What to expect from your eye test at Boots Opticians
Why should I have an eye test?
Your eyes play a vital role throughout your life, so it's important to look after them. Having an eye test looks at how clearly you can see and how healthy your eyes are. A visit to the opticians not only helps identify potential problems with your eyesight before they develop but also provides a window to your overall health. That's because eyes can give an early indication of common health problems, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Checking children's eyesight is particularly important as up to 80% of what they learn is through sight.* Checking their eyes can also help prevent conditions like a lazy eye developing.
How often should I have an eye test?
Even if you can see clearly, having an eye test at least every two years is recommended for adults because eyes change over time. Getting children's eyes checked is crucial too, especially because they're still growing. They usually get their eyes checked when they are a year old by a health visitor. It's advisable to get them checked again at about age three, then at least every two years until they are 16.
What will happen at my eye test?
Check out our quick guides on what to expect from your eye test appointment to help you get the most out of it.
Before your eye test
Your appointment will usually begin with some preliminary checks:
- We may carry out an eye pressure check by blowing a puff of air into your eye, or a visual field test where you monitor flashing lights across a screen. These quick and painless checks help identify the early signs of glaucoma.
- We'll take a digital retinal photograph to create a permanent record of your eye health. This allows us to monitor changes which may take place over time.
During your eye test
You'll spend up to 30 minutes with your optometrist in their consulting room, where they'll use a range of checks to look at various aspects of your eyesight.
- They'll establish how clearly you can see both near and far, including looking at the ability to change focus, which tends to decrease with age and can often make your near vision blurry,
- They'll look for signs of conditions like cataracts, which become more prevalent as we get older.
- They'll look out for key signs which indicate how good your general health is and whether you're at risk of conditions like diabetes.
After your eye test
By the end of your eye test, we'll have enough information to recommend the best options for your eyesight based on your individual needs. We'll talk you through the options and put together a personal eyecare recommendation for you, which will clearly explain what we've recommended and why, including details of any glasses or contact lenses you may need. If you need glasses, we'll help you choose the best lenses for your visual needs. A member of our opticians' team will help you choose frames for your glasses with our Personaleyes experience. Your personal eyecare recommendation will form part of a patient pack you can take away with you, so you can fully understand and feel in control of your eye health.