Everyone should have an eye test at least every 2 years, even if you have no symptoms! As the NHS website says "Your eyes rarely hurt when something is wrong with them, so having regular eye tests is important to help detect potentially harmful conditions."(1). I regularly test people who attend with no symptoms and find health ,or ocular, issues that would have otherwise gone undetected.
You should have an eye test carried out as early as possible from 2-3 years old , or earlier if you suspect your child has vision problems.
Having your child's eyes tested will make sure they are not hindered at school and they are more likely to reach their potential with their best vision possible.
Having an eye exam is not painful and can be fun for children. We start by asking a few questions about general health and any symptoms. We then use a spectacle like frame called a trial frame to hold any lenses you may need.
We will ask you to read some letters / numbers on a chart and for children they can point to pictures.
Once we have determined if you need a spectacle correction or not , we will check the health of your eyes, again this is not painful: We use a binocular microscope called a slit lamp to look at the health of the eye. We take a photograph inside your eye to compare as time goes by.
Adults will have pressures of the eye taken to check for glaucoma with a small puff of air. We also carry out visual field checks when required and the latest piece of equipment we have is called an OCT(ocular coherence topographer)(2) - its uses different wavelengths of light to show us the layers of the retina. This helps us pick up eye problems we couldn't see before- its amazing!
There are many other tests and checks we do as part of the exam and many depend on the patients symptoms.
The whole exam can take up to 30-40 minutes , some patients longer , some shorter.
All our patients will be given a clear explanation about the results and a copy of their spectacle prescription - which you are entitled to by law.
After the examination ,if you wish, we will then help you choose a frame from our wide selection ( basic to top quality) and you will have a recommendation from our experienced dispensers about the type of lenses that would be best suited to your wants and needs - we will always try and cater for every budget.
An eye examination will help check your eye health, which is linked to physical health, and provide you with advice and recommendations about your vision and discuss ways to correct your vision with spectacles or contact lenses.
Another sunny day today!
SBO
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