Once your diagnostic tests are completed, you’re ready to see the optometrist.
For the optometrist to do their job properly, at times during the consultation they will need to be quite close to you. This is normal, and they will comply with any regulatory guidelines for health care professionals.
Your optometrist will talk to you about your eye health history, your family history and any issues you may be experiencing. They will also review your diagnostic tests and discuss the results with you.
During your consultation, your optometrist will further check the health of your eyes, look for signs of other medical conditions and check your vision.
To check your vision, your optometrist will perform a refraction test which will help determine whether your vision needs any correcting.
To check the health of the front and back of your eyes, your optometrist will use a slit-lamp and lens. A slit lamp is a powerful microscope used to examine the front surface of the eyes and allows the optometrist to check for abnormalities or scratches on your cornea, iris, and lens. With the lens, your optometrist will then examine the structures of the eye and the back of the eye.
This is important as it provides additional clinical information and confirmation of what is visible in the OCT scan and allows your optometrist to look further into the peripheral areas of your eyes.
Depending on the results of your eye test, you may require additional assessments to help your optometrist accurately determine what’s going on with your eye health and make a recommendation for you.
One of these additional assessments is a visual field check which tests the sensitivity of your peripheral (side) vision. This helps to detect blind spots and other visual field defects, which can be the sign of a problem. Visual fields are usually recommended for patients at risk of having glaucoma, but can also be recommended for various other reasons. The test takes about 20 minutes and is a bit like a hearing test but instead of detecting sounds, it involves detecting flashes of light in your peripheral vision.
If your optometrist has trouble gaining a clear view of the structures of your eye during your eye test, or would like to take a closer look at the back of your eyes, they may recommend a dilated fundus examination. This involves some painless eye drops that enlarge your pupils to allow the optometrist to get a better view of the structures in the back of the eye with a lens to thoroughly assess the health of your eyes, and obtain clear images with an OCT. Eye dilation can make your vision blurry and your eyes sensitive to light for a few hours, which can affect your ability to drive or work, so your optometrist will normally recommend that you arrange for someone to drive you home if you require this test.
For more information, please visit:
[ Ссылка ]
