letters across the room. This makes sure your eyes align and work as a team well.

Color blindness test – You’re asked to look at images that can detect whether you have a type of color blindness (or color vision deficiency).

Contact lens fitting – The eye doctor takes detailed measurements to fit your eye for contacts and gives you trial lenses. You won’t need this part if you don’t want contacts or aren’t due for a prescription update.

Some tests aren’t always required, but your eye doctor may still recommend one of them:

Dilated exam – The doctor puts drops in your eyes to widen your pupils, giving them a better view of your inner eye. A dilated exam is part of a comprehensive eye exam.

Retinal imaging – A machine takes digital photos of the inside back of your eye. These images will help the doctor diagnose or monitor more serious conditions. They may want to use retinal imaging if you have a condition like macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetic eye disease.

Eye Exam Costs and Insurance

If you have vision insurance, your plan should pay for some or all of your annual eye exam if the doctor is in network. Your copay might be somewhere in the $10 or $20 range (if you have a copay).

Without vision insurance, the average eye exam costs around $110. But this varies depending on the doctor, location, insurance network, and other factors.

Keep in mind that the standard eye checkup includes an eyeglass prescription and a check of your overall eye health. Other tests or procedures could add to your total cost.

A few common examples are:

Eye dilation (most offices include this in the exam fee)

Retinal imaging

Contact lens fitting

Some vision insurance plans (but not all) will lower these extra costs too.

Your eye doctor may offer discounts for patients who don’t have insurance. Some offices also have lower rates for returning patients.

Your eye doctor’s office staff or insurance company can give you an estimated total before your appointment.

How to Schedule an Eye Exam

A yearly eye exam is the best way to see clearly and protect your vision for the rest of your life.

Not only will it get you an up-to-date glasses prescription, but it can also be used to diagnose eye diseases that don’t cause noticeable symptoms until it’s too late.

There are a few ways you can schedule your eye checkup: