A human body is composed of five senses. They are vision, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. Amongst these five sense organs, eyes are the most crucial sense. Everybody has beautiful pair eyes, and everyone should take care of their eyes with the utmost care as vision matters the most. If one is having difficulty in seeing things, then they will not able to understand the world around them better. Thus, visiting an optometrist and checking one’s eyes is very important. 

Who Is An Optometrist? 

An optometrist is an eye doctor who examines one’s eyes to check one’s vision problem or any vision related to health problems. They also verify one’s refractive errors and correct them by prescribing contact lenses or glasses. An optometrist also provides vision therapy and vision care. An eye doctor is known as an optometrist if the person has earned a degree in Doctor of Optometry or OD. 

Why Should One Visit The Optometrist? 

An eye is the most precious asset, and if one is unable to keep them safe, they are going to be in big troubles. Here are some reasons why should one visit an optometrist? They are as follows:

•    Pain in the eye: If one is experiencing normal pain during the movement of their eyes, then one should immediately visit an optometrist.  It can occur due to allergies, lack of sleep, or eyesight problem.

•   Frequent headaches: If one experience frequent headaches and the reason seem unrecognized then it can be a sign of deterioration in eyesight, so you need to see an optometrist.

•    Abnormal or blur vision: If one experiences blur vision or tiny shadows or flash of light again and again, then it can be a problem in one’s optic nerve or retinal detachment or tear or hole. They should immediately consult an optometrist.

•    Squint vision: Squint vision is the most common eyesight is deteriorating symptom. One should visit an optometrist. 

Types Of Test Done By An Optometrist 

An optometrist does numerous eye tests. Some of them are as follows: 

•    Visual Acuity Test: The Visual Acuity Test compares the eye vision level to standard 20/20 vision. Here the doctor will tell one to use one eye at the time to read the letters from a sign. The letters here are positioned at a certain distance from the person.

•    Keratometry Test: The Keratometry Test measures the curve and shape of the cornea or outside part of the eye. The shape of the cornea affects the light perseverance resulting in reflection of light. One can also suffer from astigmatism that is cornea with elongated curves. This test helps the optometrist detect astigmatism.

•   Refraction Test: This test helps the optometrist determine if one is suffering from farsighted or nearsighted or one’s eyes are affected by astigmatism. This test can also determine if one needs glasses or contact lenses.

During the refraction test, one needs to look at the phoropter or a compact machine with numerous dials or lenses and look at the eye chart just opposite to the person.

•     Retinoscopy Test: The phoropter helps the optometrist to determine one’s optimal lens prescription. In Retinoscopy Test, the doctor overturns different lenses to one are asked to focus on an object or a specific letter. The doctor may also shine light into one’s eye to see how the light is affecting the person with different lenses.

One should have an eye exam every year. Some people do not take an eye exam seriously. If the eye test is not taken, they can suffer from the above diseases or more as it will remain undetected. Thus, visiting an optometrist for an eye checkup is very important.