When was the last time you visited your eye doctor? Attending routine eye exams may not seem a priority when you have other important things going on in your life, especially if you don’t have any current concerns about the health of your eyes or the quality of your vision.


Nevertheless, everyone is recommended to visit their eye doctor for a comprehensive eye exam at least once every few years – and more frequently if you wear prescription lenses or have an identified issue with your general or eye health. Here’s why it’s important to make time to attend your regular comprehensive eye exams.

You rely on your eyesight more than you might think

Our eyesight is one of the senses that we take for granted the most. Most of us have had periods where we’ve temporarily lost our sense of smell or taste, such as when we’ve had a heavy cold, but we generally adapt and learn to manage without them. But trying to go about daily life with severely compromised vision is much, much harder. We use our eyes from the moment we wake up in the morning to when we fall asleep and we use our vision in work, recreational activities, and even to keep us safe. Since our eyesight is so valuable, it’s crucial that we do what we can to maintain it. One of the best ways of doing this is to attend regular comprehensive eye exams. 

There are lots of eye diseases that can affect our short and long term vision

The disease can affect any part of our body, including our eyes. Sadly, there are lots of different health issues and diseases that can potentially threaten our vision, especially if they aren’t detected and treated very quickly, including glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. Your eye doctor will use your regular eye exams to monitor the health and condition of your eyes, enabling them to identify any issues early and before they can compromise the quality of your vision. 

Eye diseases can go undetected if your eye health isn’t monitored

One of the trickiest things about many health conditions is that they can go unnoticed for a long time because the symptoms that they cause are so subtle. Unfortunately, this can mean that when they are identified, they could have already caused some damage to your vision and in some instances, this is irreversible. Glaucoma is a good example of an eye disease that causes few symptoms since it is the peripheral vision that is affected first. Your comprehensive eye exams are an ideal time for your eye doctor to pay close attention to your eyes and detect issues that you might not know to exist yet. 

Comprehensive eye exams can even detect general health problems

Many people are surprised to learn that annual eye exams are actually a valuable tool in the detection of other serious health problems too. In fact, many people first learn that they are experiencing other conditions as a result of their comprehensive eye exam. Some of the health conditions that can be identified during a comprehensive eye assessment include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sickle cell disease, and even cancer. 

If you are overdue for a comprehensive eye exam, don’t put it off any longer. Contact the experienced eye care team at Lens Lab Express in The Bronx. Call (718) 329-2020 today to schedule an appointment.