Eye care. It's so easy to take your eyes for granted until you start to have problems. They may start innocently as simply a slight blurriness when reading or watching TV. Maybe you can't quite make out the lettering on the screen all that well. But it's not that bad. The problem is, it gets worse and worse until there's a serious problem.

Problems with your eyes don't ever have to get to that point. Regular eye exams every 2 years, which is what professionals recommend, can prevent a world of problems. In this article we'll cover basic eye care procedures and treatments.

The start of any eye care begins with a simple vision test. People have been poking fun at eye charts for many years but this simple test can help reveal some serious and not so serious problems. When conducting an eye test, the optometrist will place an object over the patient's one eye while testing the vision of the other. The patient will read the letters off the chart. On each line of the chart the letters are a little smaller than on the line above. The reason each eye is tested separately is because your eyes actually work independently of each other and one eye can be weaker than the other, especially if under the stress of much reading, or these days computer work.

Normal vision is considered 20-20. To have 20-20 vision a patient needs to be able to read so many lines down on the eye chart. Depending on how far down a patient can actually read determines what their actual vision is. A mild case of

Once it is determined that the patient is nearsighted or possibly farsighted (where they can see things far away but not close up) then corrective lenses are prescribed. The way these lenses are prescribed is not an exact science unfortunately. The doctor will place various lenses over the patients eyes and ask the patient which looks better, this one or that one. In many cases the difference between two lenses is so small that the patient can't really tell. For the most part though this method works well enough. After the prescription is determined the glasses themselves are made. Depending on where the actual eye exam takes place determines when the glasses can be completed and how long it will take until the patient receives them.

If the exam takes place in a doctor’s office with no facilities for making glasses nearby then the patient has to take the prescription to a place of his choice. This alone can take a day or so depending on whether or not the patient knows of any places off hand. If ,however, the exam takes place in a combined eye exam and glasses making establishment then the patient can literally walk a few feet to get the prescription filled and in most cases can get the glasses made that same day.

-------------------------------------------------------
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Eye Care
-------------------------------------------------------

• Cold & Flu


• Sneezing


• Staying Hydrated


• Arthritis Information: Help is Only a Click Away


• Dental Fillings: Should You Be Concerned About Mercury Poisoning?


• Chronic Stuffy Nose? Fungus May Be the Culprit


• Warts? Try Duct Tape


• Is Your Insomnia Just a Bad Habit?


• Ginkgo: Natures Way to Improve Intellectual Functioning


• What Is A Flu Pandemic And How Likely Is It?


• Shoulder Injury (The Prevention)


• Tamiflu - The Magic Bullet for Flu


• How Do I Find the Right Psychotherapist for Me?


• The Importance of Eating Breakfast


• Prescription: Laughter