Comprehensive eye exams are recommended to all patients, regardless of their age, health, and location. This is because comprehensive eye exams are the best way to maintain the health and condition of your eyes. As such, they are useful as a preventative for eye diseases as they are used to diagnose and treat issues you may be experiencing with your eyes.

Vision Problems That Can Be Detected During a Comprehensive Eye Exam

Vision testing is the most obvious and well-known part of an eye exam and is carried out to find out how well you can see objects at different distances. An annual comprehensive eye exam is the best time to check and monitor your vision to see if you would benefit from wearing glasses or contact lenses.

Our vision can be affected by many things. Refractive eye errors are responsible for the majority of prescription lenses. These occur when the light that enters the eye doesn’t pass through it in the correct way. Prescription lenses are used to alter the direction that light takes when it passes through the eye, correcting it so that our vision becomes clear. There are several refractive eye problems. These are:

Nearsightedness: also known as myopia, patients can see nearby objects clearly, but those further away are blurred and out of focus.

Farsightedness: also known as hyperopia, patients can see distant objects clearly, but those close to their eyes appear blurred.

Astigmatism: patient's vision appears blurry at all distances.

If you are found to have a refractive eye error, your eye doctor will talk to you about the different treatment options available, which will include glasses and potentially multiple styles of contact lens.

Eye Diseases That Can Be Detected in Comprehensive Eye Exams

One of the main reasons why regular comprehensive eye exams are so important is because they can enable your eye doctor to closely monitor the health and condition of your eyes and spot any health problems that might be developing early. The earlier they are diagnosed and treated, the less their impact will be on your day to day life.

Some of the health problems that can be detected during comprehensive eye exams include:

Presbyopia: the natural lens of the eye hardens with age, causing refraction problems that blur your vision.

Cataracts: the natural lens of the eye develops cloudy patches that affect your vision. Cataracts will eventually lead to blindness.

Glaucoma: the pressure inside the eye increases, causing damage to the optic nerve that sends messages from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss.

Macular degeneration: the cells of the part of the eye called the macula, which enables us to see detail and color, deteriorate.

Keratoconus: the front part of the eye called the cornea becomes progressively thinner and bulges outwards.

Diabetic retinopathy: a complication of diabetes that can cause permanent vision loss.



These eye diseases, plus many more that aren’t listed here could have serious consequences for your vision and in some cases, can lead to blindness if treatment isn’t sought. Attending your regular comprehensive eye exams will give you the best chance at avoiding them and maintaining the quality of your vision for years to come. Contact us today to schedule an appointment at our Ft. Mitchell, KY, or Dry Ridge, KY offices.