Eye Exam VS Eye Test – Which are you getting?
Providing eye test (checking eye degree) is one of the basic service that every optical shops provide. At Evershine Optical, instead of an eye test, we provide comprehensive eye exam which includes assessing eye degree, eye health and eye pressure by our optometrists.
Comprehensive Eye Examination
We have customers who visit us just to get a new pair of glasses. They may or may not experience any symptoms and end up finding out that they have a existing eye disease.
Recently, we have a customer who came to us just to get a new pair of glasses. After checking her eyes, we realised that her vision is good but she have Epiretinal Membrane (ERM) on her right eye. It is a condition whereby a thin membrane on the inside of the retina is being pulled by a gel liked substance in the eye.
The images below shows the picture of the back part of her eyes. If you look closely at the circled area on the right eye, you will be able to see that it is wrinkled with some yellow spots and also a red spot. The red spot could be a pseudo macular hole most likely caused by the epiretinal membrane which gives the appearance of a hole.
Even though her vision is not affected by the eye condition, we still advised her to see an eye specialist. At the eye specialist, they will usually use an OCT to check the layers of the retina, so that she will be able to know if it is a real macular hole or a pseudo (fake) macular hole. This is important as the treatment can be different for these 2 conditions. We also gave her an Amsler Grid for her to monitor the vision herself before her appointment with the eye specialist.
One of our new customers came in to do a new pair of glasses because he finds that his current glasses is blurry on the left side. When he first got his current glasses less than a year ago, it was already blurry on the left side. According to him, he revisited the optical shop but they did not tell him the cause of the blurriness on his left eye and he was pretty upset. Upon checking his eyes, we found out that the cause of his blurry vision was due to a mild cataract on his left eye. He was happy that he know the cause of the blurriness and eventually still got a new pair of glasses as the blurriness is not causing any inconvenience to his daily activities.
We also encounter customers with more severe eye conditions. Few months ago, a customer walked in with blurry vision on her left eye. Upon an eye exam, we realised her vision is pretty bad, she cannot even see the biggest letter on the chart. This is due to Central Retinal Vein Occlusion, an eye stroke, which she is currently being treated by an eye doctor.
In one of our articles, we discussed whether can diabetes affect our eyes. It was also mentioned in that article that one of our patients have diabetes but have never visited an eye specialist to check his eyes. During his visit with us, we found that he have Diabetic Retinopathy and it was already affecting his vision. The images below shows the bleeding spots caused by Diabetic Retinopathy on the back part of his eyes. We referred him to see the eye specialist as soon as possible before any irreversible vision impairment occurs.
In 2014, we encounter customer coming in complaining that his left eye is blurry and he is seeing a ‘fish bowl’ effect. His vision on his left eye was rather poor and he sees distorted lines when he was asked to see an Amsler Grid. We advised him to see an eye specialist as soon as possible. However, due to some personal reasons, he did not want to receive treatment from the eye specialist.
The images below shows the progress of his eye disease (Central Serous Retinopathy) from 2014 to 2015. According to the fundus photos taken, there was little improvement from 2014 to 2015. Fortunately, his left eye’s vision has improve.
How often should you get an comprehensive eye exam
It is recommended to have a comprehensive eye exam once every 2 year. Unless you are 16 years old and below or above 60 years old, it will be recommended to have it annually. If you have an existing health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or eye health conditions, you might need to be monitored more regularly or as per advised by your optometrists or eye specialists.
Comprehensive Eye Exam @ Evershine Optical
It usually takes longer for you to realize symptoms such as blurriness when the eye disease occur only in one eye because you will be relying on the better eye to see. Hence, it is important to pick up a eye disease even if you don’t experience any symptoms by having regular eye exams so you or your eye practitioner can monitor and refer you in time for treatment before any permanent vision impairment.
At Evershine Optical, we have qualified optometrists and advanced equipment such as slit Lamp and ZEISS Visucam 500 fundus camera to assess and monitor the health of your eyes. Our comprehensive eye exam includes assessing your eye degree, eye alignment, eye health and eye pressure. It takes about 25-30mins. Book an appointment or WhatsApp us at +6588461234 for a comprehensive eye exam.