Eye Examinations Archives

National Eye Exam Month and Important Children’s Vision Research

Written By Barry Silver

August is National Eye Exam month. Optometry Times claims there are five great reasons you should care about eye examinations:

Proper prescription
Your eye exam reveals if you need eyeglasses or contact lenses and what prescription will work best. If you already have prescriptive eyewear, keep in mind your vision needs tend to change as you age.
Detect eye conditions
An exam will enable your eye care professional to spot the early signs of diabetes, high blood pressure, glaucoma, and high cholesterol.
Prevent conditions
An optometrist can see early signs of diseases that may not present symptoms, such as macular degeneration or cataracts. Early detection is important.
Alleviate headaches
Visiting an eye care professional often leads to taking care of constant headaches.
Improve academic performance
Poor vision is a common reason children fall behind in school.

Speaking of children, this year, National Eye Exam month brings us an in-depth and important research compilation from National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness titled, Children’s Vision and Eye Health: A Snapshot of Current National Issues.

Can You Get a Vision Test Online?

Written By Barry Silver

In 2015, Opternative became the first online service to provide physician-issued prescriptions for glasses or contacts. Qualified consumers would use a computer and smartphone to take a vision test from home and receive a prescription shortly after.

However, the FDA changed its fate.

Eye Doctor Appointment: What to Expect at Your First Visit

Written By Barry Feldman

Are you thinking about making your first eye doctor appointment? If you’re new to the optometry world, you may not be sure what to expect.

If you’re a bit nervous about going to the eye doctor for the first time, this guide will help you. Here’s what you can expect from the beginning to the end of your eye doctor appointment.

Astigmatism Treatments: What Are the Best Options?

Written By Michael Healy

Astigmatism affects one out of every three people. While it’s far from life-threatening, astigmatism does not go away. However, there are astigmatism treatments available to correct the condition, one of them being surgery.

But is surgery your only option? Let’s explore this.

Prism Correction Glasses: What Are They?

Written By Michael Healy

Eyeglasses are typically prescribed for two main reasons: astigmatism and near- or farsightedness. Another common reason is to correct double vision, or diplopia. Read on to understand the warning signs, diagnostics, and whether or not you might be in need of prism correction glasses.

What causes the need for prism correction glasses?

If your eyes are working in accordance with each other, you have what is known as binocular vision. When light passes through the cornea, the dome-shaped tissue lining the outside of the eye helps to focus the light before it reaches the retina, the light-sensitive tissue lining the back surface of the eye.

Light that’s been converted by the cornea is sent to the brain as electrical impulses along the optic nerve to be translated into images. Typically, the eyes work together to see one, single image because light falls on the same spot in each retina.

However, in someone with diplopia, light falls on different parts of the retina, causing two separate images to be seen.

Diplopia is not the only reason for potentially needing prism correction glasses. Other causes include: