Routine Eye Care

Our Recommended Routine Examination Schedule

For Children

Every child should have an eye examination before starting school (about age 5). This is a perfect age to make sure vision is developing normally, and to catch any eye conditions (such as eye muscle imbalance or lazy eye) early, before permanent damage to the vision occurs. Click here to learn more about pediatric eye care

For teenagers

At age 15, driver's education is right around the corner. This is also a good time for a routine examination.

For adults

From age 18 to age 40, we recommend eye exams if a specific eye problem arises. But at age 40, you're reaching the years when eye conditions associated with aging become more common.

Between age 40 and 50, we recommend an eye examination every two years, unless you're African-American. For African-Americans, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness, and becomes more common in the 40's. So for this group, we recommend once-a-year eye examinations.

By age 60, everyone should be receiving once-a-year eye examinations. In this age group, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration become more common. These are diseases that are often best treated if caught early, so routine eye exams are the best way to keep healthy eyes healthy.

Dilated Eye Exam

In many cases, your doctor will use dilating eye drops to get a better view of the inside of your eye. If your eyes are dilated, you may not be comfortable driving after your eye exam. To learn more about dilating drops, click on the image below to watch a video.

Pediatric Eye Care

At the Eye Center of Central Georgia, we recognize that children are not little adults. Children have unique eye care needs, and we have fellowship-trained pediatric eye specialists to meet those needs. Both Dr. Fleetwood Maddox and Dr. Spencer Maddox are specially-trained to provide the specialized care that children of all ages require. Together they have cared for several generations of Middle Georgia children, and they welcome your children to the practice.

Read below to learn more about common eye problems in children, and what we can do to help.

Glasses

Often children need glasses, but determining the right prescription for a young child can be challenging, especially if the child is too young to read the eye chart. And once the prescription is determined, finding a variety of child-sized eyeglass frames--and an optician well-trained in fitting glasses for children--can be even more difficult.

Not only can Dr. Spencer Maddox determine the right prescription for your child's eyes, but our on-site optical shop, Eye Designs, is well-stocked with a great variety of frames for children of all ages. And our opticians are great at fitting glasses comfortably on even the youngest children.

Crossed Eyes

Sometimes parents or pediatricians notice that a child's eyes tend to drift in or out (cross-eyed or wall-eyed). This is a serious condition and can result in severe permanent vision loss if not recognized and treated promptly. Imbalance of the eye muscles can prevent the two eyes from working together as they should, and often the vision in one eye will not develop correctly. When the vision fails to develop correctly, we call this lazy eye, or amblyopia. Lazy eye can develop even if the eye is only turned in or out occasionally, and sometimes parents will notice that both eyes turn in or out, usually one at a time.

Blocked Tear Ducts

As many as one in every twenty babies will be born with blocked tear ducts in one or both eyes. Almost all of them will recover without medical attention, but occasionally a minor medical procedure is required to open the blockage. The symptoms of blocked tear ducts include constantly watery eyes, often with crusted matter forming along the edges of the eyelids. If your newborn child has watery, crusty eyes, a blocked tear duct may be to blame.

These are a few of the common problems that affect the eyes of children. But even severe eye diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma can affect children. So if you have any childhood eye diseases that run in your family, or if you have any concerns about the health of your children's eyes, please call our office for an appointment.