How often should you visit your optometrist?
An optometrist is a health care giver whose primary concern is to deal with primary eye care. They are quite different from an ophthalmologist who is usually a medical doctor who has specialized in eye care. While both these professionals are well trained and provide essential healthcare, they have different roles and mandates in as far as eye care is concerned.
Visual systems and vision information processing are the major areas of concern for an optometrist. They can be consulted whenever there is need to do correction of sight or sight testing. During such checks, optometrists can detect various types of eye disease and for treatment of these they usually refer to more qualified professionals. There are different rules and regulations governing the operations of optometrists in different countries. They are restricted to different procedures in different countries.
It is important for one to visit the optometrist regularly in order to avert potentially harmful eye infections. By ensuring that one goes for regular checkups, any disease or abnormality that may be developing in the eye can be detected and treated in good time. Eye specialist clinics are usually quite busy and therefore the presence of optometrists helps take care of the medical needs of those with minor eye problems. It therefore saves one the trouble of having to wait till an appointment is available.
It is important that you visit the eye doctor at least once every year so that you ensure that all your eye care needs are taken care of. However this is not a strict rule because it may be important to immediately go to your optometrist whenever you experience any kind of discomfort in your eye. Such discomfort can include irritation in the eye due to foreign objects, itchiness, redness of the eye, swelling, poor vision and pain in the eye. These can usually signal a bigger problem that if not looked into early can develop into a more complicated situation.
For certain groups of people, seeing the doctor more often can be a good idea. There are certain diseases for example that can make one more susceptible to catching eye disease or developing eye complications. Patients whose families have a history of eye problems should frequent the eye clinics more because for them there is usually a chance that they might acquire the same condition or other similar types. Such eye conditions include macular degeneration, corneal diseases or even glaucoma.
Patients with diabetes or who attend diabetic clinics are usually advised by their doctor to go to the eye clinic. Such patients should ensure that they honor all their doctor appointments. Diabetes is one medical condition that if not carefully managed can lead to irreversible eye problems such as blindness. To prevent this doctors usually refer the patients to the eye clinics so that the necessary tests are done to check for any anomalies. It may also be wise for you to visit the optometrist regularly, with or without an appointment, so that you reduce the costs that you might incur treating a more serious eye condition.
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