Hi, I'm 16 years old and wear both contact lenses and glasses. I'm wondering how often should I see an optometrist just for a regular eye exam?

Probably every year - more often if you can tell your vision is changing.

Definately once a year. Your wearing contacts, and most doctors prescribe contact prescriptions good for only one year. Don't try to get around this, else you may regret the outcome of overwearing your contacts.

At the specialists office that I attend there
are large pictures posted showing what can happen to eyes when contacts are wrong or
wrongly used or from some of the solutions, so get into the habit of going to Drs. once a
year...rather than to optometrists who are
there to sell glasses and contacts! It's true
kid...most of us hate our glasses...but our
eyes are too important to mess around with
and our eyesight too precious to take lightly!

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Dodi.. dcgpower@aol.com
Phil.4:13

You have gotten some good information Yes, see your Optom once a year. However about the specialist part. The Optometrist really is the "specialist" when it comes to routine contacts. Ophthalmologists mostly preform medical "eye health" procedures and preform very little contact lens work. It is not uncommon for the contact lenses fittings to be done by technitions, not the doctor. Optometrists do not treat eye disease or preform surgery. Therefore they spend their time determining eyeglass and contact lens fittings. They truely have the most experiance in contacts. But they will refer imediately to a MD if a medical issue arises. Most Ophthalmologist will admit when asked, they would rather leave routine contact lens fits to a good optom!