- How to take the eye exam at home
- What is the price of the professional exam
- Main types of eye exam
- When to go to the doctor
The eye exam, or ophthalmological exam, serves to assess visual ability and, although it can be done at home, it should always be done by an ophthalmologist, as only he can make a correct diagnosis and evaluate the health of the eyes.
There are several types of eye exam, however, the most common is the exam to assess the ability to see up close and far and, it should be done at least once a year from 40 years old, even if you already wear glasses, because the degree of the glasses may have changed, needing to be increased or decreased, depending on the case.
It is recommended to do this type of exam whenever symptoms of difficulty in seeing appear, such as frequent headache or red eyes, for example. See a more complete list of symptoms that may indicate vision problems.
How to take the eye exam at home
To do the eye exam at home just follow the instructions below:
- Stand at the distance from the monitor indicated in the table below; Look at the image and cover your left eye with your left hand, without applying pressure. If you wear glasses or lenses, do not take them off for testing; try reading the letters in the image from top to bottom; repeat the process for your right eye.
The recommended monitor distance for this test is:
| Monitor Type: | Distance: |
| 14 inch monitor | 5.5 meters |
| 15 inch monitor | 6 meters |
If you can read to the last line with both eyes, the visual capacity is 100%, but if you cannot read to the last line with both eyes, it may be necessary to correct your vision. For this, it is recommended to consult an ophthalmologist to confirm the degree of vision and make the necessary correction.
What is the price of the professional exam
The price of an eye exam can vary between 80 to 300 reais, depending on the type of eye exam indicated by the doctor and the office where it is done.
Main types of eye exam
This type of exam can be divided into several types, according to the problem you are trying to identify. The main ones include:
- Snellen test: also known as acuity, refraction or degree measurement test, it is the most common vision test and it is used to assess how much the person sees, having to observe the letters of a scale, evaluating the presence of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism; Ishihara test: this test evaluates the perception of colors and, serves to diagnose color blindness, trying to identify which number you can see in the center of the image, surrounded by colors;
OCT eye test: optical coherence tomography is an examination performed on a machine and is used in the diagnosis of diseases of the cornea, retina and vitreous and optic nerve.
These exams are important to assess the need to wear glasses, contact lenses or, in more severe cases, to have surgery to regain sight.
When to go to the doctor
It is advisable to make an appointment with the ophthalmologist when:
- Symptoms such as double vision, tired vision, blemishes in the vision or red eye; Feel a shadow in the eye and do not see a clear image; See a white spot around the lights of the lamps; Has difficulty in distinguishing the colors of the objects.
In addition, one should go to the emergency room when liquid is allowed to fall into the eyes, such as detergent, for example, or you have a red stroke in the eye, showing itching, pain and a stinging sensation.
