Blog
Is making an appointment for a comprehensive eye exam for your children on your back-to-school checklist? It needs to be.
No amount of new clothes, backpacks, or supplies will allow your child to reach their potential in school if they have an undetected vision problem.
The difference between eye exams and vision screenings
An annual exam done by an eye doctor is more focused than a visual screening done at school. School screenings are simply "pass-fail tests" that are often limited to measuring a child’s sight clarity and visual acuity up to a distance of 20 feet. But this can provide a false sense of security.
There are important differences between a screening and a comprehensive eye exam.
Where a screening tests only for visual acuity, comprehensive exams will test for acuity, chronic diseases, color vision, and eye tracking. This means a child may pass a vision screening at school because they are able to see the board, but they may not be able to see the words in the textbook in front of them.
Why back-to-school eye exams matter
Did you know that 1 out of 4 children has an undiagnosed vision problem because changes in their eyesight go unrecognized?
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common condition in children and often develops around the ages of 6 or 7. And nearsightedness can change very quickly, especially between the ages of 11 and 13, which means that an eye prescription can change rapidly over a short period of time. That’s why
Choosing a new pair of eyeglasses can be a daunting task.
Making a decision on what style glasses you will be wearing for the next year until your vision is checked again can be stressful. This is one of the many reasons opticians are here for you. In many ways, this may be the most important task for the optician, because keeping you happy with the way you look motivates you to wear your glasses daily.
Most people’s reaction is to play it safe with new glasses and stick with something relatively similar to what they are currently wearing.
While not necessarily a bad decision, this isn’t something opticians try to promote. Opticians often spend time meeting with frame representatives and browsing the Internet to keep up with the ever-changing trends in the world of eyeglass frames. And it’s a great feeling to successfully “update” your image with a new set of frames. Many patients are amazed at the difference a well-fit and -styled pair of glasses makes on their overall look.
There are many simple tips and tricks to consider when starting to browse for your next pair of frames.
The goal of this article is to improve your starting point when beginning to choose frames. That way, once the optician gets involved, the process is already well under way. Keep in mind that these are guidelines and “outside the box” thinking can be good as long as it fits within the required parameters of your
