Eye Examination

Regular eye examinations are important for everyone, whether you have a problem or not.
The eye examination that we provide ensures, that you do not only experience the highest standard of clear and comfortable vision, but also checks the health of your eyes.

At Clearsight Opticians we offer private, NHS and children’s eye examinations. Our professional qualified opticians take the time to fully understand your individual vision and eye health.

Checking your health

An eye examination lets us determine how healthy your eyes are, but your eyes can also give away early signs of other health conditions such as:

• Diabetes
• Cancers of blood, tissue or skin
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Thyroid disease
• Vascular disease
• Much more…

What to expect when you visit us

During your eye examination you can expect the optometrist to ask lots of questions about your general health, lifestyle, the quality of your vision and any glasses you wear. This is called “taking a history”.

There are three main parts to an eye examination:

• Tests to check the outside of your eye including your eye movements
• Tests to check if the inside of your eye is healthy
• Tests to work out if you need new glasses or contact lenses.

The eye examination will include some or all of the following, and your optometrist should explain the tests as they go along:

• Reading letters on a chart through various lenses, using a special frame or machine. If you are not able to read, there are other tests such as identifying pictures or matching letters and pictures
• A look inside your eye using an ophthalmoscope. This will mean them coming very close to you and shining a bright light into your eye while they ask you to look in different directions. This test checks the health of the inside of your eye
• A muscle control check to make sure your eye movements are working right
• A pressure check, usually with the ‘puff of air’ test. This helps to detect glaucoma or problems with eye pressure.

At the end of the test, the optometrist should explain anything that they may have found and:

• tell you if you need different glasses because your prescription has changed, and how much it has changed 
• tell you if you need new glasses
• tell you if they have found signs of an eye condition.

If you need new glasses, the optometrist will give you the prescription for the lens.

If your optometrist thinks you need to be seen at the hospital, the optometrist will arrange a referral in the most appropriate way.

We can offer free NHS sight tests if

• You are under 16
• You are 16,17 or 18 in full-time education
• You are 60 and over
• You are registered as partially sighted or blind
• You have been diagnosed with diabetes or glaucoma
• You are over 40 and your mother, father, sibling or child has been diagnosed with glaucoma
• You have been advised by an ophthalmologist that you’re at risk of glaucoma
• You are a prisoner on leave from prison
• You have complex prescription
• You get Income Support
• You get Income- based Jobseekers Allowance
• You get Income- based Employment and Support Allowance
• You get Pension Credit
• You get tax credits and meet the criteria
• You get Universal Credit and meet the criteria
• You have HC2 certificate