SERVICES
OUR EYE SERVICES
We offer a wide range of eye care services to our customers from standard eye checks through to diagnosis, assessment and treatment of common eye conditions. These may include:
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3D Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) / Digital Retinal Photograpy
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Colour Vision Testing
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Binocular Vision Assessment and Treatment
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Visual Field Test
OCT
Ocular Coherence Tomography is an advanced eye scan for people of all ages. Similar to ultrasound, but OCT uses light rather than sound waves to illustrate the different layers that make up the back of the eye.
The OCT unit captures a digital photograph of the surface of the eye at the same time and this can then be cross referenced across any areas of concern.
The major benefit of this state of the art machine is that it allows your optometrist to see both the back of the eye, and also, in a three dimensional image, literally look beneath the surface of the retina.
EYE CONDITIONS
Never before has it been easier to find out the exact state and location of a particular eye condition. Your optometrist can then review the images on a PC screen and pin point areas of concern by digitally peeling the layers back until they define what it is that they have identified as requiring further investigation.
Using this machine, your optometrist can more confidently diagnose, manage and refer you to a specialist for further treatment should this be required.
The images are also stored allowing your optometrist to refer back to them during subsequent eye examinations.
There is an additional charge for the OCT scan, but the benefits are obvious. The RNIB estimate that up to 250,000 people in the UK have undiagnosed glaucoma. When diagnosed this is normally treated simply with daily eye drops. Also with recent innovations in treatment for wet AMD, never has the early detection of macular changes been more paramount. With longer life expectancy, early identification of eye disease with OCT can improve the management and outcome of problems such as glaucoma and AMD.
So you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your eyes are closely monitored on a regular basis, make sure that when booking your next eye test, you ask about an OCT scan.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Dilation drops are applied directly to the eye, to widen the pupil, allowing your optometrist to check for damage to both the retina and the optic nerve which can occur when a person has glaucoma.
The drops are painless although your vision may be slightly blurry for a while after application. It is therefore recommended that you do not drive directly after your examination and that you protect your eyes from bright light by using sunglasses.
DRY EYES
Symptoms of dry eyes usually affect both eyes and can include:
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eyes feeling gritty
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eyes feeling sore
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redness of the eyes
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eyelids feel sticky when you wake up
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temporary blurred vision that is corrected by blinking
Often, without treatment, symptoms will get progressively worse as you go through the day.
WHAT CAUSES DRY EYES?
There are a number of causes that can lead to dry eyes including:
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Age – the older we get, the less tears we produce
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Some medications
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Illness
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Physical damage to the outer part of the eye or eyelid from disease, injury or surgery.
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Eyelid inflamation
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Exposure to air conditioning can cause dry eye symptoms.
Our Optometrists and Contact Lens Optician can assess your dry eye condition and can offer a range of treatment options that will help to alleviate symptoms.
Please ask for more details of our dry eye clinic.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Here at David Russell Opticians we take every opportunity to provide the best healthcare for our community. Mecs is a service we are contracted to provide by the NHS. This service allows for any problems, unrelated to your vision where a sight test would be neccessary, to be assessed free of charge by our accredited Optometrists.
This means that instead of contacting your GP or A&E you would be able to see our Optometrist who would then, after consultation, advise you accordingly or refer you on if neccessary.
If you have any issues such as red eye, pain, dryness, sudden loss of vision, itchiness or any other symptoms please contact the practice for further advise and a possible appointment
COLOURED FILTER/OVERLAY ASSESSMENT TO AID VISUAL STRESS
Visual Stress or binocular instability can both be a factor contributing to reading difficulties. If children have visual problems, treatment of these problems can help the child to read more comfortably and may improve their perception of text. This may help them to benefit from teaching and contribute to an improvement in reading performance.
If you have any concerns about your child’s reading ability, book a full sight test in the first instance and discuss the option of a further Overlay Test with the Optometrist. The Overlay assessment may help with visual problems relative to reading.
