Generally, it is good to have your optometrist check your eyes every year. Annual comprehensive eye exams help keep your eyesight and health strong. During a comprehensive eye exam, your optometrist will examine several things. They will check how well you see, how your eyes focus, and how your eye muscles move your eyes from place to place. 

Additionally, the test will look inside your eyes to diagnose or rule out eye problems such as glaucoma and cataracts. It will also look for other health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Whether your eye test works to help you see better or assess your risk for eye health problems, you cannot ignore the benefits of having your eyes checked. 

Here are six signs you may need an eye exam.

Changes in Your Vision

See your eye doctor immediately if you experience changes in your vision and feel like something could be wrong. Look out for changes like blurry vision, seeing double, or seeing light flashes, floaters, or halos around lights. A visit to your optometrist will diagnose the problem and help you get the proper treatment.

You Have High Blood Sugar

High blood sugar can cause various health problems, such as diabetes. Diabetes can harm the tiny blood vessels in your eyes and cause diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy clouds the retina and makes it hard to see through. An eye exam will allow your optometrist to examine your retina and hopefully delay diabetic retinopathy's progression.

Recurrent Headaches

Headaches can occur for many reasons. Emotional and physical stress can trigger headaches. The pain can range from mild aches around the temple to debilitating pain behind or around the eyes. Recurrent headaches can signal eyestrain, infection, or glaucoma. They can also signal vision problems like convergence insufficiency or amblyopia.

Trouble Seeing at Night

Your vision may deteriorate if you have trouble seeing at night. While difficulty seeing at night or in low lights naturally comes with aging, it can also point to serious eye health problems. You may be developing macular degeneration or cataracts. Your eye doctor will examine the underlying cause of the problem and recommend the appropriate treatment.

Eye Pain

Any pain in or around your eye is abnormal and can indicate something serious. Eye conditions like eye tumors and acute-angle closure glaucoma can cause extreme eye pain and bring about vision loss within a few days. Other conditions that can cause eye pain include allergies, dry eyes, pink eye infection, corneal sunburn, and debris in the eye.

Eyes Feeling Dry, Itchy, or Gritty

You could develop dry eye syndrome if your eyes feel dry, itchy, or gritty. These symptoms are usually common in dry weather conditions or polluted air. Certain medicines and health problems can also trigger dry eye symptoms. You may get temporary relief from dry eyes with lubricating eye drops. Your optometrist will recommend appropriate treatments based on what is causing your symptoms.

More importantly, it is time to see your eye doctor if you cannot remember the last time you had an eye exam. The eye doctor will assess your vision and eye health, determine whether there are any issues, and make suitable recommendations.

For more on comprehensive eye exams, call Vision Quest Optical at our office in Bay City (989) 778-1414  or Midland  (989) 835-2020, Michigan.