Good Eye Care Starts With A Yearly Exam!

Although many people don’t realize it, the best way to protect your vision is with a yearly eye checkup. At Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt, this basic vision test is brief, painless and relatively inexpensive. It’s also hugely important – because even a basic eye exam can quickly detect such health-threatening conditions as tumors, vascular irregularities and diabetes-related injury to the retina.

It sounds rather obvious at first . . . but you might be surprised to learn how many people don’t seem to grasp the crucial importance of yearly eye exams.

Did you know, for example, that while 87 percent of those who own automobiles are careful to get them serviced annually, only 56 percent of U.S. adults bother to schedule a yearly eye exam, according to a recent health survey?

Unfortunately, it’s true. And the results can be nothing less than tragic at times. All too often, significant vision conditions go undetected until it’s too late to prevent partial loss of eyesight, or even blindness. Although many people don’t realize it, we depend heavily on our eyes to ensure “quality of life” – which means that a significant loss of vision can cause major health problems, including clinical depression and physical ailments related to lack of mobility and exercise.

Fortunately for all of us, getting a yearly eye exam can prevent many of these negative outcomes. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the chronic eye conditions that we treat daily at Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt:

Refractive Errors: As the eyes age, vision usually becomes less acute in certain ways and subject to errors. A yearly checkup by the skilled practitioners at Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt, will include careful measurement of your eyesight and will correct any aging-related flaws with eyeglasses or the very latest in high-tech contact lenses.

Dry Eye Syndrome: Dry Eye syndrome, which affects almost 10 million Americans is caused by a lack of, or poor quality of, tears. Dry eye syndrome leads to a number of symptoms, including itching, irritation, burning, excessive tearing, redness, blurred vision.  There are many factors that can contribute to dry eye syndrome:  age, gender, environment and medications.  At  Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt, a thorough assestment of the causes of your dry eye will be performed.  Then appropriate treatment options from drops and neutriceuticals to punctal occlusion can be recommended. 

Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The leading cause of blindness among senior citizens today, ARMD occurs when cells in the critically important “macula” region of the retina begin to die off for reasons that are not yet fully understood. Eventually, the damaged macula weakens the retina’s ability to perceive light. Although this disease can’t be prevented, the good news for patients is that it can be slowed significantly, if detected early enough. Depending on the type of ARMD involved, your Klessman and Rosenblatt optometrist will prescribe medications, surgery and/or dietary supplements to slow the progress of the disorder. In many cases, ARMD can be stabilized for years at a time, without significant vision loss.

Glaucoma: Caused by excessive pressure in the eyeball, glaucoma can also lead to blindness in some patients. But the condition can often be corrected with surgery or medications, if detected before the optic nerve is significantly damaged.

Diabetic Retinopathy: This eyesight-threatening condition, triggered by damage to tiny blood vessels that feed the retina, can often be slowed and managed effectively by making changes in the diabetic patient’s diet and exercise patterns. In some cases, regular injections of insulin may be needed to control blood-sugar levels and thus manage the diabetes. Patients with diabetes should work out a regular schedule of eye checkups with their doctor at Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt, in order to make sure the disease isn’t harming their eyesight.

Pediatric Eye Care: As many pediatric health care researchers have pointed out in recent years, more than two-thirds of a child’s schoolroom education depends on his or her vision. And that’s why it’s so important to schedule an eye exam for your child at Drs. Klessman and Rosenblatt, right before schooling begins in kindergarten or first grade. In most cases, your eye care provider can correct any refractive errors with appropriate eyeglasses or contacts – while also helping the child to choose an eyewear style that will fit in well at school.