General Eye Care
Make Appointments & Get Care
Overview
Periodic eye exams are recommended to keep your eyes healthy. If you have a previously diagnosed condition, like needing contacts or glasses, your exams should be more frequent. If you have any of the following risk factors for eye problems, you should also see an eye doctor more often:
- Family history of eye problems
- African-American descent (because of an increased risk for glaucoma, cataracts, and other eye diseases)
- Diabetes
- Personal history of eye injury that required medical or surgical care
Make an appointment to get care for your eyes.
Call (585) 273-EYESUR Medicine's Approach
UR Medicine’s Flaum Eye Institute follows the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommendations for exams:
Infants: A medical professional should examine a newborn’s eyes for general health in the nursery. By 6 months of age, all infants should be screened for ocular health. Unless there is a problem present, this screening may be performed by a pediatrician.
Up to age 5: It’s possible for your child to have a vision problem without being aware of it, so your child should have his or her eyes screened at age 3 and 5 for eye conditions such as:
- Strabismus (crossed eyes)
- Amblyopia (lazy eye)
- Ptosis (dropping of the upper eyelid)
- Refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism)
Much of this screening can performed by a pediatrician who will refer to a pediatric ophthalmologist if a problem is detected.
Puberty to age 39: Most young people have healthy eyes but should have a complete eye exam at least once between the ages of 20 and 29 and at least twice between the ages of 30 and 39. If you wear glasses or have another diagnosed condition, you should follow your eye doctor’s advice for exam frequency.
You should also be aware of symptoms that could indicate a problem, such as:
- Visual changes or pain
- Flashes of light
- Seeing spots or ghost-like images
- A dark spot appearing in vision
- Lines and edges appearing distorted or wavy
- Dry eyes with itching and burning
Ages 40 to 64: Schedule a comprehensive eye evaluation with your eye doctor every 2 to 4 years.
Ages 65 and older: Seniors should have comprehensive eye evaluations by their eye doctor every one to two years to assess eye health and diagnose any eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration.
What Sets Us Apart?
Flaum Eye Institute treats everything from the most routine to the most complex diseases, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to care. We feature the region’s largest team of eye doctors, including many fellowship-trained specialists to provide your care.
We have a growing number of locations throughout the region for your convenience. Each is equipped with the latest and most advanced diagnostic equipment and many of our offices have full service optical shops where you can purchase glasses.
Our main facility includes our own surgery center on the second floor of Strong Memorial Hospital, just below the Eye Institute’s faculty practice clinic. And we have a second ambulatory surgery center located on Sawgrass Drive.
Equipped with the region’s most up-to-date surgical equipment, we’re able to routinely perform complex procedures that were once referred to eye care centers hundreds of miles away, saving you time and keeping you close to home.
We’re also part of National Clinical Trials, and are ranked in the top 20 in eye research funding in the United States. So, our care is informed by the latest scientific discoveries.