ADDED TO CARTHow often does eye prescription change?
Our eyesight will change several times from childhood through adulthood, meaning that your eye prescription may also be affected and need to be updated. In fact, some refractive errors begin to develop in children as early as age 6 and can change as quickly as they outgrow their clothes. But can kids wear contacts? There is no right answer for when children can start to wear contacts, since every child is different. The way they handle responsibility and remember to perform basic hygiene practices is usually a telling sign of whether or not kids are ready for contact lenses. But as they grow, how often will their prescriptions change?
How often does your eye prescription change?
As we grow and develop, so do our eyes - this is especially true in our adolescent years when we are growing the fastest. You may find that from one year to the next, or even more frequently, refractive errors can change, worsening or improving as we age. That’s why it’s important to schedule regular eye examinations at least once a year to keep your eyes in good health and make sure your prescription is updated as your vision changes. That’s also the reason why contacts prescription renewal is required on a yearly basis, so your OD can annually reassess the adequacy of your lenses at correcting your vision.
In children, eye prescriptions can change at every annual eye exam, or even more frequently depending on how fast the child is developing. These kinds of changes are normal and should not be cause for alarm. Pay attention to any developments in your child’s vision that may occur between annual exams. If you see any tell-tale signs that your child’s prescription needs to be adjusted, such as if he or she is struggling to read or see to the front of the classroom at school or experiences headaches and eye strain, it might be a good idea to schedule them an eye exam.
As adults, we can also undergo changes to our vision as we age, especially once we’ve reached middle age. A condition known as presbyopia becomes increasingly common in adults in their early 40’s, causing us to switch to multifocal lenses to correct for multiple refractive errors.
When should you visit your eye doctor?
Changes in the clarity of your vision over time are not cause for concern. They are a normal part of the growth and development of the eye as we grow older, which is why you need to schedule a checkup with your eye doctor on a yearly basis, to evaluate if your prescription should be adjusted.
However, these kinds of changes rarely occur abruptly. Any abrupt changes that occur in your vision are abnormal and should be evaluated and diagnosed by your eye doctor, as rapid changes in your vision may be a sign of the onset of an eye disease.
You’ll find that as your prescription changes, you will need to continually stock up, and re-stock up, on contact lenses with the right power prescription to correct your vision. You can order online contacts and have them shipped hassle-free to your home, so that neither you nor your kids are stuck wearing old contact lenses.
