Eye health resource
How Often Should I Have an Eye Exam?
How often you need an eye exam depends on age, symptoms, contact lens wear, medical and family history, prescription changes, and prior eye-health findings.
Reviewed for accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD on .
How often you should have an eye exam depends on your age and risk factors rather than a single schedule for everyone. Your doctor may recommend more frequent care when you wear contact lenses, have a changing prescription, have diabetes or another medical condition that can affect the eyes, have a family or personal history of eye disease, take certain medications, or have abnormal findings that need monitoring.
How Often Should Adults Have an Eye Exam?
Current American Optometric Association guidance is not perfectly uniform on the minimum interval for asymptomatic, low-risk adults. The AOA's 2023 adult clinical practice guideline supports annual comprehensive examinations for adults ages 18 through 64, while its current public frequency table lists at least every two years for asymptomatic, low-risk adults ages 18 through 64 and annual examinations beginning at age 65.
Rather than treating either interval as a universal rule, the practical approach is to base follow-up on the individual patient. Adults with symptoms, contact lenses, medical or family risk factors, previous abnormal findings, or other concerns may need annual or more frequent care as recommended by their eye doctor.
Who May Need More Frequent Eye Care?
Examples include people who:
- wear contact lenses;
- have diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune disease, or another systemic condition with possible eye effects;
- have glaucoma, retinal disease, significant dry eye, or another known eye condition;
- have a personal or family history of eye disease;
- have a high or rapidly changing prescription;
- have had eye surgery or a significant eye injury;
- take medications that can affect the eyes; or
- develop new eye or vision symptoms.
Follow-up for a specific medical eye problem may be much sooner than a routine comprehensive-exam interval.
How Often Should Children Have Eye Exams?
For children who are asymptomatic and low risk, the American Optometric Association recommends:
- a comprehensive assessment between 6 and 12 months;
- at least one comprehensive exam between ages 3 and 5; and
- an exam before first grade and annually thereafter.
Park Slope Eye participates in InfantSEE, and qualifying InfantSEE infant assessments are available at no charge during the first year of life.
Children with symptoms, a failed screening, progressive myopia, developmental or medical risk factors, or a parent or pediatrician concern may need more frequent care.
Does a New Glasses Prescription Mean You Need New Glasses Every Year?
No. Eye-exam frequency and eyeglass-replacement frequency are different questions. You may benefit from a comprehensive eye exam even when your prescription barely changes, and you do not need to replace glasses on a fixed yearly schedule if the prescription, fit, lenses, and frames are still working well.
Your eye-exam interval should be based on age, symptoms, risk factors, contact-lens use, medical history, and prior findings rather than on whether you happen to need new glasses.
What If I Feel Fine?
Some eye diseases can develop before noticeable symptoms appear. Glaucoma is a common example. A comprehensive eye exam also evaluates more than prescription strength, including the health of the front and back of the eyes.
At Park Slope Eye, retinal imaging is chosen by nearly all patients and often provides useful documentation without routine dilation. Dilation is still recommended when symptoms, risk factors, or findings make it clinically necessary.
What If I Have New Symptoms Between Routine Exams?
Do not wait for your usual exam interval if you develop a new problem. New flashes or floaters, a sudden change in vision, persistent redness, significant pain, new double vision, a foreign-body sensation that will not resolve, or other concerning symptoms deserve timely evaluation.
For a true emergency or sudden severe vision problem, seek emergency care rather than relying on a routine appointment.
Eye Exams at Park Slope Eye
A comprehensive eye exam evaluates your prescription, how the eyes work together, and eye health. If a medical eye condition is the reason for the visit or is identified, medical insurance may apply depending on your plan and the services performed.
If you are due for an exam or unsure how often you should be seen, book an appointment online.
Originally published . Substantially updated .