Opticians. WTF. Blow of air test.

[Karatekickbox]

hoping for some more information about this. At my last eye-test, my result for the blow of air test was apparently very high. I’m not cerain I heard them correctly but I believe she said it was 41. I may have misheard however.

The result thankfully came down although was still higher than whatever it was supposed to be. My health is good and I am not on any medications. I stayed for a variety of tests and the optician said she was happy with the results from them all, other than the blow of air test.

Does anyone know anything else about this. Should I be worried about the result from the blow of air test or reassured that rest of the eye-test was normal. Thank you.

I think it tests the pressure in your eye or something, what did she say if she said she wasnt happy with it?

Did the optician say what the next steps are?

If its what I'm thinking then it's a glaucoma test. Was it a puff of air on the eyeball? Sorry, no idea what a 'good' result range should be. Perhaps call your optician tmrw for a more detailed explanation as to how it will be monitored going forwards

evansandpiggotteyecare.com/eye-doctor-blow-puff-air-eye-eye-exam/#:~:text=The%20eye%20air%20puff%20test%20is%20truly%20what%20it%20sounds,your%20intraocular%20pressure%20(IOP).

It's a test for glaucoma, as PP said. The deflection of the eye from the air pressure hitting it allows them to measure the pressure inside it.

What's the AIBU? Are you concerned that the optician didn't test properly or something?

My readings are always high with this test as well, however, they did a scan of my eye (I think its called an OTC test or something/ its a fancy machine at the opticians) they found my cornea is quite ‘thick’ and this for some reason accounted for the higher reading. Obviously high pressures can be a sign of glaucoma and can even occur due to high blood pressure I believe, so you do need to clarify with your optician what they think is causing your issue.

It is your intro-ocular pressure (IOP) and that is high (meant to be between 10-20)

It can be a sign of glaucoma. Sustained high IOP can affect your vision.

i would want to know what it came down to and if the optician thought it was an anomaly.

If still high I would request another test in another week (ask optician time recommended).

If still high, they should prescribe medication to lower it.
could be temporary e.g. due to high dose steroids or could be physiological.

I had this, extra thick corneas. Had a load of tests at hospital then a letter was sent to optician to tell them to take a few points off the reading to make it 'normal'

Ive never been told what mine is

Did she refer you to the glaucoma clinic?

Hey 👋🏻 I’m an optometrist.
That test is to measure the pressure in your eyes as others have said and it’s notoriously unreliable! If you blink quickly or squeeze your eyes in anticipation of the puff coming you can get a spectacular false high, but other things influence it as well.

We do it mostly to look for glaucoma so look at other things as well along side it, the appearance of the back of the eyes ideally with photos and an OCT scan and a visual fields test to check the peripheral vision. If all the other tests are normal we would repeat the reading, sometimes using a hand held ‘puff of air machine’ but more commonly with a method that involves putting a local anaesthetic drop in and putting a probe on the surface of the eye. If readings are still high, or any of the other tests are unsatisfactory we would refer you to a glaucoma clinic - not necessarily because we think you have glaucoma - but to see if the pressure needs treating as it being high long term causes damage. Usually drops are sufficient to keep the readings down, and are taken for the rest of life. Hope this helps x

Sorry just to add 41 is very high (we want it under 23) and would defo be referred. I wonder if it was 21 🤔

I had a high reading on the machine so then had it done manually with a piece of equipment and it was a lower reading, also they said something in my eye was thick so that can give a high reading

I was referred to eye unit when pressures were 28. Prescribed latanoprost (?) drops for use nightly. Pressures reduced to 21. However, these stopped working and pressures back up to 28 and I was referred for selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT). I was told that this is now the first option to treat occular hypertension (puts you at risk of glaucoma). Apparently cheaper to nhs then lifetime of drops.

You should have been referred to an eye clinic for further investigation with results that high. My readings came out at 28 during my last appointment and I was referred to the hospital.

Mine is 21 and one point away from being unacceptable.

Glaucoma damages your optical nerve and you loose peripheral vision which as far as I'm aware is irreversible. My mum has it.

I was just coming on to say this.

Exactly the same thing happened to me.

41 is very high and needs referring to glaucoma clinic.

My DH had his glaucoma picked up by the puff of air test at the opticians - it is very important as it can cause sight loss.

I don't want to freak you out but my DH is a fit healthy guy in his 40s with no other health problems - he is obsessional about his glaucoma and despite this he has had needed multiple eye operations to keep his eye pressure under control.

Most people won't experience glaucoma like him, it will be easily controlled with eye drops, but it absolutely needs checking out as you have no symptoms until it is far far too late.

I have low pressure glaucoma, my IOP is on the low side, the last reading was 9 in one eye and 10 in the other. I have pressure tests every six months at the Glaucoma clinic, The highest it’s ever been was 19, I had really dense cataracts which affected the IOP, at that time.

I can't keep my eye open for this test so I no longer bother having it - I can't tolerate the puff of air into my eye.
I'd give the optician a call in the morning to see what exactly needs to happen next.

Mine is high when tested. My eyes either anticipated or reacted very quickly and shut. Consequently the initial tests were failures.

So I tried hard to keep my eyes open - possibly squeezing my eyeball and raising the pressure.

Had more sophisticated tests in hospital - eyes fine.

Thickening of the cornea will increase the apparent internal pressure, but the last time I saw an ophthalmologist, she was able to calculate a correction to get the true figure. I was diagnosed with glaucoma a couple of years ago, with pressures around 24. Two years on drops later, they are down to 16. Everybody is happy with that, but now there are signs of cataracts! If it's not one thing, it's another.

My last one was 21 in one eye and I was referred to the hospital and told
to go the same day.

When they tested there, it was a different type of test involving a local anaesthetic and all was normal.

I was referred to the Glaucoma clinic last year with sudden onset high eye pressure. I was diagnosed with acute angle closure glaucoma which apparently is a rarer form of glaucoma. I had to have a peripheral laser iridotomy op on both eyes. The eye pressure isn't that much lower post op than it was before but I'm not at risk of going suddenly blind any more.

I measure at 23 on a Saturday morning (when I usually get my eyes tested). After a good chat with the optician, I return for a remeasure at 4:30pm later in the week and measure 18-20. It's happened twice to me. I also live on the boundary of two health districts. In one I'd get a referral at 22 and in the other I wouldn't.

But a measurement of 41 is a different kettle of fish