Regular checkups, appointments, and exams with your selected ophthalmologist are of the utmost importance for your health and general well-being. If you neglect your health, you are neglecting your safety and security, and sometimes even that of your closest friends and family.
Health is the most important thing we have because without it there is nothing else we can focus on or do. If there is some kind of ailment or disease in the life of an average person, they are most often too preoccupied with it and therefore unable to focus on other aspects like work, school, relationships, or hobbies.
One of the crucial parts of our bodies are senses, none other than sight. It is said that around 70% of impressions from the world are taken in with the eyes, meaning it is arguably the most important ability we as a species have. In order to protect them, it is crucial that we take regular trips to ophthalmologists. Since there is no point in going to practice if everything is alright, you should instead make a habit of checking your eyes once a year.
Annual eye exams are not only beneficial for your eyes, however, as they can also serve to show other symptoms if they exist. Ophthalmologist checkups are therefore very useful and in this article, we will explore what their benefits on overall health are. To learn more about eye care and eye health, make sure to visit Retina & Eye Consultants. Located in Miranda, Australia, they are a leading ophthalmology practice that provides high-quality service from highly experienced ophthalmologists.
1. Keep Track of Changes
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If older members of your family have some kind of eye issues and in larger part wear glasses or contacts, there is maybe some genetic issue you could have as well. Furthermore, if you spend a lot of time during the day behind screens and/or in darker rooms, your sight may be suffering. For these and many other reasons, yearly checkups are important because you will be able to keep track of any changes that could occur. If you neglect this, the problem may become more serious without you even knowing that you cannot see properly. Going to an ophthalmologist’s office once a year is very important so make sure to find a quality ophthalmologist in your area and become a yearly patient, even if you believe your vision is perfect.
2. Help in School
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If you are still a student, if you have children who are in school, this one will be very interesting to you and make a lot of sense. It is estimated that children learn about 80% of things they need both in school and outside of it through vision. Similarly, older students also rely on it massively, meaning that their education will suffer if their vision is bad. Children often do not realize that their sight has worsened. If you notice they are close to the book while reading or if they constantly approach the TV to see better, take them for an eye exam. Even if they seem completely fine, it will not hurt. For those among you who have multiple classes in college per day or spend a lot of time studying behind a screen, yearly appointments are a must if you want to be more successful academically.
3. Other Health Problems
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Now that we have the usual problems out of the way, it is time to go deeper into the matter and see what other things an eye checkup can help us with. The old saying that eyes are the windows to the soul does not exist without a good reason. A lot can be seen and read from the eyes of a person, both emotions and health conditions.
For example, serious health conditions that plague humanity are often first caught in people during a routine eye exam. Things like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and different forms of cancer have all been spotted during basic eye checkups.
Eye exams are comprehensive enough to spot these because the ophthalmologist who carries out the inspection actually uses high tech gadgets and instruments to evaluate the condition and health of the blood vessels in the retina. These are a very good indicator of the general health of the whole body and often paint a larger picture that is the complex system of all blood vessels. Hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes are rather visible changes that are easily spotted in the vessels of the retina, and the ophthalmologists are educated enough to spot them immediately.
Nobody wants to find out things like this of course, but if it happens it is actually a good thing because who knows how much time would have passed otherwise before you knew about your condition. If you are at risk of diabetes because of obesity, a family history of illnesses, or other reasons, a yearly eye exam is definitely a must. One of the leading causes of blindness in adults is diabetic eye disease, which can be caught on time and prevented only if you are aware of it on time. While it lacks visible symptoms in the early stages, a comprehensive eye exam detects it after which the necessary treatment can begin.
Apart from diabetes, liver diseases can also be spotted due to the yellowing of the eyes. If your eyes are bulging, you could be experiencing thyroid problems. Extremely red eyes are often the symptom of sepsis and pneumonia, so make sure to immediately contact your ophthalmologist if something like this keeps happening to you. Diseases like Alzheimer’s are also thought to be connected with eyes, and researchers are actively pursuing this theory with tests and experiments.
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Conclusion and Takeaways
While taking care of your sight and checking it regularly is the best way to see better and have a healthier vision, you should also go to an ophthalmologist’s office at least once a year to make sure you do not have some other diseases and ailments. Throughout history, people from all traditions, religions, and beliefs have deemed eyes as crucial parts of our bodies, and for a good reason. Therefore, make a habit of going for an eye exam once a year and advise the closes people in your life to do the same.
