How Often Do I Need a New Eyeglass Prescription?

Your eyes are the most important and utilized of all your five senses. They help you navigate the world safely without knocking and bumping into things. When something is affecting your vision, like myopia or hyperopia, you may be severely disadvantaged. Many people who wear eyeglasses know how this feels firsthand.

Your glasses help you live a quality life. Once you get your first prescription glasses, it feels like you are looking at a new world. A common concept that many people need to consider is how long their glasses will be valid.

How Often Do You Need a New Eyeglass Prescription?

To fully understand this, you must know the common eye disorders and how vision prescriptions work.

Eye Disorders

• Myopia

Myopia is a condition that affects your distance vision. Things will get blurrier the further away they are from your face. Myopia is a progressive disorder that usually develops while you are young. For children with the illness, their prescription changes quickly as the condition progresses.

Usually, the progress stops once your vision stabilizes, at about 18 years old. However, it is only sometimes the case. In some people, myopia continues to progress into adulthood. If you are one of these, your prescription may need to change more often.

• Hyperopia

Hyperopia is much less common than myopia. But a different form of the same, presbyopia, is quite common among older people. In this disorder, things get blurry the closer they are to your eyes and clearer the further they get. It makes it difficult to read and do close-up work. Unlike myopia, it is not progressive. Prescriptions often become very stagnant year after year.

• Astigmatism

Astigmatism is an eye disorder that affects clear vision. Just like myopia and hyperopia, it also affects the shape of the cornea. However, astigmatism causes irregularity in the cornea's shape instead of elongating or being too flat. The abnormality causes blurry vision at all distances.

Prescriptions

• New Prescriptions

The prescription for your eyeglasses depends on the form of eye disorder you have. The strength of the prescription depends on how much correction your eyes require to achieve clear vision. Higher degrees of error require higher prescriptions. Also, a progressive disorder will require a different prescription as often as the condition progresses. Eye doctors will usually recommend when you should renew your prescription, depending on the nature of your specific disorder.

• Old Prescriptions

Old prescriptions work fine, but you may be oblivious to the changes. As time goes by, most eyeglasses are less effective than they were. Also, your prescription may change, meaning your eyes are straining to keep clear vision under those old lenses. You may notice double vision, or you need to squint to see. But if you feel better without your glasses, it is a clear sign that your prescription needs updating.

What Else Shows You Need a New Pair?

• Scratched glasses
   

• Headaches
   

• Wear and tear on the frames
   

• Outdated style of glasses
   

• Require better features on your lens for work or something else

For more on how often you need a new eyeglass prescription, visit Houston Dry Eye Clinic at our office in Houston, Texas. Call (713) 664-4760 to book an appointment today.