Eye Doctor:
When to see one

  • Children should see an eye doctor by the age of 3
  • People ages 20 to 30 should have an exam every 2 years
  • After age 30, yearly exams become more important to prevent or detect disease

What to bringGlasses

  • Your glasses or contacts if you have them
  • A list of any medications you’re on and any allergies you have
  • Insurance information

Why you should see one

  • If your vision is poor and you have to strain to focus or find yourself squinting all day long it can cause terrible headaches, possible accidents, and even learning deficits.
  • Your eyes are also not only the window to your soul, but the window to your physical health. An eye exam can catch early signs of glaucoma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even arthritis.

What to expect when you go
Vision Test:Distance Vision Check Chart

  • Distance Check – you will read a number of letters, numbers, and/or define the orientation of things on a screen or board some distance away. You do this for each eye individually since they may have different distance abilities. Your doctor may also hand you a similar card to read again with each eye within your arm’s range to test your near vision.
  • Peripheral Vision Check – this can be done fairly crudely by having the patient look straight forward and count the number of fingers the doctor holds up in their periphery. But oftentimes a computerized test is used now; in this test each eye is tested separately and the patient must identify lights or movements coming into their periphery.

 

  • Color Blindness CheckColor Check – a few tests involving colored dots help doctors detect color blindness; a commonly used exam is the PIP24 which consists of a few plates with different colored dots that form a number on the inside, if you have color vision problems you may not be able to identify that number.
  • 3D Check – this is to ensure that you have the ability to see in 3D and that there aren’t any other surrounding issues in your vision.
  • Tonometry – a test for glaucoma; a small puff of air is put into the eye to check pressure

Eye Exam:
The doctor will check your eyes from all angles, he may even dilate your eyes to get a really good look inside your pupil.