Eye Examinations

Regular eye examinations ensure that you have the best vision possible. They also give reassurance about your eye health.

Our Enhanced Eye Health Examinations is a comprehensive evaluation of your ocular health lasting approximately 45 minutes.
The Enhanced Eye Health Examination can include

• History and symptom assessment
• refraction – assessment of your prescription
• External eye examination by slit lamp biomicroscopy
• Internal eye examination by indirect slit lamp biomicroscopy
• Intraocular pressure assement by ICare or Goldmann tonometry
• Suprathreshold visual field testing
• Topcon Maestro Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scanning
• Optomap Daytona Ultrawide field Retinal Imaging
• Anterior Eye OCT assessment where indicated
• Discussion of our findings and recommendations
• Referral for further investigations if deemed necessary
• Ocular health and nutrition advice

If you are entitled to the NHS Sight Test, you can still have the additional benefits included in our Enhanced Eye Health Examination for a small additional fee ( please ask for details when booking). Our optometrists would always recommend this.

Find out more about Enhanced Eye Health Examinations here

• Does the wind leave your eyes streaming?
• Does your vision blur when you read?
• Does staring at a computer make your eyes gritty?
• Do you wake with sore eyes?

If the answer to any of these is yes, you may be suffering from Dry Eye Syndrome – commonly referred to as dry eye.

Dry eye affects up to 40% of the population at some time in their lives. It is particularly common in those over 40 and is more common in women than men. Dry eye symptoms include gritty feeling eyes, irritation, burning, itching, blurred vision, eyes sticking together at night and, surprisingly, watery eyes.  This can be a problem for most people on very cold windy days, but those suffering from dry eye, experience it more often.

Dry eye  is caused by a problem with the make up of your tear film.  If the tear film balance is incorrect, the tears do not stick to the eye but instead evaporate. If you don’t produce enough tears, they are not of the right quality or not spread across the front of your eye properly, then you may develop dry eye.  Conditions such as blepharitis (an inflammation of the eye lids) and meibomian gland dysfunction (blockage of the oil secreting ducts in the eye lid) can exacerbate dry eye symptoms.

Dry eyes symptoms can be made worse by factors including environment, occupation, age, laser refractive surgery, hormones and the weather.

Certain  medical conditions such as arthritis, thyroid problems, Lupus, Sjogren’s and certain medications can cause dryness.

You may also be more prone to dry eye if you wear contact lenses, read a lot or work on a computer.

But the good news is that you do not have to live with the symptoms.

Dry eye is worth treating, even if you feel you can live with the symptoms. A dry surface to your eye, a little like dry skin, makes you more prone to infections such as cysts, styes and conjunctivitis. If you receive treatment early it can stop further damage to your eyes. Long term dryness can cause ulceration of the cornea and scarring, so it is best treated long before it gets to this stage.

Even if you have tried GP prescribed or over the counter drops before with not much success, our Dry Eye Consultant, Mr Andrew Price can prescribe far more effective treatments which can alleviate your symptoms. He will fully examine your anterior eye and develop a tailored treatment plan for you. This plan will be carefully monitored and regularly followed up to ensure you remain on the best treatment.

Find out more about our Dry Eye Clinic here

Optical Coherence Tomography –  An OCT creates a 3D image of the back of your eye (the retina) and allows the optometrist to look at multiple layers in microscopic detail. To create the 3D image the OCT uses a laser light to scan your retina. Nothing touches or blows on your eye.

The scans can be compared to a cake. When we look into the eye, we normally see icing on the cake – the retinal surface. With OCT we can take a slice out of the cake to see all the different layers that make up the retina, focus on a certain sections and pinpoint any unhealthy changes or abnormalities.

We recommend that every patient has an initial baseline OCT scan. An OCT scan is particularly useful for any patients who have concerns of Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration .

OCT scanning is included within our Enhanced Eye Health Examination and is available as an upgrade for NHS funded patients.

The Optomap Retinal Exam – view the peripheral retina without dilation

The Optomap Retinal Exam provides a panoramic view of the back of a person’s eye (the retina).  This panoramic view displays over 80% of the retina at one time. The Optomap captures its image in only 1/4 of a second which even light sensitive patients find acceptable.  The panoramic view allows the optometrist to view the retina without discomfort to the patient allowing for a more comfortable retinal exam.

For Whom is the Optomap Recommended?

Optomap is great for everybody including children.

 

Optomap is included within our Enhanced Eye Health Examination and is available as an upgrade for NHS funded patients.

Do you wear contact lenses but struggle with comfort towards the end of the day? Do you feel your vision should be better in your lenses? Have you tried with contact lenses in the past but struggled to get them in and out?

We provide contact lens fitting and aftercare on both soft and rigid contact lenses and love the challenge of finding the right lens and wearing regime for patients having problems with comfort or vision quality.

Our principles of care and value extend through to our provision of contact lenses. We emphasise the importance of regular checkups and continued advice to all our contact lens patients. At the same time, we maintain our prices at a level which compete favourably with those you see on the internet. Our competitive packages have been developed to meet all of your contact lens needs in a straightforward and professional manner.

Find out more about contact lenses here