What does an optometrist do?
Every waking minute, your eyes help you see everything around you. An optometrist is a specialist who cares for your eyes and vision. They examine, diagnose, and treat eye-related concerns. Although optometrists are not medical doctors, they have a Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree. To qualify as an optometrist, they complete a four-year degree in an optometry school instead of a medical school. Some optometrists may also complete an additional one-year residency training.
Your eye health team usually comprises optometrists, ophthalmologists, and opticians. Optometrists and ophthalmologists are both specialists in eye care. While an optometrist can diagnose and treat you for any eye-based symptoms, only an ophthalmologist is qualified to perform surgery. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors (M.D.) or doctors of osteopathy (O.D.). This means that they have completed medical school. Opticians work alongside optometrists and ophthalmologists. They hold a technical degree or certification that qualifies them to provide and adjust glasses, contacts, or other aids for vision correction.
Optometrists conduct eye exams, assess eye conditions, write prescriptions, recommend treatment plans, and provide preoperative and postoperative care. They prescribe common treatments such as eyeglasses and contact lenses to correct your vision or medications to treat eye diseases. They also counsel patients regarding surgical and non-surgical options that meet their visual needs. An optometrist may work in private practices, community health centers, hospitals, retail, or academic settings.
What can an optometrist help you with?
When an optometrist conducts an eye exam, they check your visual acuity and the health of your eyes and the eye tissue. They would conduct eye tests as required based on the presenting symptoms. A comprehensive eye exam is a recognized standard to ensure your vision is healthy. It is a great tool to help identify and treat conditions such as glaucoma, making it one of the most important ways of looking after your eyes. An optometrist would diagnose and treat conditions such as:
- Astigmatism: This is a common and treatable condition, where an imperfection in the eye's curvature causes blurred distance and near vision. It may occur as a combination with myopia or hyperopia.
- Cataracts: When the lens develops cloudy patches, they may grow larger and cause blindness. An optometrist can prescribe eyeglasses, but only an ophthalmologist can perform surgery.
- Color blindness: Even though there is no cure, an optometrist can provide visual aids such as eyeglasses and contact lenses.
- Glaucoma: It occurs when the optic nerve is damaged and can cause irreversible blindness. Early diagnosis and treatment can alleviate symptoms.
- Hyperopia: This condition is also known as farsightedness, in which objects that are close to you appear blurry. Treatment options include eyeglasses, contact lenses, laser procedures, or in some cases, surgery.
- Macular degeneration: In this condition, you lose your central vision, which makes it difficult to see fine details, both close and far.
- Myopia: Also known as nearsightedness, it is a condition where objects far from you seem blurry. Treatment options are the same as for hyperopia.
- Presbyopia: This is a condition where your eyes gradually lose the ability to see objects up close to you. This condition usually affects adults over 40 years of age.
- Retinal disorders: These disorders include floaters, retinal tears and other symptoms that require treatment from an ophthalmologist in some cases.
- Diplopia: Diplopia (the medical term for double vision) is when you see two images of an object when looking at it. It is of two types - monocular (one eye) or binocular (both eyes). Typically, monocular diplopia occurs due to dry eye syndrome, poorly fitted glasses or lenses, or cataracts, all of which are easily treatable. On the other hand, binocular diplopia results from more serious conditions, such as misaligned eyes, cranial nerve conditions, strokes, and brain aneurysms.
- Uveitis: Uveitis is an eye inflammation affecting the middle layer of your eye wall (uvea) tissues. Its symptoms include eye pain, redness, light sensitivity, dark floating spots in the field of vision, and blurred vision. Uveitis can affect people of all ages, its causes being infections, injuries, and autoimmune diseases. However, the exact cause of the inflammation is sometimes unknown. If untreated, this condition can lead to vision loss.
- Eye infections: Optometrists can diagnose and treat a range of eye infections, including conjunctivitis (pink or red eye), blepharitis (a result of clogged oil glands behind the eyelashes), endophthalmitis (inflammation of eye fluids due to a bacterial or fungal infection), styes (pimple-like, pus-filled bumps on the eyelids), keratitis (cornea inflammation that is a result of viral, bacterial, or fungal infections), and cellulitis (a bacterial infection affecting the deeper layers of the optical tissues).
Some medical conditions may also have ocular or eye-related manifestations. An optometrist can check for diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid cancer, among other diseases.
How can you take care of your eyes?
We may often take our vision for granted. However, a few symptoms often overlooked can lead to permanent vision changes or blindness. The good news is that vision loss can be prevented or corrected in most cases. It is essential to take some measures and ensure that your eyes are healthy.
Make regular appointments with the best optometrists near you. That way, they can diagnose and treat vision problems at the earliest. It would be best if you visited an optometrist for annual check-ups or as often as recommended by the provider. If you notice any difference in your vision, you can tell your optometrist so that they can provide or adjust your prescription as necessary. Some early signs of vision problems include:
- Blurry vision
- Changes in vision
- Double vision
- Pain in the eyes that does not go away
- Redness
- Sensitivity to light
If you notice any of these symptoms, it would be best that you talk to your doctor as soon as possible.
How often should you see an optometrist?
You should visit an optometrist frequently to ensure proper eye health and vision. Listed below is how often you should schedule the checkups:
- Children: Once during the first year of their lives and every 1-2 years after that
- Adults (18-55 years): Every 1-2 years
- Adults older than 55: Every year
In case you wear contact lenses or glasses, you might need to get your eyes checked more often, usually every 6-8 months. Your doctor will let you know of your visits.
How to find the best optometrists near you in Ridgewood, New York?
Are you looking for a doctor who can answer all your eye concerns? Use Zocdoc to find the best optometrists near you conveniently. Visit the Zocdoc website and fill in the required information. Once you have entered the specialty, location, and preferred appointment date of your choice, you will find a list of optometrists who match your requirements. You can also fill in your healthcare insurance details to minimize out-of-pocket expenses.
Every provider profile includes their educational background, training, hospital affiliations, and user-verified reviews and ratings that you can trust. You can filter the results by any preferences you may have like languages that the provider can speak, distance, or whether or not they treat children. Once you have selected an optometrist, you can book an in-person or online appointment at no extra cost.
Finding the best optometrists near you is now effortless! Thanks to Zocdoc, you can save time and money. All bookings on this platform are simple, secure, and free.
Statistics on eye health in New York
The New York State Department of Health gives us an insight into eye health among adults aged 40 years and older in the U.S. As of 2016, more than 4.6 million people across the nation reported having vision impairment or blindness. While approximately 44 million Americans were near- or far-sighted, about 2 million over 50 had age-related macular degeneration. Cataracts were observed in about 22 million Americans.
In New York, about 14.9% of adults aged 40 years and older had impaired distance vision as of 2016. Around 4.1% had age-related macular degeneration, and 19% had cataracts. About 2.9% of New Yorkers had diabetic retinopathy. Workplace injuries may also damage the eye and even cause loss of vision. Approximately 7.4% reported having a workplace eye injury. One-third of the people reported not having access to insurance coverage for eye care. While most of them are eligible for it, some may not be aware. While about 37.2% of them did not visit an eye specialist that year, some reported having no reasons to go.
These numbers indicate the need for increased awareness and specialized care. The State Department of Labor reported that, as of July 1, 2020, there were around 2,893 licensed optometrists in New York.
Sources
American Academy of Ophthalmology[1]
American Academy of Ophthalmology[2]
American Optometric Association
Cleveland Clinic[1]
Cleveland Clinic[2]
Mayo Clinic[1]
Mayo Clinic[2]
Medical News Today
New York State Department of Health
New York State Department of Labor
West Coast Optical
