Regardless of your age, it is important to have regular eye exams. During a complete eye exam, your Ophthalmologist or Optometrist at Microsurgical Eye Consultants will not only determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but they will also exam your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes to determine your overall health.
Adults should have their eyes tested to keep their prescriptions current and to check for early signs of eye disease. For children, vision is closely linked to the learning process and can play an important role in normal development. Many times children will not complain of vision problems because they do not know what “normal” vision looks like, therefore if your child exhibits signs that he/she are having difficulty in school or sitting too closely to the television or computer, an eye examination may be needed to rule out any underlying visual cause.
Contact Lens Exams
Eye exams for contact lenses include special tests that typically are not performed in routine eye exams for eyeglasses. If you are interested in contact lenses, or you already wear them and need your yearly contact lens prescription updated, please be sure to let the appointment schedulers know.
Contact lens measurements are done upon exam to determine which material is best for your eye health, vision and lifestyle. It usually will take two to three follow up visits to complete an uncomplicated contact lens fitting. After that, annual contact lens exams are required. Please keep in mind that contact lens exams and the contact lens materials are an additional cost to the patient.
Specialty Contact Lenses
Orthokeratology, or ortho-k, involves using specially designed contact lenses to temporarily reshape the cornea for visual improvement. Lenses are worn at night to reshape the front surface of the eye while you sleep. Vision improvements are reversible but can be maintained if you keep wearing the lenses as directed. Additionally, in children, orthokeratology has been shown to slow the progression of myopia, or near-sightedness.
Scleral contact lenses are designed to vault over the entire corneal surface (central part of eye). By doing so, they can improve vision impaired by an irregular surface, including keratoconus or other conditions. Furthermore, the space between the cornea and the back of the scleral lens acts as a fluid reservoir, continuously bathing the cornea in liquid. This can provide relief for people with severe ocular surface disease or dry eye.