Sections of The Eye Examination
The test may vary slightly from person to person, and all of our Opticians have their own routine for testing you. The basic sections of the test are as follows.
Refraction
The refraction section of the test assesses your sight, and tells us if you need any visual correction in the form of glasses or contact lenses. Some people worry that they give the wrong answers, but the Optician checks and checks again to get an accurate result.
The Opticians also use Retinoscopy (see below) so don't ever worry that you can give the wrong response!
At Davis Opticians we use a piece of equipment called a Phoropter or Refractor head, which places lenses in front of your eyes, and we then use a chart to find out how well you can see. It tells us whether your sight has changed since last time, and we check your standard of vision with and without correction lenses.
Each eye is tested individually, and then both together. We keep re-checking your vision with different strength lenses until we are satisfied that your vision is of the highest possible standard for you.
We have to check your sight for far distance driving, TV, walking around. For Intermediate computer screens, bigger print further than arms length. For close work reading, sewing, intricate detail. Your Optician will talk to you about what you do and when you need help, because all of this information affects the type of lenses we prescribe.
Retinoscopy
The Optician uses an instrument called a Retinoscope to double check the prescription that you need. This is a hand held device which bounces light off the retina and back. There are lenses inside the instrument which focus the light beam and we can very accurately assess your prescription with it.
As it does not require a response from the patient it is invaluable when testing children or patients who cannot easily communicate.
Ophthalmoscopy
We use another hand held instrument for this, the Ophthalmoscope.
The Optician uses it to make a detailed study of the internal structures of your eye, looking at the retina, the optic nerve and the blood vessels inside your eye. This is done in conjunction with the Retinal Image scan, to confirm eye health and follow up any issues raised by the scan picture. Diseases such as diabetes, macular degeneration and high blood pressure can be diagnosed during this part of the examination.
Your Optician has to turn the lights out for this part of the test, to see clearly when they look into your eyes. You will be aware of a bright light shining into your eye, and youll be asked to look in different directions.
Pupil Reflex
Your pupil is the black circle at the centre of the coloured part of your eye. Your pupils react to light conditions and other stimulus by getting bigger or smaller. We check that your pupil reaction to light is healthy and normal. Abnormal pupil reactions may be a sign of neurological diseases, but thankfully the incidence of this is very rare.
Muscle balance
The movement of each of your eyeballs is governed by muscles, and the muscles of both eyes have to work together. If they dont work together you may suffer from double vision, or possibly eye strain. This is a simple test where we ask you to judge the alignment of red lines either against a light or a chart that reads OXO.
