Category: eye care

3 Eye Exam Tips to Remember When You Visit the Optometrist

Did you know only 35 percent of adults have perfect vision?

If you’re part of the other 65 percent, then visiting the optometrist is a yearly ritual you don’t think twice about. You know exactly what happens during an eye exam.

Regardless, you should still prepare for your optometrist visit to get the most out of the visit. That’s why we’re letting you in on these three eye exam tips right now.

1. Answer Questions Before Visiting the Optometrist

Before your optometrist visit, review this list of questions to ask yourself:

Has my vision changed since my last eye exam?
Can I tell the difference between red and green?
Am I seeing double?
Is it difficult to drive at night?
Have I had any injuries that could have resulted in a change of my vision?
Do vision problems run in my family?
Have I been getting headaches?
Is the issue in one eye or both?
How much time do I spend in front of a screen?

When your doctor asks if there’s been a change in your vision, don’t answer with a simple “yes” or “no.”

One of our best eye exam tips is to be as specific as possible. Answering these questions now will help you know what to expect during an eye exam. That way, your doctor can help you treat the problem.

2. Review Your Health and Family Health History

If both your parents are nearsighted, then you have a 1 in 3 chance of being nearsighted too.

Other than nearsightedness, your genetics could point to other eye problems. Some of these include color blindness, glaucoma, and strabismus.

Before visiting the optometrist, contact your family members to find out if you’re prone to any of these eye problems.

Other than genetics, the current state of your health might correlate with your eye health. While visiting the optometrist, ask what the eye exam can tell you about your overall health.

You may be surprised to learn that you’re at risk for a stroke, diabetes, or cancer. Or, your eyes also may be telling you that you need to sleep more.

3. Bring What You Need

Don’t walk into the doctor’s office empty-handed. Other than your current contact lens and glasses, there are a few other things to bring:

A list of questions you have for the optometrist
A list of symptoms
Your primary care doctor’s name
A list of your medications
Sunglasses for driving home (if you get your eyes dilated)
Your vision insurance card

The list of medications is important in case your optometrist prescribes you anything. You wouldn’t want your new prescriptions to interfere with your old ones.

Eye Exam Tips

If you’re a long-time eye patient, you already what to expect during an eye exam. Still, this shouldn’t stop you from preparing for your optometrist visit.

Using these eye exam tips will optimize your time at the appointment and help get you the treatment you need.

Still want to know what happens during an eye exam? Click here to get in touch with us.

8 Things Your Eye Exam Can Tell You About Your Overall Health

In a group of 11,305 participants aged 40 years and above with moderate-to-severe visual impairment, 35% of them felt they didn’t need eyesight care.

And that’s why these people skip regular eye care. Yet, visiting an eye doctor is vital to enhancing your overall health. The eye examination will help you know whether you have underlying health problems.

Still doubtful on the need for regular eyesight care?

Keep reading to learn eight things your eye exams can tell you about your overall health.

1. Early Signs of Stroke

One of the early signs of stroke is blood clots at the back of the eyes. The problem is that these clots are microscopic, so the only way to see them is by undergoing an eye examination. You want to detect this problem early when it’s manageable and easy to treat.

2. Diabetes

An eye care examination will also help uncover specks of blood in your eyes which is a sign of diabetes. At this stage it’s you may be experiencing fluctuating blurry vision. You want to start receiving treatment early and avoid severe vision loss due to diabetes.

3. High Blood Pressure

People with high blood pressure usually have damaged blood vessels in their eyes. The issue is that it is hard to detect these issues without an eye examination. That’s why you should reach out to our clinic today and book an eye care appointment.

4. High-Stress Levels

Comprehensive eye exams will also help detect when you’ve high-stress levels. The doctor will notice that your eyes are twitching, which is a sign of stress. The idea is to take action to lower your stress levels and enhance your wellness.

5. Your Cholesterol Is High

Most Americans don’t realize they’ve high cholesterol levels as there are no physical symptoms. So don’t believe that only obese people suffer this problem as anyone can have a high cholesterol level. One of the ways to detect this problem is by getting regular eye care.

