31 Aug What Can Be Missed With Online Vision Exams
What Can Be Missed With Online Vision Exams
After the start of the pandemic, and even before, most services became available online. Optometric services are also part of this general movement. At this point, most people have heard of ‘Online’ or ‘Virtual’ Vision Exams. You may be wondering why you would go to the trouble of going into an eye doctor’s office to get an eye exam when you could do an online exam from the comfort of your home. We will go over three different areas that are crucial to getting an eye exam in person by an optometrist and what could be missed if you do an online or virtual exam.
An online exam will check the vision in each eye and tweak your prescription as necessary. Unfortunately, this can not check for eye coordination, which is how well your eyes work together. There are certain conditions where the eyes aren’t aligned properly and this can cause slight strain or even double vision. When you visit your optometrist, she can check to make sure your eyes are aligned. If they are not, the optometrist can prescribe prism, which will be part of your prescription, and reduce the strain or eliminate double vision to give you the best vision possible.
One of the most important aspects of an eye exam that is missed with an online exam is checking the health of your eyes. When you go to your optometrist’s office, not only is she checking your vision, but she is also checking the health of your eyes. She can detect something as simple as dry eye syndrome, which affects your vision. But one major condition that can lead to blindness before the patient knows they have the condition is glaucoma. This is a condition that your optometrist will check for at each visit, but can not be detected with an online exam.
The third aspect of an eye exam that can be missed with an online exam is systemic diseases. There are many systemic conditions that manifest in the eye. One common disease that is sometimes first diagnosed by an optometrist via an eye exam is diabetes. This can cause changes in the retina which would prompt the optometrist to do further testing and get the patient treatment. If left untreated, diabetes can do tremendous damage to the rest of the body.
Many online exams will ask for your age and deduce that you may not have any ocular or systemic conditions at a young age. Unfortunately, all the conditions discussed above can affect someone at any age. Even though online exams are convenient, you should never put the health of your eyes at risk for more comfort. Annual eye exams by an optometrist are recommended for everyone. Make sure you get yours soon!