Should I Leave My House for an Eye Exam?

Leaving the house during COVID-19 can be scary. We are all trying to limit the amount of time running errands and being out with the general public. It's just a good idea. However, is it a good idea to put off your eye exam?

On May 11 Governor Walz opened up health care offices to preventative, or routine care. These are the types of office visits or surgeries where you will not die or go blind if you don't do them right away, but quality of life can suffer. But, if these surgeries or office visits are put off for too long, they can turn into life or sight threatening conditions.

It is important to have your eye health monitored. Diabetes, glaucoma, macular degeneration can all be affecting your eyes with very few symptoms. By the time a person notices a vision change from one of these conditions,

it can be very difficult to treat. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in Americans under age 65. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in people over age 65.

That is why getting your eyes checked regularly is so important. Many of the patients with these eye diseases are also at a higher risk of complications with COVID-19. People who are older, people with cardiovascular or diabetic diagnoses, and the elderly are special populations that must be extra careful. Unfortunately, they are also the patients who most commonly have diabetes, hypertension, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.

The CDC and Minnesota Department of Health have set up very specific guidelines for all clinics to follow to resume this preventative care. At Bechthold Jensen Eye Care we are following the CDC and MN Dept of Health guidelines as closely as possible. We are social distancing, cleaning after each patient, disinfecting frames, screening patients and staff, and wearing masks. There are only 1-2 patients allowed in the office at a time.

If you feel most comfortable having an early morning or late afternoon appointment we can accommodate your needs.

If you feel most comfortable booking an appointment a couple of months out, we can certainly do that. We just don’t want you to think you’ll call later and forget to come in!

It is a relief to be able to offer preventative care again to our patients, but also a great responsibility that we take very seriously. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your experience feel safer for you.

And, yes, you should come in for your eye exam.