Visiting an eye doctor is important to protect your vision. However, it is also important to find a doctor who fits your personality and needs. Consider asking for recommendations from friends and family members. Also, check online reviews.
It is also a good idea to find out whether your doctor accepts your insurance. Also, make sure that the office hours are convenient for you. Click the Website to know more.
The eye exam is the primary way that your eye doctor checks both the health and the status of your vision. You’ll start by filling out any new-patient forms and presenting your insurance card to the receptionist, then you’ll sit down in an exam room. The exam will be conducted by your ophthalmologist or optometrist, although he may have a clinical assistant or other technician assist him with some of the tests and procedures.
The initial examination will usually begin with a review of your past medical history and a description of any symptoms you are experiencing. Your eye doctor will then test your visual acuity, which involves looking at an eye chart with letters or numbers of varying sizes to determine whether you can see them clearly. He may also test your color vision, and he’ll check your peripheral (side) vision in the visual field test.
Next, your eye doctor will examine the front of your eyes, including the cornea, iris and lens. He’ll often use a special microscope called a slit lamp, which magnifies and lights up the front of your eyes to allow him to see in detail. He may also use a tool called an ophthalmoscope to examine the back of your eye, including the retina, retinal blood vessels and the fluid in the back of your eye (vitreous fluid).
Your eye doctor will perform a refractive evaluation, which involves placing a series of lenses in front of your eyes and measuring how well each one focuses light using a handheld lighted instrument called a retinoscope. This will help your eye doctor determine the best possible prescription for you.
Other more specialized testing includes a tonometry test, which measures the pressure inside your eye, and a visual field test, which assesses your blind spots. The latter is a very important part of an eye exam, because it can detect conditions like glaucoma, in which the fluid pressure in your eyes increases and damage to the optic nerve occurs.
Your eye doctor will finish the exam by inspecting your eyes for any signs of injury or disease and discussing your results. If he finds any serious problems, he may recommend further or immediate testing by another health care professional.
Contact lens exam
A contact lens exam is performed in addition to a regular comprehensive eye exam. Your eye doctor will use the same test to determine your prescription as he or she would during a regular eye exam, but they will also evaluate your tear film and determine whether your eyes produce enough moisture to comfortably wear contacts. If you have severe dry eye or other conditions that prevent you from wearing contacts, the doctor will recommend sticking with eyeglasses.
During a contact lens exam, the doctor will ask you some questions about your lifestyle and preferences regarding contacts. For example, they will want to know if you plan to use them for color changing or if you have specific vision issues, such as presbyopia, that can be corrected with certain types of contact lenses. They will also want to know if you prefer disposable or extended wear contacts, or if you are interested in daily disposables, overnight or weekly contact lenses.
In order to accurately measure your eye’s corneal shape and curve, the doctor will use an instrument called a keratometer. This measures how light reflects from the corneal surface and provides accurate measurements of your eye’s base curve and the size of your pupils and irises. They may also use a device called a corneal topographer to obtain additional computerized details about your cornea’s shape and size.
The final step of a contact lens exam is a tear film evaluation. This test uses a drop of liquid dye or special strip to measure the amount of tears that are produced on the surface of your eye. It is important to check the tear film because if you don’t have enough moisture, you may find that your contacts are uncomfortable or irritated and itchy.
After performing these tests, the eye doctor will give you a contact lens prescription that is valid for one year. This is different from a glasses prescription because it takes into account the fact that contact lenses sit directly on the surface of your eye. Therefore, your contacts will need a more precise fit in order to be comfortable and effective.
Glaucoma screening
Glaucoma is a potentially dangerous eye condition that affects the flow of fluid through the eyes. It can cause vision loss and even blindness if it goes undiagnosed and untreated. Glaucoma screening is an important part of your annual eye exam to help detect glaucoma in its early stages and manage it before the disease causes symptoms.
Your doctor will perform several tests to measure your risk of glaucoma and determine the type of glaucoma you may have. These tests include: an angle exam (gonioscopy): this test checks the drainage angle where fluid drains out of your eye. It can determine whether this is a blocked or narrow angle (angle closure glaucoma) or an open but not functioning drainage angle (open angle glaucoma).
Tonometry: this is a painless test that measures the pressure inside your eye. It requires eye drops that numb the area, and a small device touches your eyeball to measure the pressure. Your doctor will use the results of tonometry and other information to decide if you are at risk for glaucoma.
Visual field tests: these are used to determine if you have lost any peripheral or side vision as a result of glaucoma. Your examiner will ask you to look straight ahead and signal each time a light flashes into your peripheral vision. These tests are usually done on a computer and can take up to an hour.
Other glaucoma tests may include: a retinal nerve fiber analysis, which can see damage to the optic nerve; pachymetry, which uses a probe to measure the thickness of your cornea; and a dilated eye exam, which lets your doctor see the blood vessels in the back of your eye and determine if they are normal or not.
Most of the glaucoma screening tests you undergo are safe and painless. However, you will probably feel a little uncomfortable during the dilated eye exam, and your vision may be blurry afterward. If you have a glaucoma diagnosis, you will probably have to repeat these tests once or twice a year to check for further changes in your vision.
Eye surgery
Eye surgery can fix problems that can’t be treated with medicine or glasses. It also can help restore vision that has been lost to severe trauma or injury. The surgery can be performed at a hospital, an eye care center, or a surgeon’s office.
Most eye surgeries are quick and require minimal anesthesia. Your doctor may use a topical anesthesia, which is a drop or gel that numbs the eye, to perform some procedures. General anesthesia is more common with longer operations, traumatic eye injuries and some orbitotomies.
During a refractive surgery, your eye surgeon reshapes your cornea, changing the way light rays focus on your retina to correct your vision. Refractive surgery is used to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. The most popular form of reshaping is laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, or LASIK.
In some cases, the lens of your eye can become cloudy, causing a condition called cataracts. Cataract removal involves removing the lens and replacing it with an artificial one. Your eye doctor can also implant a multifocal lens to help you see near and far.
Your retina is the layer of nerve tissue that covers the back of your eye. It’s where images are sharpened and focused before they’re sent to the brain by the optic nerve. Retinal surgery is used to correct some issues with the retina, including macular degeneration and a detached retina.
For some patients, eye muscle surgery can improve a condition called strabismus. This happens when the eyes point in different directions, resulting in double vision. The doctor can shorten the insertion of the muscle — a procedure known as advancement — or move it farther back in the eye — a procedure called recession.
Another type of eye surgery is a vitrectomy, which removes the clear fluid that fills the center of your eye — the vitreous humor. This is used to treat retinal detachments and other problems such as a vitreous hemorrhage from diabetic retinopathy. It’s also often combined with other intraocular procedures for a variety of conditions, such as a giant retinal tear and tractional retinal detachment.