6. You Need Contact Lenses

Getting an eye exam is also vital to know when you should consider getting contact lenses. The idea is to improve your vision and eye comfort. That’s why you should look for a licensed eye doctor to receive recommendations on the ideal contact lenses to get.

7. You Need More Sleep

Your body adapts when you don’t get enough sleep for many days consecutively, but this doesn’t mean you’re okay. As lack of sleep leads to numerous other health issues such as hypertension. Getting an eye examination will help you know whether you’re getting enough sleep or not.

8. Cancer

Most people don’t realize they’ve cancer until it’s too late. At this stage, it’s an uphill battle for doctors trying to treat cancer. One inexpensive way of detecting cancer early is by getting regular eye care.

Enhance Your Health by Seeing an Eye Doctor Regularly

Now you understand that seeing an eye doctor is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Comprehensive eye exams will help you uncover all the above health issues early. Besides, you’ll get professional guidance on when to get contact lenses.

To enjoy affordable eye care, contact us today!

5 Basic Types of Eye Tests That Are Part of an Eye Exam

At least 2.2 billion people have impaired vision worldwide, and one billion of these cases were preventable or have not yet been addressed.

The importance of an eye exam should not be underestimated. Whether or not you suffer from near or far-sightedness, eye exams can be of benefit.

Eye exams are essential to eye care. They can help prevent and treat impaired vision and eye conditions, and they can also help detect a variety of other health problems.

Read on to learn about the different types of eye tests and how they help diagnose and treat eye problems.

1. Visual Acuity Test

The visual acuity test is typically known to most people as the eye chart test.

With a visual acuity test, the eye doctor will ask you to read a line of letters from an eye chart. You will read the chart twice, using one eye at a time.

Your ability to read the letters helps determine the vision level of each eye.

2. Slit-Lamp Exam

In a slit-lamp exam, the eye doctor will look through a microscope called a slit lamp with intense light to get a better view of your eye. This allows the optometrist to examine your cornea, iris, lens, and anterior chamber.

The optometrist may use eye drops containing a fluorescein dye to make it easier to spot small cuts, scrapes, tears, objects, or infections on the cornea.

3. Visual Field Test

Visual field tests help check your direct and peripheral vision.

There are various types of eye tests used to check a person’s visual field, but the most common is done with an autoperimeter. An autoperimeter is a bowl-shaped machine that flashes small lights.

The optometrist will instruct you to stare at a spot in the center and press a button every time a light flashes in your peripheral vision.

4. Visual Refraction Test

In a visual refraction test, you will be instructed to look through a phoropter—a thick machine with numerous lenses and dials—at the eye chart in front of you.

You will stare through a series of lens pairs to test if you are nearsighted, farsighted, affected by astigmatism, or have normal vision. The eye doctor will switch between two lens pairs at a time and ask which one you can see clearest through.

This test helps determine your optimal lens prescription.

5. Retinoscopy

A retinoscopy is another test that uses the phoropter to find your lens prescription.

The optometrist will instruct you to focus on a prominent object in front of you, like the big “E” on the top row of the eye chart. The eye doctor will then shine a light in your eyes to see how the light will affect your eyes when using different lenses.

Protect Your Vision Through the Different Types of Eye Tests

There are many types of eye tests to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions, not just vision impairment.

Eye exams are essential to diagnose and treat eye and other health conditions, potentially preventing the beginnings of a serious condition from getting worse.

If you are experiencing any concerns or problems with your vision, do not hesitate to schedule an eye exam with us today.

Keeping Up With Eye Care: 7 Health Problems Eye Exams Can Detect

A lot of people assume that you only need to see an eye doctor if you wear glasses or contact lenses. But if you still have eyes, then eye care is not optional.

A yearly eye exam is extremely important, and not just for preserving your eyesight. The fact is that these eye exams can detect loads of serious health problems that have little to do with eyesight.

For instance, eye doctors are often the first to spot signs of high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disease, and cancer in their patients. That’s because the condition of your eyes can reveal early symptoms of these conditions before other, more noticeable symptoms appear. In other words, scheduling yearly eye exams can save your life.

To illustrate this point, we’ve listed 7 serious health problems that eye exams can detect. Read on to learn what you need to know.

