Q: Will my eyes get worse if I wear my glasses all the time?
No. In most cases wearing eyeglasses will not cause your vision to deteriorate. Your optometrist however can let you know the purpose of your eyeglasses and how often they should be worn. Many patients do however become addicted to wearing their eyeglasses full time once they experience clear comfortable vision.
Q: When should my child have their first eye examination by an optometrist?
Typically a good time to start regular eye exams with an optometrist is age 3. However, if there is a strong family history of eye problems, or you or your pediatrician have any concerns, then I would be happy to see your children as young as 6 months of age.
FYI: Annual eye exams, emergency visits and eye infection appointments for children ages 0-18 are all paid for my Alberta Health Care.
Q: Is laser eye surgery (LASIK/PRK) for everyone?
Certainly a large proportion of the population can benefit from laser eye surgery (LASIK/PRK/etc). Laser eye surgery can correct myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism.The most successful and predictable treatments are for patients with low or moderate amounts of myopia and astigmatism. Patients with higher degrees of myopia may need to consider alternative refractive procedures, while patients with high astigmatism may only achieve partial correction. Laser eye surgery is also slightly less predictable for patients with moderate to high amounts of hyperopia, with procedures showing a higher regression rate in these cases.
For patients who have amblyopia (a lazy eye) or strabismus (a turned eye), laser eye surgery will not make your vision better. However, please talk to your optometrist as each person’s situation is unique.
