Why do you need regular eye checkups?

‘If I deaf, blind, and find life interesting, how much more can you gain by the use of your five senses?’ – Helen Keller

Helen’s words are a reminder for being grateful for things we take for granted – our senses- especially our sight.

Regular eye examinations are important because:

• good vision corrected can improve the quality of your day-to-day life
• certain eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, amblyopia in children which could lead to sight loss, are caught in time
• poor vision is a risk for falls and accidents

What happens in a General Eye Checkup?

Visual Acuity test

This test assesses the reading capacity of eyes from a given distance. It is done to check both near & distant vision.

Regardless of having glasses on or not, a full eye examination is a better bet than waiting for your vision to blur out and show symptoms of underlying issues that otherwise could have been prevented in early stages.

The optometrist can give you a combination of a Machine test ( The House that seems to run far and near) and the classic letters + numeric reading test.

The latter one is widely performed where the patients are told to read out the fonts of different sizes, covering one eye at a time, and with both eyes open.

Based on this, the optometrist keeps changing the lens combinations until you are able to read most lines with ease. It can also be supplemented with the machine for a better approximation of eye power.

Air puff Test

This is done to measure eye pressure. You only feel a puff of air on your eye. The machine is called a non-contact tonometer.

Pressure may be high in glaucoma- which does not have any symptoms till it’s too late. The only way to save eyes from glaucoma damage is to get regular eye checkups- especially if you have a family history of glaucoma. Our optometrists perform this test as a part of general eye checkup in Delhi NCR.

Why do you need to come to an Eye Centre for a general eye check up?

Once these tests are done, our eye experts again ask you about your eye problems and any other medical conditions

After this, A slit lamp examination is done. You’re asked to look in different directions as a beam of light is directed on the front of your eye. This detects any conjunctiva, cornea or anterior chamber problems. A quick retina check is also done to check the fundus- or the central part of the eye.

If all is well or you need glasses only- the prescription is given to you and you’re done!

If your eye pressures are abnormal, the angles of your eye will be checked with a Gonioscope. You may also be referred to our glaucoma specialists.

If there are symptoms or signs of a retina problem, our eye doctors will get your eyes dilated and refer you to our retina specialists in Delhi NCR. Eye dilation is done by using special eye drops and can take from 30 mins to more than an hour. This is because everyone’s eyes are different and dilate at a different rate.

Once your pupils are dilated, our retina doctors thoroughly check your retina with an indirect ophthalmoscope.

If there is a need, our experts may need to do some other investigations or imaging to diagnose and treat your eye problem properly. We have all the latest imaging machines- OCT, OCT-Angio, VFA to measure visual fields etc under one roof.

Remember, an hour or two with an eye doctor once a year can Save your eyes!

Prevention is always better than cure. Book your eye appointment today