1. High Blood Pressure

Sometimes, high blood pressure can cause symptoms that appear visibly in the blood vessels of your eyes. Specifically, a close inspection may reveal that these vessels are bleeding excessively or that they look abnormally kinked. In this instance, the doctor can check your blood pressure and refer you to a general physician for treatment if necessary.

2. High Cholesterol

An eye doctor can detect an excess of cholesterol deposits in a patient’s eyes. This indicates that the patient’s cholesterol levels are dangerously high. Another sign is a blue or yellow ring surrounding the cornea.

Spotting these signs early enough can allow treatment before the condition becomes life-threatening.

3. Diabetes

Yellow fluid/blood leaking from blood vessels in your eye may indicate diabetes. This symptom may appear before any symptoms that are noticeable to the patient.

4. Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis causes the patient’s body to attack healthy tissue, resulting in widespread inflammation and pain. This commonly affects the patient’s eyes the same way. An eye exam will make it clear that rheumatoid arthritis is the cause.

5. Multiple Sclerosis

Vision problems can often result from the inflammation of the optic nerve, which could be a sign of multiple sclerosis. However, the inflammation doesn’t always cause visual symptoms. But it will still be noticed during an eye exam.

6. Hyperthyroidism

Retracting eyelids and protruding eyeballs are obvious signs of hyperthyroidism. This condition can be fatal when it’s not carefully regulated by a physician. See your general physician right away if your optometrist spots these symptoms.

7. Cancers/Tumors

Lastly, tissue, skin, and blood cancers leave many different signs that your eye doctor can detect during an eye exam. And brain tumors, cancerous or not, can put pressure on the eyes, which is also noticeable to the optometrist.

Prevent These Problems With Proper Eye Care

Don’t let these problems happen to you by neglecting proper eye care. If you haven’t had your eyes examined this year, see your local eye doctor right away.

Do you need an eye exam, a refill of contact lenses, or other eye care services? Click the link at the top of this page to schedule an appointment for the services you need. Or, if you need more information first, contact us here.

Eye Exam Guide: Answering the Most Frequently Asked Questions

I remember talking about contact lenses with my friends. They were all, “how can you stand to touch your eyeball like that”?

For those that are squeamish, the thought of having their eyes touched or examined could bring some medical anxiety.

You might want to know, however, what exactly an eye exam entails.

Read on to find out about various aspects of this relatively painless proceeding.

Eye Exam Cost

The upfront cost for an eye exam could be from $70-200 dollars without insurance.

However, most eye doctors accept insurances which can offset the costs.

How Long Does an Eye Exam Take

Eye exams last for varying amounts of time, depending on the condition of your eyes.

If your eyes are healthy, and only need require a prescription for glasses or contact lenses, the examination may be quick.

If you have several eye complications like dry eyes, and severe myopia, glaucoma, cataracts, or diabetes, the test could take longer.

Expect to have an eye exam between 15 minutes to an hour, depending on your eye health.

Common Tests

Aspects of the eye exam are typically painless and provide the eye doctor with information on the health of your eyes.

Your eye doctor will use a variety of techniques and instruments to check the health of your eyes.

They will check:

Eye muscle strength and eye-teaming skills (how your two eyes work together)
Visual acuity
Refractive error
Physical health of surrounding structures (like eyelashes)
Retinal health
Risk of glaucoma

You should be scheduling eye exams at least once a year, or sooner for certain eye conditions.

Eye Exam Results

Your doctor will share the results with you after your exam, and you may go over the results together.

They will report to you about your visual acuity, your overall eye health, and if there is any need for glasses or contact lenses.

If you require eyeglasses and there has been a change in your prescription, your doctor will write that out for you. Children need to receive eye exams more often because of how rapidly their eyes are changing and developing.

Take Care of Your Eyes

Take care of your eyes! Do not hesitate to schedule an eye exam if you are worried.

The health of your eyes can speak a lot about your overall general health. Some medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure can be detected during an eye exam.

Why Are Eye Exams Important?

164 million adults in the United States wear glasses, which is a huge percentage of the population.

Additionally, millions of children wear glasses, and many may eventually need to wear glasses as they get older.

But if you feel your prescription hasn’t changed or don’t wear glasses, why are eye exams important?

