Our eye health evaluations are more than just vision correction!

Vision exam

Did you know that your eyes reveal insights regarding your overall health? In fact, your eyes provide early detection for many different diseases that can affect more than just your vision! That's why we routinely perform tests that look for signs and symptoms of many different diseases, not just eye diseases, during your regularly scheduled eye health evaluation.

Illnesses that may be discovered early on through signs in your eyes include high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart disease. That's why it's so important to leave your total eyecare to professionals. We feel it's important to review your family history then monitor and watch for signs of possibly inherited diseases or illnesses as another precaution.

Here's what we check during your routine eye health evaluation:

We start by checking your eyesight to ensure that you have the best possible vision you can. If a change in lenses is indicated, we have a fully staffed optical department that can help you with the latest styles and fashions of eyewear available.

We also check your intraocular pressures in each eye. Increased ocular pressures are a sign of glaucoma. eye examEarly detection of glaucoma is crucial to prevent the loss of sight.

During the exam we also evaluate your external eye health, checking for any growths, infections, drooping of eyelids, or excessive watering. We also evaluate your eye muscle motility to make sure that both eyes are working together and your binocular visual field to check your peripheral vision.

When the doctor performs the slit lamp examination, he is examining your cornea (the transparent front segment of the eye that covers the iris and pupil), the anterior chamber (fluid filled space between the iris and innermost corneal surface), the conjunctiva (thin transparent mucous membrane that covers the eye and the inner surfaces of the eyelids) and the lens (which does the focusing). This part of the examination can reveal cataracts, dry eye syndrome, allergies, infection, and many other conditions.

Dilation of the pupils may be necessary to check for retinal disorders, diabetic eye disease, macular degeneration, and more. If laser treatment is indicated, we can help guide you throught the process.

Our eye health evaluations are the best you can find!

Many bargain eye care providers are interested only in volume and getting patients in and out of the office quickly. The doctors of Bennett Eyecare Midwest care about quality above everything else. We want to make sure your vision is the best it can be and that your eyes are healthy. That is why we offer comprehensive eye health evaluations and a variety of treatment options that are performed in our office, along with the necessary follow-up to closely monitor your progress.

Have you ever wondered why your eyes must be dilated for an exam? Find out why it's so important to have your pupils dilated.

Do you think of getting your eyes dilated a nuisance? You're not alone. Most people feel that way. Maybe you've never really understood just why we have to put those annoying drops in your eyes. Here's your chance to find out just why it's so important to be dilated.

Our doctors start your eye exam with a thorough examination of your lids, lashes, conjunctiva, sclera and cornea, all which are the external surfaces of your eye. Using a microscope, or slit lamp, the doctor can get a closer look. When a light shines into your pupil, it constricts or becomes smaller. This is where the dilating drops come into play.

Dilating drops work to keep the pupil widely open so that the doctor can get a much better view of your retina, optic nerve, and vessels in the back of the eye. This is a very important part of an eye health evaluation. From the simple action of putting dilating drops in your eyes, the doctor can gather a lot of important information about your eyes. Diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) are sometimes first discovered during a dilated examination.

Here are a few things you can do to make your dilated exam more pleasant and comfortable:

• Try to avoid planning activities after your appointment that require very clear, crisp vision. Dilation often affects your vision, especially your near vision.
• After dilation, your eyes will be much more sensitive to the light. Bring along a pair of dark sunglasses for the ride home.
• If you think that you may have trouble driving home after dilation, bring a friend or family member to drive for you.