Before choosing the frames that say “this is me”, regardless of your age or physical health, it is important for everyone to have a regular eye exam.
When our doctor at Optical Impressions examines your eyes, he or she is doing more than checking to see if you need glasses. During a complete eye exam, your eye doctor will not only determine your prescription for eyeglasses, but will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health. If you are interested in contact lenses the doctor can fit you in the newest technology available.
Eye care starts with routine examinations. An Optical Impressions eye examination may reveal eye problems, even hidden ones you may not be aware of. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, elevated cholesterol, or thyroid disease, your vision and the health of your eyes could be affected.
Also, certain medications may affect your eyes and cause vision problems, which is why it’s so important to have your eyes examined on a regular basis. If you are having symptoms of eye trouble you should see an eye doctor right away.
WHO SHOULD GET THEIR EYES EXAMINED?
Eye examinations are an important part of health maintenance for everyone. Adults should have their eyes tested regularly to keep their prescriptions current and to check for early signs of eye disease. Individuals with diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure need yearly exams. Certain eye conditions such as cataracts or glaucoma may need more frequent exams.
Eye doctors use a wide variety of tests and procedures to examine your eyes. These tests range from simple ones, like having you read an eye chart, to complex tests, such as using speciality lenses to visualize the tiny structures inside your eyes.
The slit lamp is an instrument that an Optical Impressions eye doctor uses to examine the health of your eyes. The slit lamp, also called a biomicroscope, allows the doctor to get a highly magnified image of the structures of the eye in order to thoroughly evaluate them for signs of infection or disease.
During this test the doctor will have you place your chin on the chin rest of the slit lamp and will look through a set of oculars (much like a microscope in a science lab) and examines each part of the eye in turn. Our doctor will first examine the structures of the front of the eye (lids, cornea, conjunctiva, iris, etc.). Then, with the help of speciality lenses, he or she will view the inside of the eye (retina, optic nerve, macula and more).
A whole range of eye conditions and diseases can be detected with slit-lamp examination, including cataracts, macular degeneration, corneal ulcers, diabetic eye disease, … the list goes on and on.