What is an Ophthalmologist?
An Ophthalmologist is a medical doctor trained to:
- Perform comprehensive medical eye examinations.
- Medically and surgically treats eye diseases when required.
- Qualified to diagnose and prescribe appropriate treatment for all eye problems.
What is an Optometrist?
An Optometrist is licensed to practice optometry, specializing in:
- Determining the need for glasses and diagnosis vision problems.
- Screening for abnormalities of the eye (medication on a limited basis)
- Treats disturbances with glasses and/or contact lenses.
What is an Optician?
An Optician is licensed to fit, adjust and dispense glasses, contacts and other optical devices from the written prescription of a licensed physician or optometrist.
What is a Comprehensive Medical Eye Exam?
An Ophthalmologist reviews your past medical history and current symptoms to evaluate your vision, the health of your eye, and any other conditions or diseases that interfere with vision.
Your Ophthalmologist may be able to diagnose other related problems such as: diabetes, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, thyroid abnormalities, and other sight threatening conditions.
How often do I need to have my eyes examined?
Everybody should have a regular checkup.
- Children and pre-teens should be screened by a Pediatric Ophthalmologist.
- Teenagers should have an examination every 4-6 years.
- Ages 20-49 should be checked at least once every 3-5 years.
- Ages over 49, should be checked more frequently, every 1-3 years.
Examination may be performed more frequently for specific purposes (diabetes, macular degeneration, etc), eye glasses prescription, contact lens fittings, or patient preference.
What are common eye diseases?
- Cataracts
- Conjunctivitis
- Corneal Dystrophy
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Dry Eyes
- Eye Muscle Disorders
- Glaucoma
- Keratoconus
- Macular Degeneration
- Pterygium
- Vitreous Degeneration
What are common vision problems?
Astigmatism
Astigmatism can exist alone, or in combination with nearsightedness or farsightedness. With this condition your eye becomes oval shaped like a football instead of round, causing distortion when the eye tries to focus.
Farsightedness (Hyperopia)
Farsightedness occurs when an eye is too short for the cornea's curvature. Light rays entering the eye focus behind the retina, and as a result, a blurred image is produced.
Nearsightedness (Myopia)
Nearsightedness is when the curvature of the cornea is too steep, causing the focus of the rays of light that enter the eye to fall short of the retina. The result is a blurry view of distant objects.
Presbyopia
Refractive condition in which there is a diminished power of accommodation arising from loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens, as occurs with aging. Usually becomes significant after age 45.
Eye Medical Center provides comprehensive eye exams, contact lenses, glasses or refractive surgery for these common vision problems.
Questions about Lasik can be found under the Bladeless Lasik Information.