Eye Care at John Harwood

People come to see their Optometrist for a variety of reasons. You might simply be responding to a reminder letter, you might need a VDU eye examination for work, or you might have a specific problem such as blurred vision, eye strain or headaches. It is very important that your Optometrist is aware of any visual problems you are having, as this may affect the tests your practitioner needs to do.

There are several parts to an eye examination, including assessing your vision and checking the health of your eyes.

Assessment of Vision

Your practitioner will assess your level of vision by asking you to read the letters on a chart, with and without spectacles if you wear them. A variety of tests can be used to evaluate your quality of sight and determine whether your vision can be improved with spectacles.

Examining your Eyes

Slit Lamp with Volk lens

Your Optometrist will look inside your eyes using either a special instrument called an ophthalmoscope or a slit lamp with a Volk lens, both of which allow the practitioner to examine the internal health of your eyes. This test can help to pick up eye conditions such as cataract and glaucoma, as well as general health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

Retinal Camera

For your optimum eyecare, all of our John Harwood practices have special digital retinal cameras which use very advanced technology to capture a digital image of the retina at the back of your eyes. This image is stored on computer and can be used to evaluate any changes in the health of the retina in the future.

Eye Movements and Co-ordination

Muscle Balance

Sometimes there can be an inbalance between the muscles that control eye movement. This can result in eyestrain and headaches or even double vision. Your Optician can use several different tests to check that your eye muscles are correctly balanced, which might include the test shown here.

Additional Tests

Additional tests may also be used to check the health of your eyes. Two of the most common tests are tonometry to measure the pressure inside the eyeball and perimetry to check your field of vision. These tests can be used to assist your Optician in detecting glaucoma, which becomes increasingly common after the age of forty.

Please click here if you would like to book an eye examintion.