Our eyes help us process the world and interact with others. However, over time, our eyes can change from having perfect vision. While many eye diseases and vision problems exist, some are treatable with prescription lenses, surgery, and other corrective measures.

So, how do you know if you’ll need glasses?

We have a few signs and symptoms you can use to identify if you need glasses and the types of tests available.

What are the signs you might need to get your eyes checked?

Some people who need glasses have apparent symptoms, while others don’t. Some typical symptoms you might need to get glasses include headaches, squinting, eye strain, and difficulty seeing or driving at night. Other symptoms are fuzziness around objects, blurred, double or distorted vision and seeing halos or auras around objects in bright light.

Consult your doctor and ask for recommendations.

If you have concerns about your vision, speak to your doctor. Your doctor will recommend an eye examination with an optometrist. An optometrist performs eye exams and vision tests and can dispense corrective lenses. Their job also involves detecting eye abnormalities and prescribing medications for eye problems. An optometrist might refer you to an ophthalmologist who diagnoses and treats all eye diseases for additional tests or treatment.

What is an eye examination about?

An eye exam consists of several tests a doctor uses to examine the health of your eyes. You should tell your doctor about any changes you’ve noticed in your vision and ask questions if you need help understanding something.

Five standard tests you might encounter during an eye exam.

Visual Acuity Eye Test: This eye exam checks how well you see the details of a letter or symbol from a specific distance (approximately 20 ft). You alternate covering one eye while identifying letters with reduced sizes per line.

Refraction: A refraction test can determine an exact prescription for eyeglasses. It uses a phoropter to show a series of lens choices. Your doctor then uses the best option for your prescription.

Slit Lamp Exam: Doctors use this test to examine the structure of the eye. It can detect glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes, eye disease, cornea injuries and other problems.

Retinoscopy: This test can determine the type of vision correction you need. It measures how well you see objects at various distances and refractive errors that cause blurry vision (astigmatism and long and short sight).

Eye Movements Test: The ocular motility test checks how well your eyes can follow a moving object. It also examines how quickly your eyes move between and accurately fixate on separate targets.

Glaucoma Test: The primary test for glaucoma measures pressure inside your eyes. This is mainly done using the “puff of air test”, which gives an eye pressure reading that helps detect glaucoma.

Please use Find Yello to find an optometrist, optician, ophthalmologist, or related services to help you with your vision concerns.

Sources: Healthline, Care Credit, WebMD, Warby Parker and National Library of Medicine.