Adult & Senior Eye Exams | Kelowna

Prevention Is the Best Medicine

It’s true: prevention is the best medicine, especially when it comes to your eyes. At each comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor checks for more than just how well you see.

As an adult, your eye care needs change as you age, and so eye exams can vary in length. In some cases, you may begin requiring reading glasses to do up-close activities, or maybe your prescription changes to include bifocals. But the health inside your eye is also changing. Your increasing age may put you at a higher risk of developing eye conditions and diseases.

Let us have a look inside your eyes. While you’re here, we’ll explain everything we do, so you are the best-educated you can be.

Book Your Exam

When Do I Need an Exam?

Rutland Optometry follows the eye exam schedule laid out by the Canadian Association of Optometrists. This recommendation provides you with a full picture of your eye health and vision needs.

Ages 19–64: At least once every 2 years
Ages 65+: Every year

Our Method

When you come to Rutland Optometry, we’re going to take a look at the entire health of your eyes. We will start by gathering your information and getting to know you a little bit better. This conversation will include questions about your family history so we can get a better understanding of your eye health needs.

Then, you will move on to pretesting, where we’ll check the pressure inside your eyes, check your peripherals, and get photos of your eyes’ internal composition. All of these tests help us look for any signs of eye diseases or conditions that could affect your eye and vision health.

When you see our optometrist, we can go over any new changes to your vision and eye health. We want you to understand everything there is to know about your eyes, so we take extra time with you to help explain it all.

If you require follow-up appointments to address any concerns, we’ll walk you through the process. If your prescription has changed, we invite you to check out our optical boutique, where you can find plenty of unique eyewear frames to suit your style perfectly.

What We’re Looking For

Eye diseases can begin to form without showing noticeable symptoms. We take the time to test and check for eye diseases at each appointment, and if you are at higher risk, we may perform additional tests.

This helps us get the full picture of your eye health. Here are some common conditions we look for.

Presbyopia

As we age, our eyes age too. And, just as it’s sometimes difficult to jump around like we used to, our eyes can also lose their flexibility. Presbyopia occurs as part of the natural aging process and causes your eyes to lose their ability to focus on close-up objects.

Presbyopia can cause headaches, blurred vision, sore eyes, and needing more light to see better. If you have presbyopia, your eye doctor may prescribe bifocal or progressive lenses, which are available in eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Cataracts

We look out of a crystalline lens in our eyes to view the world. As we age, that lens can become cloudy, causing our vision to become hazy. This is called a cataract, and many people will develop them later in life.

In the early stages, we can increase your glasses or contact lens prescription to accommodate for the changes in your vision, but eventually you may require cataract surgery to replace the damaged lens.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that affect your optic nerve (the part of your eye that sends images to your brain). It begins by affecting your outermost (peripheral) vision first, working its way inward, which is why it isn’t easy to detect without routine eye exams.

The most common form is open-angle glaucoma, which is caused by increased fluid and pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma symptoms can be managed and are easier to mitigate if it’s detected early.

Macular Degeneration

As a leading cause of vision loss among older adults, macular degeneration is typically age-related and affects your macula, the tiny part in your retina responsible for clear central vision. Early stages of macular degeneration may not show any symptoms but can be diagnosed with routine eye exams.

There are 2 types of macular degeneration: wet and dry. The dry form causes vision changes slowly as it affects the tissue in the retina. The wet form is caused by a sudden leakage of weak blood vessels in the eye and can occur quickly.

Your Eyes Matter

Your routine eye exam helps to protect your eye health and vision into the future. We want you to have happy, comfortable eyes, whether they are healthy or need a little extra attention. Please let us know if you have any questions during your exam, and enjoy a browse through our optical boutique following your appointment.

Our team at Rutland Optometry is ready for your next eye exam—all you have to do is book it.

Have Your Eyes Examined

We’re Local

Our office is conveniently located on Highway 33 in the heart of Rutland neighbourhood of Kelowna, just minutes from Highway 97. Find us inside Willow Park Mall, with ample parking just outside our doors.