How often do adults and children need eye exams?
Every two years if you are a healthy adult under 60, and every year from 61 on. That is the schedule the American Optometric Association recommends for routine eye exams, and it is the one our four optometrists follow at both of our Titusville offices. If you wear contact lenses, have diabetes, or have glaucoma in the family, plan on every year no matter your age. How often you need eye exams varies with your health more than with your age. A contact lens prescription is good for about a year, so the yearly eye exam is also how it gets renewed.
Some eye conditions give no signs at all. Glaucoma takes side vision so slowly that most people never notice, and diabetes changes the small blood vessels at the back of the eyes before it changes anything you can feel. A comprehensive eye exam is where an eye doctor catches those early, and early is when there is the most we can do to protect your sight and keep your eyes healthy. Treatment for most eye conditions works best before there is any vision loss to talk about.
| Who | How often | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Babies and children | First exam at 6 to 12 months, again at 3, once before school, then every two years | The AOA schedule; young eyes are still developing and a school screening tests only distance vision |
| Adults 18 to 60, no eye problems | Every two years | A full look at your prescription and your eye health, with a retinal image at every visit |
| Contact lens wearers | Every year | The fit is checked on your eye and the prescription renewed for another year |
| Diabetes, glaucoma, or macular degeneration | Every year, dilated | We look directly at the retina and the optic nerve for changes |
| Adults 61 and over | Every year | Cataracts, macular changes, and glaucoma all become more common after 60 |
If it has been longer than that, come in anyway. About one in five of the people we examine is new to us, and a good share of them tell us it has been a few years since their last eye exam. We start from wherever your eyes are today.
When is the best time of year to book an eye exam in Titusville?
Titusville has snowbird season, and we used to assume the winter months were our busiest and the summer our slowest. Our own appointment records from October 2025 through September 2026 say otherwise: the summer months ran at least as full as the winter ones, and late summer was the tightest stretch of all.
The reason is back to school. In the summer window the share of children among our exam patients rose by about a third, and a child's exam takes about an hour with dilating drops, so a few extra kids fill a morning fast. If you want a kids' eye exam before the first day of school, book it in June or early July. By late July the August spots are going.
Winter is still busy, because our seasonal neighbors come back and want their eye exams done while they are here. So the honest answer is that there is no slow month anymore, only weeks that are slightly easier. Book ahead at any time of year, and earlier still for a specific eye doctor or an August morning.
What fills an eye care calendar, and why that matters to you
About one visit in three with us is medical eye care rather than a glasses or contacts exam: a glaucoma pressure reading, a diabetic look at the retina, redness that came on overnight, a dry eye treatment. Those visits share the same optometrists and the same exam rooms as routine eye exams, and some of them cannot wait. When you book ahead, you are booking around them.
About one exam in five is a contact lens fitting, which runs longer than a glasses exam because we check the lens on your eye and, for a first pair, teach you to put it in and take it out. If you want contacts, say so when you book and we set aside the time. A fitting squeezed into a glasses slot helps nobody.
We also work in three or four same-day visits every day for eye problems that cannot wait: sudden blur, a painful red eye, new flashes or floaters. Those are the signs that a phone call comes before a calendar. That is why a routine eye exam is booked ahead rather than walked in. The room we keep in each day is for the eyes that hurt today. If yours do, call us first and we will tell you which office can see you soonest.
How long does an eye exam take, and will my eyes be dilated?
Plan on about an hour at either office, and a little longer at your first visit with us, because we dilate every new patient. What happens in that hour is a vision test on the chart, a refraction to find your prescription, a look at the front of each eye under the microscope, a pressure reading, and a picture of the retina. After that we dilate once a year if you have diabetes, glaucoma, or macular degeneration, and about every three years otherwise. A retinal image is part of every examination in between, so we still see the back of your eyes each time.
Dilating drops blur near vision and make bright light bothersome for a few hours. Bring sunglasses, and if you are not comfortable driving with blurry near vision, bring a driver. Morning appointments leave you the afternoon to recover; a late-afternoon slot means driving home into the sun, which is the one time we hear people wish they had chosen an earlier hour.
- Your current eyeglasses, and your contact lens boxes if you wear them
- Your vision plan or medical insurance card
- A list of your medicines, since several can affect the eyes
- Sunglasses for the drive home if you might be dilated
Which eye doctor and which office should I choose?
Whichever is closer, for most things, since nearly everything we do happens at both offices. Dr. Greg Aker and Dr. Amanda Aker see patients at Downtown, 338 S Washington Ave, on the second floor with an elevator. Dr. Sarah Koehnemann and Dr. Jennifer Bradley see patients at Playalinda, 1114 S Washington Ave, all on one floor. Directions and parking for both are on our offices page.
Ask for a specific optometrist when it matters. Children and anyone with a lazy eye or an eye turn do best with Dr. Bradley, whose residency was in children's eyes. People with glaucoma often ask for Dr. Greg Aker, our specialist in it, though all four of us treat it. The Low Vision Clinic, for anyone whose eyeglasses no longer do enough because of an eye disease, is Dr. Koehnemann's, at Playalinda only. If you have no preference, we give you the soonest opening at either office, and that is usually the fastest way in.
All four of us are optometrists, the eye doctors who do eye exams, prescribe glasses and contacts, and diagnose and treat eye conditions. That is what optometry is: the vision care and medical eye care you need most years, in one place. An ophthalmologist is a surgeon. When your eyes need surgery, for cataracts most often, we refer you to one we trust and take care of you before and after.
How much does an eye exam cost, and does insurance cover it?
With a vision plan, usually a copay: most plans cover a routine eye exam once a year or once every two years, and more than half of our exam patients use EyeMed or VSP, which we take along with Davis Vision, Spectera, and the others on our insurance page. With Medicare or medical insurance, a medical eye problem such as diabetes, glaucoma, or a red eye is covered as a medical visit, while the routine glasses check usually is not. We look up your plan before you arrive and tell you what your share of the cost will be.
Without coverage, the cost of eye exams varies from one city to the next, and in Titusville it is not as expensive as many people expect. Call us at (321) 269-2021 and ask for the self-pay price. We quote it before you book, along with the fitting fee if you want contacts and what a pair of frames and lenses typically runs, so there is nothing to sort out at the desk afterward.
How do I book an eye exam at Aker Eye?
- 1
Pick your way in
Call or text us at (321) 269-2021 during office hours, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, or book online at any hour. On the first and third Wednesday of the month we open at 10am after our staff meeting.
- 2
Tell us what the visit is for
A routine eye exam, contacts, a child's first exam, or something that is wrong today. Each gets a different length of appointment, and saying so up front means you are not rushed.
- 3
Fill in the new patient forms online
They take about ten minutes and ask for your plan details, so doing them early means the benefits check is done before you park.
- 4
Set the next one before you leave
Book next year's eye exam before you leave and we hold the date for you. It is the surest way to get the week you want, August included.
