You’ve probably heard people say they have “20/20 vision” or you may have been telling your friends and family that, but what does that actually mean?
20/20 vision refers to visual acuity, or how clearly you can see details at a distance. If you have 20/20 vision, it means you can see at 20 feet what a person with normal eyesight should see at that distance. In other words, your distance vision is considered “normal.”
However, it’s very important to note that 20/20 doesn’t necessarily mean perfect vision. It only measures sharpness at a specific distance, it doesn’t assess depth perception, color vision, peripheral vision, or focusing ability. Someone could have 20/20 vision and still struggle with issues like eye strain, night blindness, or difficulty reading up close.
Regular eye exams are important because your vision can change over time, and many eye conditions develop without early symptoms.
So, while having 20/20 vision is great, true eye health is about much more than just the numbers on an eye chart. This is why routine comprehensive eye examinations with your optometrist are so important! During an eye examination, not only is your visual acuity assessed, but so is your binocular vision, and eye health.
