How An Eye Exam Can Save Your Life

Can An Eye Exam Really Save Your Life!?

Learn from Tulsa Optometrist Dr. Zoellner-Anderson

So you probably knew that getting your eye exam is important, but did you know it could actually save your life??

Dr. Zoellner-Anderson from Dr. Zoellner & Associates of Tulsa, OK weighs in on the surprising importance of eye exams.

“Most People Are Not Aware Of The Importance Of Eye Exams”

 

We all know that getting an eye exam on a regular basis is a good idea, but sometimes we don’t make it a priority. Some people feel that their vision has not changed since their last visit, so there is no need to get an exam. Or some people simply don’t understand the importance of regular check ups on their eyes.

 

Your eyes are the only place in the body where a doctor can get a live view of your blood vessels without having to make an incision. They can actually see your veins and arteries, and that is without having to make any cuts on you. Pretty amazing! Valuable and life saving information can be obtained from observing your blood vessels, like determining the presence of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension.

Heart Disease is Quickly becoming the number one cause of death in the U.S

 

Besides helping early diagnose serious heart problems, regular eye exams can also detect brain tumors, cancers, and aneurysms. In fact, optometrist save lives on a regular basis by finding brain tumors and cancers in patients who have no idea they have a problem.  Many patients’ lives are saved with eye exams because aneurysms may not be diagnosed until it’s too late. An eye doctor can detect the signs of certain brain tumors and cancers, helping patients get early treatment and avoid a more serious situation from developing from an undiagnosed brain tumor or cancer.

 

picture of an eye

Your Eyes Are The Windows To Your Health

A Regular Eye Exam Can Diagnose Brain Tumors & Cancers

 

Diabetes is another serious health condition your eye doctor is likely to diagnose early on in it’s development. By detecting certain changes in vision or blood in the back of the eye, which is one of the early signs of diabetes, eye doctors can diagnose this serious condition early on. Also, diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness in Adults in the United States. So besides diagnosing life threatening health conditions, an eye exam can also prevent you from going blind.

How A Routine Eye Exam Saved A Person’s Life

 

Dr. Anderson recalls noticing some troubling symptoms from a patient one day, so she ordered the patient to visit an emergency room immediately. The patient ending up having an aneurysm, and their life was saved by the responsive care of the ER. Without the quick care of the ER and early detection from Dr. Anderson, the patient would have most likely died.

 

These stories are commonplace among eye doctors. On a routine eye exam, one of Dr. Anderson’s colleagues saw changes in the back of an 11 year old boy’s eyes and had him sent straight to the ER for an oncology work up. A year later the boy’s parents came in to thank the doctor for catching the cancer that almost took their child’s life and to inform him that the now 12 year old was cancer free!

Early Diagnose Serious Eye Conditions & Save Your Vision

 

Along with diabetic retinopathy, getting a regular eye exam can detect glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. Also, amblyopia is a common cause of vision loss in children, and if amblyopic factors are detected early vision loss can be prevented.

 

 

 

One of the tools that eye doctors use in helping diagnose these types of conditions is called Optomap. This is a great tool because is allows doctors to get a very detailed view of the patient’s eye, helping doctors better diagnose and treat patients. Optomap is also great for patients because they don’t have to be dilated (when your pupils become enlarged- you can’t drive and have trouble seeing for hours after being dilated). Another advantage of Optomap is that it creates a permanent record for the patient’s file, which can be looked at each year to monitor changes.

 

Book an Online Eye Exam In Tulsa

So How Often Should You Be Getting An Eye Exam?

 

The American Optometric Association has different recommendations based on age and other factors. If you currently wear glasses or contacts, it’s recommend to get an eye exam every year. For healthy adults, it’s recommended to get a comprehensive eye exam every one to two years. Now you should realize, there is a big difference between a basic eye exam you might receive at an optical chain, and a comprehensive eye exam. A comprehensive eye exam is much more rigorous and thorough, which is what you want! In order to keep your eyes and health is check, you want to make sure you have a comprehensive eye exam!

A few of the things included in a comprehensive eye exam:

  • A review of your personal and family health history and any history of eye problems
  • Evaluation of your distance and near vision with an eye chart
  • Evaluation for the presence of nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia
  • Near vision testing to determine if you have presbyopia and need progressive lenses or bifocals
  • Evaluation of your eyes’ ability to work together as a team
  • An eye pressure test and examination of the optic nerve to rule out glaucoma
  • Examination of the interior of your eyes to rule out other eye problems, such as cataracts and macular degeneration
  • Retinal imaging such as Optomap

 

Just like seeing your primary care doctor regularly, seeing your eye doctor regularly can be really important in helping keep your whole body healthy, not just your eyes! As with all disease and conditions, it’s always best to detect things early on to prevent things from becoming more serious and life threatening.

 

We hope that you learned some interesting and valuable information from reading this!

 

Haven’t had an eye exam in a while? If your needing to get an exam in Tulsa, we have made it very easy and convenient for you to book an exam online. Simply click the “Book Now” button below.

Book an eye exam in tulsa