The Eye Examination is a comprehensive test, carried out using specialized equipment, to establish the eye sight and health of the eyes.

• During an eye examination your general eye health and vision are checked.
• Vision and focusing are checked to ensure maximum clarity for distance, near and intermediate vision.
• Using a slit-lamp microscope the outer surface of the eye is checked for any signs of abnormalities.
• The interior of the eye is examined for signs of cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration and other systemic disorders.
• Eye coordination is examined to ensure both eyes are working well together.
• Peripheral vision is checked to ensure no presence of eye disease.
• The eye pressure is measured using a puff of air, this is called non contact tonometry and is completely painless.

Visual Field Test

This is a test which is performed to check your peripheral, or side vision. The test is most commonly used when checking for glaucoma. It is a computerised test which can detect any loss of vision, however small, which may be a result of eye disease.

During the test you will sit in a darkened room, and look into a dome-like instrument on which lights of different brightness will be seen.

The test is performed using one eye at a time, before you start it will explained to you what you will see and do. You will be given a hand held buzzer to hold, then you will place your head onto the rest, the computer will display one flash of light at a time and each time you see a flash you press the buzzer. The size and brightness of these flashes will vary in order to find the dullest light your peripheral vision can see. You can blink normally throughout the test and at the end you will see a ‘map’ of your vision.

This important test shows us if there are any points in your vision which are not as sensitive as they should be, these less sensitive points may be a sign of early eye disease, or may be normal for you.

Early detection of a problem will ensure a better prognosis, therefore a visual field test is an important one, and may be carried out annually or more frequently, depending on the individual. It is also used to establish a baseline vision for you, and future tests can be compared to this baseline and any problem quickly detected. Visual field loss cannot be repaired, but early detection of a problem allows treatment to prevent further loss, as in such eye disease as glaucoma.

Retinal Photography

This is where we take a photo of the inside of your eye using a special camera attached to a microscope, the useful applications of this are that the photos give a record of eye disease, or changes in the eye, any small change can be noted and monitored. Eye diseases such as Glaucoma which causes damage to the optic nerve, and Macular Degeneration can be monitored,  these images  can be emailed directly to your ophthalmologist.  As a bonus you too get to see what the inside of your own eye looks like!

Tonometry

A tonometry test measures the fluid pressure inside your eye, this is called the Intraocular Pressure. This test is used to help detect a disease called glaucoma, which is a condition where the intraocular pressure is raised and damage to the optic nerve can occur.  Glaucoma is a common and potentially very serious eye problem which needs to be detected and promptly treated.

Adults over the age of 40 should have a tonometry test at least every 2 years. We measure the pressure by blowing a small puff of air onto your eye, a sensor detects the amount of indentation the air puff causes, and this then relates back to the intraocular pressure. It is a quick and painless test.