Recently I’ve been catching myself stuck making an unattractive face as I squint to read things at the grocery store, while driving or trying to read anything that is slightly further away. I’m not sure if staring at a computer screen at work or constantly looking at an iPhone screen is to blame – just it sure isn’t helping. Both my mother, father and sister have glasses so it’s not like I didn’t expect the day to come.
I called two places to try and book in an eye exam. I don’t typically like booking appointments far in advance, I’d rather just walk in to be honest. Luckily, one of the places I called said they could fit me in for an appointment that same day. So I was there within five minutes. First step was filling out paper work and then I was asked to come back to do a little pre screening. This included three machines. The first was looking at a small red house far in the distant. The second was a pressure test, they sprayed a little air into each of my eyes, one at a time. The third one was to evaluate my peripheral vision. I had to click a little handheld control each time I saw a squiggly line appear in my peripherals.
After that I waited a bit and then was directed to another room for the eye test. The doctor had me read off a few things across the room and was trying different lenses to determine if they made my vision better or worse. Each change I was asked to read what I could. The doctor then put some eye drops in my eye. These drops dilated my pupils so that he could see into my eyes better. It took about ten to fifteen minutes for my pupils to fully dilate.
In the mean time he had me leave the room and go look at frames until my eyes were dilated. I looked at frames and tried a few different ones on. Took some photos of them on so I could get opinions in case I did need glasses. Soon enough he asked me to come back to finish the exam. He had a light out and had me follow the light with my eyes. I was looking from left to right and up and down. He put a head lamp on, looked around some more and then he printed my prescription. I need to get glasses – which is totally okay. Of course I think I look like a knob with glasses on but I’m sure they will grow on me.
On a side note, the eyedrops they use to dilate your pupils make your eyes EXTREMELY sensitive to light. I stepped outside and felt like I was on the sun. It hurt. Likely should not have drove home either. Of course he told me my eyes will be sensitive to light for a few hours after.. but I had to walk my dog and I lost my sunglasses. That hurt and resulted in a migraine. So if you take anything way from this post it should be: have a ride home after an eye exam and bring sunglasses.
