Eye checkups are of utmost importance to preserve your eye health and vision. However it’s a common sense to get your eyes checked as general medical checkups are done. After all eyes too are the part of health care. There are many questions in our mind regarding eye checkups, like how often eyes are to be checked? Who is going to conduct the eye exam? And many more. You are at the right place for the answers. We will provide you with all the answers to your queries.
WHAT IS AN EYE CHECKUP AND WHO IS GOING TO EXAMINE OUR EYES?
Before we discuss about what actually an eye exam is, let’s all accept that whether you require vision correction or you already have a perfect eyesight, eye exams are still important. A comprehensive eye exam is done by an optometrist (do not confuse optometrist with an ophthalmologist who is the doctor having specialisation in eye diseases). A regular eye exam
is as important as a general health checkup in order to ensure your eyes are healthy and prosperous. Ignorance to the eye health may lead you to some serious eye diseases maybe curable but sometimes this ignorance may lead you to vision loss.
WHY REGULAR EYE EXAMS?
Good eyesight is wished by every individual. So if you don’t wish to lose your eyesight just Because of ignorance we must suggest that you get your eye exams regularly. However eye exams focus majorly on the given three aspects.
1. Visual Optimization
We all are well aware that good eyesight is required to live your dreams. You don’t imagine fulfilling your dreams without a proper eyesight. Hence the optometrist will ensure your vision by focusing on the given aspects:
- Refractive index – Hypermetropia, myopia presbyopia etc.
- Overall perception – depth perception, colour perception etc.
- unclear distance or reading vision
- strains and headaches
- sports vision
- driving vision
Generally low vision may be interpreted as mental disability for children which may actually affect your child;s mental health. So it’s utmost necessity to get your child;s eye exams regularly.
2. Eyesight loss, disease or disorder
People often ignore initial symptoms of eye disease or loss which in most cases result in serious eye disorders. Surveys reveal a huge number of people have eye problems which may lead to blindness. But a good thing is about 75% of such problems are preventable. Here are some of the eye problems which may be prevented by early diagnosis:
- lazy eye
- glaucoma
- diabetic retinopathy
- muscular regeneration
- cataracts
- keratoconus
Therefore, if you wish for prevention from such problems you must first be able to diagnose these problems. So now you have an answer to where and when to get your diagnosis done.
3. Indicates your overall health
You must agree with the line & quot ; eyes are the windows to the body & quot; An optometrist may detect some eye diseases which may further help you to recognize the general health problems too. You may be lucky enough to diagnose any hidden systemic disease in your body which may be chronic if it is not diagnosed in early stages. Some diseases that could be detected during an eye exam:
- Vascular diseases
- neurological diseases
- inflammatory diseases
- Cancer
You have now been well informed about eye exams and their importance not only for your eyesight but also for the general health of your body. So you better plan your meeting with the optometrist and get your eyes examined, regularly. He will not only give you a tailored examination schedule of your eye care needs but will also give you a precise indication of you general health. And if he is an angel enough, he will provide you with healthy tips to strengthen your eye Health.
Eyeglasses Prescription Abbreviations Explained
SPH
Sphere, sometimes abbreviated as SPH, indicates the lens power needed to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or both. The number indicated by this abbreviation refers to the lens power you’ll need to correct these flaws in vision. The term “sphere” refers to the fact that distance vision correction is spherical or equal in all meridians of the eye. Here’s what to know about SPH on your eyeglasses prescription:
- Meridians of the eye are imaginary lines that pass through the pupil’s centre, measured by a protractor superimposed over the eye’s surface.
- SPH is measured in diopters, the unit of measurement for the lens’s refractive (light-bending) power.
- If the number is negative (–), the prescription corrects nearsightedness.
- If the number is positive (+), it corrects farsightedness.
- A number between +/-.025 to +/-2.00 is considered mild, a number between +/-2.25 to +/- 5.00 is considered moderate, and a number greater than +/- 5.00 is considered severe.
CYL
Cylinder, abbreviated CYL and measured in diopters, indicates the lens power needed for astigmatism correction. Astigmatism is an uneven curvature of the eye’s cornea or lens.
If this column is blank, you have no astigmatism. A minus sign (–) means your prescription corrects nearsighted astigmatism, while a plus sign (+) corrects farsighted astigmatism.
Cylinder correction power always follows sphere power in an eyeglass prescription.
Axis
The Axis number indicates the degree of the angle at which the cylinder is placed in your corrective lens. The figure is used to correct astigmatism. If a prescription includes cylinder power (CYL), it must be followed by an axis. The axis value highlights the angle of orientation in degrees, with a number ranging from 0 to 180. The value is often preceded by an “x” when written in freehand.
Add
Add represents Addition and indicates the magnifying power applied to the bottom part of bifocal, multifocal, or progressive lenses used to correct presbyopia (age-related farsightedness).
This number is always positive, even if it doesn’t have a plus sign (+) in front of it. The value is typically the same for both eyes and ranges from +0.75 to +3.00
Prism
Prism correction is used in eyeglasses for people with eye alignment issues, such as diplopia (double vision) or strabismus (eye turn). The prism number is measured in diopters and appears as a decimal (0.5) or fraction (½) followed by two letters indicating the direction of the base, or thickest edge, of the prism:
- BU stands for “base up.”
- BD stands for “base down.”
- BI stands for “base in.”
- BO stands for “base out.”