What Does 20-20 Vision Mean?

Vision is very important to us. Everyone desires 20/20 vision. Some patients say that they don't want 20/15 vision but prefer 20/20. This statement will appear hilarious when you have read and understood this article.

We all want great vision. Why? So that we can have a competitive advantage. In prehistoric times it gave us the edge to see the wild animals earlier. As society became more organized a method of comparing vision was needed. The credit for the most commonly used method goes to Snellen. Hence the chart which displays the letters or numbers bears his name. It compares a person's vision to the that of the average for the population.

20/20 means that the person whose vision is being tested is normal. If the vision is 20/40 it means that a normal person can see the object at 40 feet away whereas the patient being tested has to go much closer than this to 20 feet before he can see as well. That implies that the test subject has poorer vision. If it is 20/200 than the vision is even worse. Conversely 20/15 means that the test subject can see an object from even further than a normal person. He can see at 20 feet what a normal would see at only 15 feet. 20/10 vision is even better. Lots of professional athletes have vision that is better than 20/15!

What's YOUR vision? Come on in for a vision exam at Skyvision Centers and find out!

When Should My Child Have A First Eye Exam?

Everyone at Skyvision Centers gets asked this question, both in the office and outside in the regular world: when should my child have a first eye exam?   Lots of kids, maybe even most kids, get a screening exam as part of their school experience, but even with that, is there an age when a child should have a complete eye exam?

There are two very definite answers to that question. If you have a family history of Amblyopia (lazy eye) or Strabismus (an eye that turns), then children in your family should have a complete eye exam at age 3. This is especially important if a brother or sister is the one with the eye problem.

Even if your child has had an exam at age 3, the doctors at Skyvision Centers think that EVERY child should have a complete eye exam just before starting kidnergarten or 1st grade. This exam is much more extensive than any eye screening exam and will find even small problems that might need to be solved. In addition, a potential problem might be found that would make the doctor suggest an earlier follow-up exam.

Vision is important for everyone, but it is especially important for your children as they enter their school years. A complete eye exam is part of a healthy approach to life!