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of eye exams and why you should have your eyes checked at least once a year.

Vision Changes

You may not recognize your vision is changing, as it usually happens gradually. However, an eye doctor will tell and can help you decide if it has changed enough to warrant glasses or a new prescription.

Some children may also not be able to tell if their vision has changed, as they may not vocalize that things don’t look the way they used to. Or, their teachers may notice that they’re squinting more or having trouble reading.

It’s no fun to go through life struggling to see, and getting a yearly eye exam ensures you don’t have to do so.

This is especially important for children or aging adults, as vision can change rapidly in these two populations.

Eye Exams Can Help Your Doctor Identify Other Illnesses

Did you know your eyes can give your doctor a glimpse into the health of your body as a whole? A comprehensive eye exam can help your eye doctor recommend that you have your regular doctor perform certain tests based on clues from your eye exam.

For example, having inflammation in your eyes may mean that you have an autoimmune disorder. Changes the cornea can mean you have high cholesterol. Bleeding from your retinal blood vessels can also indicate you have hypertension or diabetes.

Additionally, if your eye doctor notices swelling in your optic nerve, this can be a sign that you may have neurological conditions. Your eye health can be the first clue that you have a brain tumor or increased intracranial pressure.

As scary as some of these illnesses sound, often, early detection can help ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

Tests for Eye Diseases

In addition to diseases of the body, an eye exam can help identify diseases of the eye. Glaucoma, for instance, can eventually lead to severe vision loss. It is often symptomless and can be treated and managed to prevent permanent vision loss if detected early.

Schedule Regular Eye Exams

Scheduling regular eye exams are paramount to your overall health and that of your family. Ensure everyone gets regular eye exams by putting reminders in your calendar or phone to schedule your next appointment. Don’t put it off; it could be incredibly important for your vision.

If you’re in the Greater NYC area, book your appointment with us today.

What is the typical procedure for an eye exam?

Eye exams are by far the most common procedures that most eye doctors will perform. The examination process is quick, easy, and completely painless, making it worth getting your eyes checked if you haven’t done so for a long time. Many people feel nervous before they attend an appointment like this, but there really isn’t anything to worry about. To give you an idea of how smooth your eye exam can be, this article will be exploring the procedure that you will go through when you want to stop by for an eye examination.

You will need to make an appointment with your eye doctor before you can attend an eye exam with them. Many eye doctors have long waiting lists, making it well worth looking for offices like Fresh Pond Eye Care that will be able to book you in quickly. It’s never a bad idea to take a little bit of time out of school or work to make sure that you have time for your appointment.

Arriving a few minutes early will be a good idea, and you will usually need to approach the front desk to get signed in before waiting for your eye doctor to be ready for you. You may have some paperwork to fill out prior to the start of your eye exam.

You will be welcomed into a private space with a range of equipment and tools. While this may look a little intimidating at first, absolutely nothing that an eye doctor will use on an appointment like this will cause pain or discomfort. Some of the most common eye exam elements can be found below.

Glaucoma Screening: Your eye doctor will perform a simple test to measure the pressure inside your eyes.
Refraction Test: This is the most widely-known eye doctor test, and it consists of a range of lenses placed in front of the patient’s eyes while they read letters of different sizes from a board. A glasses or contact lens prescription will be generated based on these results – if they are necessary.
Ocular Health Examination: Your eye doctor will look at your eyes through a microscope to ensure they are healthy. Your eye doctor may also take photographs of the back of your eye, or dilate your pupils to ensure the health of your retina.

As you can see, the procedure that you will go through in your eye exam are non-invasive and painless. Your eye doctor may want to perform more tests if they think something is wrong with your eyes, but these tests will be equally as easy to go through.

Once your eye exam is over, you will have the chance to discuss the state of your eyes with your eye doctor. They may suggest that you get glasses or contact lenses, and you will be able to discuss what options may best serve your daily visual needs. Alongside this, though, they may also be able to give you advice on how to maintain your general eye health with your lifestyle choices.

Eye exams are common procedures that are far from unpleasant. Here at Fresh Ponds Eye Care, we pride ourselves on providing a friendly and welcoming service, and we’re sure that you will enjoy your time with our professional eye doctor.