Eye Tests: What To Expect?

Why is it important to test your eyes?

No matter your physical condition or age, it is essential to have at least an eye test every year to detect any vision problem before it progresses. This gives you the best chance to correct or prevent the condition from getting worse.

Your optometrist will test your vision to determine the power required for your eyeglasses as well as check for common eye problems and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall vision health.

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What to expect from an eye test?

If you are booked in for an eye test, you may wonder just what some of the common procedures that take place are and what is involved. Eye tests vary depending on age and specific conditions. Here are some of the most common eye tests:

Visual Acuity: This test measures the sharpness of your vision
Colour Blindness: This screening test checks your colour vision
Cover Test: This test checks if your eyes work well together
Ocular Motility: This test determines eye movement issues
Glaucoma: Test to see if Glaucoma is present, may include eye pressure
Slit Lamp Exam: To examine the structure of the eye under high modification

Comprehensive eye tests cover a wide spectrum of potential eye conditions. The duration of eye tests depends on who the patient is. A young and healthy person with no apparent problems will take shorter time than someone older, perhaps with high blood pressure or other ailments. 

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Eye tests and age

Young people often tend to overlook having their eyes checked. However, this shouldn’t be the case as vision problems can occur at any age or physical fitness level.

Children should have regular vision screening and eye tests, because impaired vision can severely impact a child’s ability to learn academically and socially. These days young children have started using smart phones and tablets even before they start walking. Extended use of digital screens can cause eye strain or tiredness, which can impact your child’s vision.

Studies have shown that there is a close correlation between the use of digital devices and the significant increase in myopia among children in the world. This makes eye tests for children even more important to identify and treat vision problems as soon as they arise.

The older you get, regular eye tests become more essential as adults are prone to diseases that may cause blindness or other serious eye-related issues. Eye tests can easily detect common causes of blindness such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. The possibility of these conditions occurring increase significantly as we get older. Vision loss can be prevented or reduced with early detection from regular eye tests.

Ino Tumamao