My Pump Blog

Hi

I just wanted to write a blog to say once again how impressed I was with the superb care and service I received from my local Specsavers.

As you may or may not already be aware I have had numerous problems with my eyes and ensure I have regular eye checks to make sure nothing is missed, for my Diabetes Care I attend my local Diabetes Clinic but prior to this was the Western Eye Hospital in London where I went for many years and had numerous procedures – this is my last blog Western Eye Clinic.

My family and I have been going to Specsavers for the past 8 years for our yearly eye check whereas I attend my local Hospital for looking at issues with my eye health and any related Diabetes damage like Retinopathy etc. The reason I chose Specsavers is that the service I have received from Maidenhead Store has been superb and they give a great range of tests not just interested in selling you a new pair of glasses.

This time my prescription had changed ever so slightly and I had the choice of either staying with my current glasses or going for a new pair, my current glasses were three years old so I opted for a new pair with reaction lenses. These took about 1 week to come in and I was extremely happy as always.

Just for reference the checks I have had usually entail the following :

1. The Retinoscope

The optometrist may use an instrument called a retinoscope, which bounces a light beam off the back of your eye and back into the instrument. Different lenses focus the reflected light beam until it is steady, giving a close guide to the prescription you need.

The retinoscope is very accurate – it is used to test the sight of very small children, or people with communication difficulties who can’t easily describe how clearly they can see.

2. The test chart

The optometrist fine-tunes his findings by asking you to read the test chart through different strength lenses. The results for one eye often vary from those for the other, so each eye will be tested individually before both eyes are finally tested together.

The optometrist flips different lenses in front of your eyes that change how clearly you can see. Depending on your answers, the optometrist changes the lenses until you have the clearest, most comfortable vision possible.

3. Using the ophthalmoscope

The optometrist uses an ophthalmoscope to examine the retina at the back of the eye, including the blood vessels and the front of the optic nerve. This important test can detect changes which can indicate diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

The optometrist darkens the room and sits quite close to you, while they shine a bright light into each eye in turn using the ophthalmoscope. The light may leave shadows on your vision, but these soon fade.

4. The oxo box

You are also asked to focus on an oxo box, and say whether the illuminated lines are in line horizontally and vertically.

This indicates whether your eyes work well together – balanced and coordinated eyes are essential for clear comfortable vision.

5. Testing your focus

The optometrist may test your ability to focus at varying distances to decide if you need different prescriptions for distance and reading.

After these tests you sit down with one of the Sales People to go through the findings and choose some glasses which for me was all okay, the only issue I have is sitting in front of a laptop all-day and having to strain to see the words clearly. We then looked at the digital images of the backs of my eyes which are incredible to see as I could see all the scarring from the laser treatment I have had going back about 7 or 8 years – all this laser also affects my night vision massively but nothing I can do about this.