Eyecare is essential medical care that is usually overlooked when you notice significant symptoms. We use our eyes for almost every activity, so ensuring their health is key to overall well-being and quality of life.
Just like a dental checkup and annual physical exam, you should have a basic eye screening every six months to a year. This way, your doctor or nurse can refer you to an optometrist if further evaluation is necessary.
A basic eye screening can also be referred to as a basic eye test or basic vision screening.
An eye screening is a high-level assessment of the eye’s health. It usually includes a vision test, which involves reading the famous letter chart. A vision screening is a quick way to determine if you need a complete eye exam. A thorough exam checks both your vision and eye health. It looks for signs of eye disorders.
What Happens At A Basic Eye Screening?
Basic eye screening is a series of exercises that determine whether your eyesight is impaired.
Your vision will be checked by asking you to describe pictures, letters, or numbers that are a distance away from you.
At Medical Society centres, we use the one-hand method. When using this method, the patient is instructed to cover one eye with their hand and read the chart with the other eye. This way, we can isolate each eye and measure its capabilities individually.
Attending a basic vision screening every six months at a Medical Society centre means any eye problems will be picked up early, and you can attend to them before they worsen.
If anything is picked up in your eye test that needs further investigation, other tests are performed as follow-ups to the basic screening:
- The Field of Vision Test detects blind spots and indicates illness of the eyes.
- The Slit Lamp Test detects eye defects in the eye’s interior.
- The Tonometry Test measures eye pressure which can detect glaucoma in the early stages.
- The Colour Vision Test finds the inability of patients to perceive certain colours.
- The Keratometry Test measures the curvatures of the cornea. This test assists in the detection of corneal defects.
Kids Need Basic Eye Screenings
Children need vision screening tests as part of their routine health checkups.
Screening tests for infants and toddlers allow you to discover any eye muscle weaknesses early on and seek further care timeously.
When To Get An Eye Screening
You should get an eye screening immediately if you experience the following changes to your vision and/or eyes:
- Frequent headaches,
- Blurry vision,
- Eye fatigue,
- Seeing double,
- Struggling to see at night,
- Seeing halos around lights,
- Difficulty reading a screen, and
- Difficulty adjusting to bright or dim light.
Identifying Problems And Causes
A wide range of eye conditions requires frequent visits to an ophthalmologist or optometrist for monitoring. These include hereditary or family eye disorders, macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. All diagnoses start with a simple eye screening.
Various daily activities may indicate visual problems. These include:
- Walking or stepping out cautiously; a lack of confidence in your ability to balance.
- Feet shuffling, bumping into walls when walking, or finding walking up and downstairs a challenge.
- Inability to balance or walk on irregular or bumpy surfaces.
- Not being able to grab an object when reaching out to it.
- Blurry vision when lights are too bright.
- Unable to see other cars or pedestrians while driving.
- Tension headaches when reading.
- Constant blinking while using a computer or phone.
These are all indications that you need to get your eyes screened. You could be suffering from an array of conditions that weaken the eyes. The sooner your eyes are screened, the sooner the problem can be treated.
