Although you might book a Sight Test with our practice, the term fails to take account of the Eye Examination that accompanies it, which can often be even more important. The Sight Test measures your ability to see clearly and obviously we can’t determine the strength and type of lenses you need without it. We begin by putting a special frame on you and fitting different lenses to assess your vision, to find out if you are long, short-sighted and/or astigmatic and by how much. We do so one eye at a time and then we assess how efficiently your eyes operate in tandem.

We may also check your colour vision, vision
balance and need for a reading prescription after
which a written prescription is issued which
itemises the prescription to correct your vision.
The Eye Examination looks more at the health
of your eyes and can be an important indicator of
your general health. If your family has a history of
problems with their eyes, (glaucoma for example)
you should inform us, as we may need to conduct
some special tests. All the tests are completely
painless.

We examine your eye with an ophthalmoscope
which lets us look inside the eye at the cornea,
retina, crystalline lens and the vitreous humour,
the transparent jelly that fills the eyeball. It can
give early information about diabetes, glaucoma,
cataract and diseases of the nerves, so the
examination is a very useful indication of your general health too. Some parts of the Sight Test can involve the use of specialist equipment to test for glaucoma for example. It’s very important that we test for it, as while it’s not difficult to halt its progress, we can’t repair the damage, once it has happened. So, it’s very important to have regular Sight Tests, to help
ensure your eye, and you, remain healthy.