Don’t Forget The Eye Exams

(Thanks to VSP Vision Care for sponsoring today’s conversation.)

The kids are all back in school! Whew! We made it mommas! We got the new school clothes, loaded the backpacks with school supplies, visited the Doctor for the physical, took those first day of school pictures…everything is done right?

If you are like me you forgot to do one important thing. Has your child their annual vision test yet? This is so important. My children’s school requires all Kindergarteners to get their vision checked by mid-October. I have to get Lucas in to see the eye doctor soon.

Did you know that annual eye exams are important to your overall health? They allow eye doctors to detect eye conditions as well as early signs of health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Here are some other reasons that annual eye exams are a must for kids:

  • One in four children has an undetected vision condition.
  • Because eye health plays a major role in academic growth, it’s common for a vision problem to be mistaken as a learning disability.
  • Undetected vision conditions can negatively impact learning development and contribute to frustrated students, poor grades and behavioral issues.
  • Children’s eyes develop rapidly until about the age of seven – making early detection essential in correcting potentially permanent vision issues.

So now you may be thinking (like I have before) that your child’s vision screening at their school is good enough. While the vision screenings may catch some things, comprehensive eye exams can detect what school vision screenings cannot. In-school screenings do help identify some vision problems, such as near and farsightedness, they do not test for all of the problems that a comprehensive eye exam does, like diabetes and hypertension – both growing health concerns for children.

Another thing you may be thinking is that your child would let you know if they were having a problem but keep in mind that a child doesn’t know what good vision is if he or she has never experienced it. Two of the most common vision problems a screening can miss are eye coordination and lazy eye. These conditions can usually both be corrected as long as they identified and treated early!

If the cost of vision care has been keeping you from making an appointment for your child or yourself I have good news! VSP Vision Care, the largest national not-for-profit in vision care, gets their members the best care at the lowest out-of-pocket costs. With a network of 30,000 eye care providers, VSP members have the freedom to choose the provider, location and eyewear that’s right for them. It’s easy to see why VSP is consumers’ #1 choice in vision care.

You can learn more at their site, SeeMuchMore.com, which is a one-stop site for all the information you need about enrolling in vision benefits. The site includes a virtual savings calculator to estimate your savings with VSP vision benefits. There is also helpful information about maintaining healthy vision that can be found at the Learn About Your Eyes section of the site. You can even play an interactive game for a chance to win prizes.

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