Advanced Eye Examination
Has your optometrist recommended an advanced eye examination? Even if you take good care of your eyes and attend regular eye exams, an advanced eye examination may still be necessary. Here’s everything you need to know before your appointment.
Benefits of an Advance Eye Exam
Regular eye exams are important for maintaining good vision and eye health. Not only do they make sure your vision is the best it can be, which improves the quality of your day-to-day life, but they also help with checking the health of the back of your eyes and identifying a range of eye conditions.
An advanced eye exam goes one step further than this, using the latest technology to gain better insight into your overall eye health and identify early stages of serious eye conditions like glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, vitreous detachments, and more.
What to expect
An advanced eye examination usually takes around 45 minutes. Your optometrist will ask you detailed questions concerning your vision, lifestyle, and overall eye health, along with your general medical history. They will then assess every aspect of both your vision and eye health.
Your eye health is examined using a high-powered digital technology that allows them to photograph the retina at the back of the eye. They may also use an OCT scan, which produces a 3D scan that shows the different layers of your retina, letting your optometrist see beneath the surface quite literally.
These tests are quick, non-invasive, painless, and accurate. Both retinal imaging devices provide instant results, so your optometrist can discuss their findings with you at your appointment and offer any recommendations regarding your eye health. This includes making any urgent referrals to a hospital specialist if a serious eye condition has been diagnosed, allowed patients to access further tests and treatment to help preserve their vision.
Understanding your vision problems
While a regular eye exam is important for determining whether your vision has changed and detecting eye problems, an advanced eye examination helps us to gain an even deeper understanding of any vision problems and the health of your eyes by literally letting us see beneath the surface.
This is especially important for those with a family history of medical or eye problems or for those who have had any big vision changes in the past, which may increase the risks of developing eye conditions in the future. All retinal imagery can also be kept in each patient record, so even the slightest changes can be monitored over time.