Keep your eyes healthy with regular eye exams in Tooele, UT
Why are eye exams essential in maintaining optimum eye health?
It is important for individuals to have their eyes checked regularly especially if they are genetically predisposed to develop eye conditions, or if they have underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risks of developing eye disorders that lead to vision loss. Regular eye exams with Dr. Michael Griffeth can allow him to detect eye problems in the early stages and increase your chances of treatment for serious eye disorders, the most common of which are glaucoma, age related macular degeneration, retinopathy, as well as cataracts.
Even if they are not considered as higher-risk patients, other people must still recognize the importance of having their eyes checked regularly. Some doctors recommend that even infants must be subjected to eye exams and have their eyes checked for any abnormalities or anomalies that could lead to more serious conditions later on. It is also recommended that adults without any genetic predisposition or medical conditions should visit an eye doctor and get an eye exam every 2 years and at least once a year once they hit the age of 60.
What are the different eye exams available?
In order to diagnose eye disorders, doctors usually rely on a wide range of eye exams. The length of time that each eye exam will take to complete depends on the number, as well as the complexity, of the tests that are going to be performed. These steps are necessary in eye exams to be able to accurately evaluate the patient’s eye health. Eye exams could range from simple procedures such as reading from an eye chart, or more complex and involve a closer study of the eye’s internal structures to allow doctors to diagnose any issues and, subsequently, map out an appropriate treatment plan.
Whatever the needs of the patient may be, the Griffeth Vision facility has the necessary diagnostic tools. Below are some of the eye exams that are being used:
- Visual acuity Tests are eye exams that are designed to test the sharpness of the patient’s vision and are often included in a comprehensive eye exam. This eye exam will help measure the patient’s distance and near vision acuity by using projected and hand-held eye charts.
- Cover tests are used when the doctor needs to check how both of the patient’s eyes work together. A cover test is used to diagnose strabismus, binocular vision, and amblyopia or lazy eyes. During this eye exam, the patient will be asked to focus his or her vision on a small object using only one eye while the other is covered. This eye exam can help determine if the uncovered eye will pick up the target.
- Color blindness test is A type of eye exam that is performed to rule out color blindness that could be hereditary or caused by an underlying medical condition that the patient may, or may not, be aware of.
- Retinoscopy is an eye exam that is needed by most patients to come in to have the exact grade of their prescription glasses identified. To carry out this eye exam, the patient will be asked to focus on a large target on the eye chart while the eye doctor flips lenses in the retinoscopy machine in order to get an approximation of what the patient’s eyeglass prescription grade is. This test is based mainly on how the light is reflected from the patient’s eyes.
- Refraction is used to get the exact measurement for your prescription after a retinoscopy is done. This eye exam is used to measure the patient’s level of far sightedness or hyperopia, near sightedness or myopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism. This can be done manually with the use of a phoropter where the eye doctor will put in a series of lenses and lets you decide which one gives you the clearest vision.
- Autorefractors are used to automatically measure the patient’s prescription. A patient will be asked to look through a machine and focus on an image while the machine measures your prescription. This eye exam saves time and will only take a few seconds and is most beneficial for children who are, most likely, unable to sit still and communicate during a manual refraction test to get their exact prescription measurement.
- Aberrometers are machines that work the same way as an autorefractor, but uses wavefront technology, which is a more advanced method of detecting issues with vision by studying the way that the light travels inside the eyes. Aside from being used for routine eye exams, an aberrometer is also commonly used for LASIK vision procedures.
- Slit lamp eye exams make use of an instrument that is also called a bio microscope. This device is used to check the health of the patient’s eyes and detect any early signs of serious eye disorders or infection. This eye exam will provide a magnified view of the eye structure and allows the eye doctor to see each part of the eye as the patient sits and focuses on the slit lamp. This eye exam involves the close examination of the front portion of the eye as well as the internal structures and is commonly used to detect cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, as well as corneal ulcers.
- Glaucoma tests are used to measure the pressure inside the eyes to confirm glaucoma. There are several tests that can be used to diagnose glaucoma like non-contact tonometry and applanation tonometry that both measure the level of intraocular pressure.
