| An eye examination with an Optometrist covers alot more than an assessment of your vision.
As well as looking at the health of your eyes, which can also be an indication regarding your general health,
we will also be looking at how your eyes work together, what will be the most suitable form of vision correction
for you and what if any problems may develop in the future.
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| Following is a guide to what may be covered during your eye examination. |
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History and Symptoms |
| The Optometrist will ask you about any current or previous eye problems and how you are getting on with any spectacles that you have.
You will also be asked about your general health and any medications that you are taking. Information about any
family history of eye problems will also be helpful as some problems eg Glaucoma can run in families. |
Examining your eyes in detail |
| A hand held instrument may be used to see the back of your eyes (an Ophthalmoscope). This has a bright light and a
special viewing system to allow the inside of the eye to be seen. A slit lamp may also be used to see the front of the
the eye under high magnification. This may also be used to see the back of the eye in certain situations where an
extra detailed view is needed eg in Diabetic patients. Normally this needs the pupils to be dillated with special drops first. |
| Below is a picture of a typical 'normal' retina. |
Checking the Optics of your eyes |
| This is the part of the examination where along with a check on your eyes with a light and the
use of the trial frame and lenses we determine how the Optics of the eyes are. Usualy this is backed up with the
"is this better or worse" questions. Many people are afraid they can get this wrong and result in the wrong glasses being supplied.
This is just not the case. There often may not be a difference, or such a small difference as to be irrelavant.
So please do not worry about getting it wrong - you can't (honest), just say what you can see and leave it to the
Optometrist to sort out!! |
Other Investigations. |
| There are many other items that may be included in your eye examination. Following are just a few. |
| TONOMETRY: To measure the pressure of the fluids in your eyes, done either with a small puff of air, or a blue light after having some coloured drops in. This is important as it gives an indication
of the risk of Glaucoma developing. |
| VISUAL FIELDS: To check how clearly your eyes see to the sides. Usually done with a bowl instrument that flashes lights at you and you press a button when a light is seen. |
| Retinal Photography and GDx VCC retinal nerve fiber layer imaging can also be incorporated as part of an eye examination. Details of these can be found elsewhere in the website. Both of these
are outside the scope of a normal eye examination and therefore we do have to charge an extra fee whenever these are undertaken. Please ask for more details when you next visit the practice. |
| I hope that this information is helpful, more details of eye problems are on the Eye Disease page. If you have any questions please ask at your next eye examination. |
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