Eye Examination

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Preliminary examinations

Before your eye examination , a brief registration will be carried out which would involve taking a few personal details e.g., Name, date of birth etc. . . . A reading of your current prescription may be taken from your glasses.

You may also be asked to look into a machine that measures how well your eyes focus and which gives your approximate prescription.

Intra Ocular pressure

The optometrist may use a hand held machine which gently touches the eye or a machine that blows a puff of air into your eyes to measure their internal pressure. This is an important test that can indicate the early stages of glaucoma.

In the consulting room

External eye examination

The optometrist will ask about you and your family’s medical, family and ocular history . Several eye conditions are hereditary and many others are related to health, so it is important to take these factors into account.

Pupils, Eye movements and Colour Vision test

To check that your eyes move and focus properly, your optometrist will move a pen around in front of your eyes and towards your nose. You may also be invited to take a colour vision test. Because this is normally a stable and hereditary condition, you will not be required to take this test more than once, usually carried out at your first visit.

A small torch will also be flashed in your eyes to determine how well your pupils react. This would helps reveal any possible underlying neurological problems.

Refraction

Your optometrist will look at your eyes through a small hand-held instrument that shines a light into your eyes. This will enable the possibility of getting an accurate measurement of your prescription.

Subjective tests

These are tests where you say what you see. You look at various images projected onto the opposite wall while your optometrist flips different lenses in front of your eyes. These tests determine the best prescription to give you balanced vision.

Health of the eye – inside

Your optometrist shines a bright light into your eye and examines the health of the back of the eye and to check the clarity of the lens. During this part of the examination, any early indications of high blood pressure, glaucoma,diabetes or cataract can be detected.

Health of the eye – outside

A slit lamp – a powerful, illuminated microscope – is used to check the outside of your eye for abnormalities with the lids, lashes, cornea,iris and sctera
(front surface of the eye).

Field screening

Your optometrist may want to test for glaucoma by testing for loss of field of vision due to nerve fibre death, being at the periphery, in the centre or in both areas. This is done using a visual field screener, which flashes dots of light against a black background and you say how many dots you see and where and if necessary you may be referred to an eye specialist.

Results

After you have completed all the tests, your optician will give you your prescription and explain their recommendations.