How Often Do Eye Prescriptions Change?

When you notice an issue with your eyesight, the change is usually significant enough that you must visit the eye doctor. The difference in the quality of vision and life after you get your eyewear is often life-changing. 

Often, many people will not replace their eyeglasses as recommended if they can still see well enough to navigate the world. But this can be a challenge. Many times, the reduction in vision is gradual, making it hard to notice the change. 

What Causes Your Eye Prescription to Change?

Time is the main factor that decides how much your eye prescription changes and how much it impacts your eyes. With age, your eyes and other organs no longer work as well as they used to. The impact of age on your prescription usually takes time, depending on the state of your eye conditions.

• Myopia

Myopia is a condition that progresses from the time you develop it in childhood until your late teens or early twenties. Myopia progression varies with the rate of elongation of the eyeball and steepening of the cornea as you age. The elongated eyeball and steep cornea change the focal point of light entering the eye. Usually, these changes stop once you turn 18 or into your twenties. 

But some people have myopia that keeps progressing into adulthood, meaning their prescriptions change much faster. With normal myopia behavior, people’s vision will stabilize in their twenties, maintaining the same prescription.

• Hyperopia

Hyperopia is the inverse of myopia, where the eyeball becomes shorter, pushing the focal point of light beyond the retina. Hyperopia, like myopia, also develops in childhood and stabilizes by the time you are nine, and your eye adjusts to correct the problem. If this does not happen, your hyperopia prescription will usually remain the same throughout your life. 

• Presbyopia

Many people have almost perfect vision, enjoy the benefits through most of their young life, and never even have an eye exam within that time. But as they age, they tend to develop age-related farsightedness, presbyopia, at about 40. It keeps worsening until they are about 60. 

Unlike hyperopia, presbyopia does not occur due to a shortened eyeball or a flat cornea but due to loss of elasticity of the eye’s lens.

• Astigmatism

Astigmatism is an eye condition that affects the meridians or the curvature of the surface of the eye. It causes the light that refracts into the eye to focus on different focal points, causing blurry or double vision. Like myopia, astigmatism can progressively worsen. 

Moreover, after you turn 25, the condition will only become worse due to the impact of aging on the tissues of the eye. If you want surgery to correct astigmatism, you can only have it once the progression stops and your prescription stabilizes for some time. 

How to Keep Track of Your Prescription

It is essential to have regular eye exams if you have an eye condition that impacts your vision, whether a refractive error or another. Regular eye exams are the best way to keep track of your eye health and prescription.

For more on how often an eye prescription changes, call Eclipse Eyecare at (972) 471-9500 to reach our office in Lewisville, Texas.