Not all eye appointments are equal. You could be seeing the doctor for a variety of eye issues or ailments, many of which might require different diagnostic routes. Here are some of the common vision problems and how they might impact your next eye appointment.
The Standard Eye Appointment
Your standard eye appointment is to check your vision generally as well as to check for common eye diseases, which are more easily treatable if caught early on.
The eye doctor will ask you about your general health, as some conditions will impact your vision. He or she will administer a vision test to see if your vision has changed and to determine if you need to wear glasses or contact lenses. He or she will also assess the health of your eyes, which is done using special lights to look in and around your eye. In order to look inside your eye, you will be given eye drops to dilate your eye. These drops last for a few hours after your eye appointment, so expect to be very sensitive to light until they wear off.
In addition to these tests, the doctor may test your eye muscles, your color vision, or your peripheral vision.
Glaucoma Test
If your doctor suspects that you’ve got glaucoma, the testing takes a bit of a different format. You’ll most likely undergo two different tests: tonometry and ophthalmoscopy.
With tonometry, eye drops will be administered to numb your eye. The doctor will then use an instrument called a tonometer to measure the pressure of your eye.
With ophthalmoscopy, your eye will be dilated so that the doctor can examine your optic nerve for signs of damage. If the doctor feels that your eye pressure isn’t normal or if your optic nerve looks unusual, you may have some additional tests to see if you have glaucoma.
With gonioscopy, the doctor checks to see if the angle where the iris meets the cornea is open or closed. Your eye will be numbed with drops, and the doctor will use a hand-held contact lens to do this test.
In a perimetry test, the doctor will flash a light on the sides of your eye to test your whole field of vision.
Cataract Test
Do you think that you might have a cataract? During this diagnosis, your doctor will do a visual acuity test (which is similar to what you would experience in the standard eye appointment). They will also look into your eye with a special microscope called a slit-lamp, which will illuminate your cornea. He or she will also dilate your eyes to do a full retinal exam.
Diabetes
Unfortunately, one of the most common side effects of diabetes is vision loss. To test for this, the doctor will dilate your eyes and look for damage to the blood vessels, deposits in the retina, retinal detachment, or bleeding, all of which may be signs of diabetic retinopathy.
You should make a point of having an eye exam every year or more often if you experience changes in your vision. Contact us to schedule your eye appointment today or call 772-257-8700!