What to expect during an eye test?
As an independent family practice, the team at Blackheath Eyecare believes in providing each and every one of our patients with the same thorough care during your eye test that we would deliver to our own family members. As a part of this higher level of care, we find it extremely important that you are 100% informed about any procedures or treatments you undergo while in our office.
Our optometrist will conduct an unhurried and extensive examination. You will never leave our doors feeling rushed, or with questions unanswered as is the case with many competitive optical chains.
At Blackheath Eyecare, a wide range of tests and state of the art equipment is available at our disposal. Should you require further testing, our optometrist will customise these tests to your individual needs.
What Your Eye Test Involves
1. Your symptoms and history
We will ask you about any problems you may have experienced with your eyes, as well as your family’s ocular health history. We would also like to have some background information about your general health, your lifestyle, including what your hobbies and interests are. This will give us a clear picture of what your eyes are going through every day along with any potentially inherited conditions that we may need to take into account.
2. Vision Check
The aim is to check whether you can see clearly and if you require glasses.
A combination of tests is carried out using the latest digital test chart. These checks help us assess your distance vision. A near vision test will also be carried out using the Snellen near point chart, which will measure your eyes ability to read particular objects at a given working distance.
3. Eye Health Check
The internal and external structures of the eyes are examined using a high powered microscope. The microscope checks for the presence of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, or macular degeneration.
An eye pressure check or a visual field examination may be done depending on your age and symptoms. A visual field examination checks for blind spots in your peripheral vision. An eye pressure check measures the pressure being placed on your eyes by the amount of fluid inside. These tests may indicate more serious health conditions such as glaucoma or retinal damage.
Your eye movements will also be assessed to determine how your eye muscles are working. Your colour vision may also be assessed using specially designed colour vision plates.
4. The Advanced Eye Exam
We are committed to providing our patients with the highest standard of eye care available. Our job is not only to ensure that your vision is at its best but to check the health of your eye. That’s why we have recently installed a state-of-the-art Topcon OCT scanner in our consulting room. This will allow us to take scans and photographs of the back of your eye (retina), and enable us to carry out a far more detailed examination than was previously possible.
The scans shown below can use this to monitor the health and condition of your eyes. We will then have a permanent record of the condition of your eyes stored on our computer, allowing us to compare scans and images and look for any changes, year on year – which could prove to be invaluable in monitoring the health of your eye.
5. Conclusions and Discussion
After the examination has finished, we’ll discuss your results in detail with you. Our optometrist will explain exactly what the results indicate and any implications that may need to be addressed. Then if appropriate, we’ll talk through the potential solutions and help you to make the right decision. Our optometrist will also recommend how frequently you should have your eyes examined.
To book your eye examination on-line click on Book Appointment or call us on 020 8305 1060.
