There are two main misconceptions about the eye-test.

1. That it is all about checking whether you need a new prescription to see more clearly.
   
   
2. That the answers you are asked to give in the test room may somehow be ‘wrong’ (after all it is a ‘test’ isn’t it? Will you ‘pass’ or ‘fail’?).

These misconceptions should be put to rest........

There is certainly a desire by opticians to improve poor vision, and most people wish to see as clearly and comfortably as is humanly possible. It is worth noting that 65% of adults in the UK have sub-standard vision, of whom the majority are drivers; so it is worrying to know that only 38% of those use spectacles or contact lenses. The others have not had a test and don’t wear any correction. So there is quite a bit of work still out there for opticians.

But apart from the vision the optometrist also checks on the internal health of the eye, particularly the retina. Simply by shining a controlled beam of light into the eye the integrity of the retina and its blood vessels can be assessed. This is significant because it is here that the first signs of diabetes, macula degeneration or glaucoma may be detected. Catching these in their early stages is vital to avoid subsequent vision loss. This is not alarmist – it is factual.

And about giving the ‘right’ answers in the test-room. I can remember as a child of about 10 wanting to wear spectacles – I guess because they would make me look more intelligent. I gave wrong answers during the test but the optician wasn’t fooled. He asked the same question in different ways and fairly quickly knew what I was up to. Also, whilst some parts of the test are subjective, relying on our own answers, other parts are objective, treating the eye as an independent visual mechanism and assessing its performance independent of our subjective responses. It is the skill of the optometrist to distill all the varying results into a prescription that will to give improved vision.

This explains why there is more to any eye-test than a simple check of the vision, and it also explains why it is good to see for you to see the same optician: the continuity helps the optician to know you and your eyes, which helps them to look after you a little better than might otherwise be the case.

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