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Original poster

why are eye tests so brutal these days?

28 replies

wheelsonthebus · 01/08/2007 10:58

went along for a routine test, thinking i would just have to read a few letters... L Y E P etc etc, and they blew air in my eyes, shoved a torch in and told me to stare at the light (nearly blinded me). I could see all the veins in my eyes reflected back in the torch and nearly vomited. Then they gave me some hideous peripheral vision thing. Had to go to bed early, my eyes were throbbing so much afterwards, and they told me I had good eyesight!! Still aching and feeling blurry a day later. In fact my eyes feel totally whacked. Bring back the old tests please ...

OP posts:
Highlander · 01/08/2007 11:13

ooh, I'm getting a bit of trouble focusing quickly from far to near and probably need an eye test. You've put me RIGHT off!

ZacharyQuack · 01/08/2007 11:49

Just wait until you have to have a glaucoma test - hideous bright yellow eyedrops that'll have you weeping yelloe tears for the next few hours.

If you wear contact lenses the check includes turning your upper eyelid inside-out to check the veins. Great fun...

throckenholt · 01/08/2007 12:01

zacharyquack - I could cope with the yellow die (not much reaction from me) - but the inside out eyelid freaked me - hope they don't do it every time !

ZacharyQuack · 01/08/2007 12:05

Yep, every year. And the way they do it is they grab your eyelashes and pull eeeeeeeeek

throckenholt · 01/08/2007 12:25

oh no - I was hoping it was just the initial assessment before getting contact lenses.

I had worn them previously for years but stopped when pregnant with DS1 because my eyes got sore - and then I waited til nappies were history - didn't somehow want to mix nappies and contacts !

The yellow dye and the inside out lids were unexpected to say the least (but probably worth it on balance - contacts are so much better than glasses).

Original poster
wheelsonthebus · 01/08/2007 12:26

zachary quack; that sounds disgusting! i am never ever going to wear contacts. am buying a magnifying glass right now

OP posts:
Oblomov · 01/08/2007 12:52

wheelsonthebus, you are such a wimp
I was horrified at the eye tests that they do on ds (3.5). No wonder he was crying. I told her to stop in the end.
Mind you, I think they are pretty brutal in everything these days - eye tests, c-sctions, lyposuction, they seem to batter the patient around willy-nilly.

Original poster
wheelsonthebus · 01/08/2007 14:04

oblomov - you are right. i am a total wimp. hv read too much horror stories. think a headache is a tumour etc etc. it's pathetic

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 01/08/2007 14:38

I am an optometrist. If we didn't do all that, then we would not detect if you had an eye disease. And then, if you lost your vision you would sue us. That's why!

Original poster
wheelsonthebus · 01/08/2007 16:45

chipmonkey - i take yr point, but the last eye test i had 2 yrs ago was not nearly as painful. my eyes are still hurting - in fact i am about to take some nurofen

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 02/08/2007 00:35

Sorry wheels but I have to inform you that the older you get, the more nasty things we have to do to you!

hunkermunker · 02/08/2007 00:42

I have all this done once a year and don't need painkillers to get over it. Maybe you need to find a more gentle optician! Mine makes even the eyelid-turning-inside-out a pain-free experience.

(Hi, CM - hey, do you do ortho-k lenses? Think there's likely to be a marketing push on them v soon)

chipmonkey · 02/08/2007 00:52

No, would love to do ortho-k but don't have my own practice and my boss isn't keen! And no sign of having my own practice anytime soon unfortunately.

chipmonkey · 02/08/2007 00:56

I think I am generally fairly gentle though! I think some of the non-contact (air-puff) tonometers are more gentle than others. Have had no complaints about the one we use but used to get a lot of complaints in a practice I used to work in.

jabberwocky · 02/08/2007 02:22

chipmonkey, is it just me or do more and more patients complain about the light these days? Used to, it was mainly about the NCT - thank goodness they do have more gentle versions of that nowadays. I have now started off slit lamp with "This is a bright light, you will see spots and it will take a moment for your vision to clear"

HAve been at this for 18 years and it's only the last 4 or so that I have heard these kind of complaints. Weird, isn't it?

chipmonkey · 02/08/2007 02:25

I think maybe the newer bulbs in the instruments are stronger! My boss just got a new ophthalmoscope and it is dazzling! And I think the clarity is not even as good as my older one so I can't think what the advantage is in having it so bright!

jabberwocky · 02/08/2007 02:38

I have wondered. I did notice that the new slit lamps generally only have two settings (bright and brighter I tell the patients) instead of the 5 we used to have.

jabberwocky · 02/08/2007 02:39

Oh, and have you noticed the bulbs in the direct ophthalmoscopes blow more often? wonder if there is any connection???

NotQuiteCockney · 02/08/2007 06:56

I find the tests easier - I had a retinal detachment scare the other day (more and different floaters, combined with v shortsighted and family risk), and instead of having a dilation, which sucks, and always lasts for ages, and means I can't see afterwards, I just had to look in a weirdo machine for a bit. It was great! And it seemed more thorough than the old method, too.

chipmonkey · 03/08/2007 22:38

So was it a bit "trippy" then NQC? A patient said this to me recently during a stereopsis test. I was really chuffed! Don't do drugs, have an eye exam!

edam · 03/08/2007 22:45

I saw a new optometrist/optician/ thingy (can never remember what the correct term is these days) recently and was mighty relieved he doesn't use the air puff thing. I just had to look at some stuff instead. He said something about the air puff stuff just gives you a reading for pressure within the eyeball but as every individual is different, distance from the 'average' reading isn't particularly useful. More important to know what is normal for you and react to any changes, apparently. Which seemed to make sense. And as long as I don't have to have that air puff thing, I'm happy, assuming the new system would pick up incipient glaucoma (my Grandad went blind so am always keen to encourage opticians to check really, really carefully).

roisin · 03/08/2007 22:49

If your eyesight is fine, and always has been, and you have no history in the family of sight problems; how often should you have your eyes tested?

nooka · 03/08/2007 22:56

My eye tests have been pretty much the same for the last 15-20 years. I don't much like the bright light either, and I'm not so keep on the weird frame thing (I am very short sighted, so they alwasy put lots of lenses in which makes my rather small nose quite tired!). However nothing is as bad as when I had floaters when I was pregnant and made the mistake of going to A&E to have my blood pressure checked (at the time I worked next to A&E, so it seemed a good idea). I ended up at the emergency eye clinic, where people did horrible things... Needless to say I didn't go back!

filchthemildmanneredjanitor · 03/08/2007 23:00

the air puff thing is hell. it took her about half an hour and my eyes were streaming like mad. whay do they do that????

chipmonkey · 03/08/2007 23:01

Roisin, everyone should have their eyes checked every two years. Edam, did your optom not check your eye pressures at all? Did he use a different tonometer?

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