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Optometry and Quality Eye Care Access

Aug 17, 2020
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Optometry, what do you expect, why is it necessary, and what tests are performed.

The optometry profession is a combination of public health, service delivery, practice management, educational, and legal initiatives specific to every country's educational, regulatory, and cultural frameworks.

WCO aims to establish a common standard of global optometric care for the public's well-being. Optometry may extend far beyond correcting the refractive error, but its core business does center around the refractive error mainly.

Globally, the statistics tell us that the most significant cause of blindness to date remains uncorrected refractive error and the major reason for visual impairment. Optometrists play a vital role in helping us see the vital connection between our overall well-being and health and our eyes' condition.

Optometrists can diagnose and address vision problems, eye disorders, dispense and prescribe contact lenses and glasses and offer expert advice on the eye care you need. Here is what you can expect from an optometrist who delivers quality eye care for you:

  • When you visit a renowned optometrist, you must be ready to devote at least an hour to the visit. Good comprehensive eye exams generally take that long, and it is better to plan accordingly. Do not expect to squeeze an appointment with an optometrist during your hour-long lunch break.
  • Every quality eye exam includes a detailed account of health history. When you schedule an appointment, you must be ready to answer questions regarding your eye and vision problems, any surgeries or injuries you experienced, prescribed medications, and your overall health and your family’s.
  • You will have to perform a visual acuity test or an eye chart to scale your vision sharpness. You will have to read as much as possible from the chart through lenses of different strengths. These measure your distant and near vision.
  • The doctor puts you through a simple retinoscopy test to determine your prescription. The doctor will ask you to concentrate on a target while he shines a light on your eye and flips lenses in a machine. To further isolate your prescription, the doctor will put you through a refraction test featuring several lenses in an instrument. You will have to look through each lens to reach your prescription needs.
  • You will also sit through a stereopsis test in which you will have to stare at a pattern till a shape emerges. The doctor will be able to verify how coordinated your eyes are and estimate the depth of your perception.
  • Next will be the visual field test to measure your side or peripheral vision. In this, you usually have to focus on a center light and several other tiny lights that flash on the sides. When you trigger into pressing a button, it alerts the doctor about your blind spots.
  • Glaucoma is also a common vision problem, including a gradual loss of sight. The doctor must test you for glaucoma with a quick puff of air and a check on your inner eye and optic nerve pressure. Glaucoma in the early stages is curable, and you can overcome it for good.
  • The doctor may also use a slit lamp test to check for disease or infection in the front of your eye. The process is not painful but may make you sensitive to light for a while. It is, however, important to run this test.
  • Similarly, the doctor will also perform a back-eye review to check behind your eyes. Although special drops enlarge your pupils to make your optic nerve eye, blood vessels, and retina visible, the procedure is painless.
  • is a substitute for dilating eye drops and can scan your eyes digitally in a second or less. Retinal imaging does not damage your vision, and doctors vastly prefer it now.

We have several convenient options to book an appointment. Call 718-246-5700 you can also book on our website at https://www.LaSanteHealth.com or on ZocDoc.

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