An annual eye exam is important for everyone but especially essential for children due to their developing eyes and optical system. As children are ever growing, so are their eyes. Changes in their eyes may lead to visual problems such as near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism. Many children will also have physiological problems with focusing, eye dominance, eye alignment, or binocular vision. In some rarer cases, kids may have eye pathology that is not detected until their first eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist.

The majority of adults ages 18 to 40 experience good eye health. In general, eyesight stabilizes at this age. However, modern lifestyles do affect changes on our eyes, particularly if we spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen, playing video games, studying or reading books. Visual fatigue and eye injuries are the two most common issues adults encounter at this age. Nearly three-quarters of eye injuries happen to men aged 18 to 40. Almost half of all eye injuries occur in or around the home, most often during improvement projects (44 percent) or sports (14.7 percent).

Beginning in the forties, a condition called presbyopia sets in. The lens of the eye loses its flexibility, restricting our ability to focus on objects close up. This normal reduction in the eye’s focusing ability will continue to advance over time.

From the age of 40 to 60, symptoms of many eye diseases may begin to emerge – and other diseases may develop without any symptoms at all. Thus, it is important to have regular eye exams to preserve good vision and eye health.