Eye Examinations

Our private eye examination is approximately 40 minutes long and covers all the core diagnostic tests and a lot more.  You will have retinal imaging and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scan done using our Monaco imaging system.  Monaco is the only ultra-widefield retinal imaging device with integrated OCT and produces a 200° single-capture optomap image and also provides cross-sectional 40° OCT views of retinal structures.  This enables our optometrists to detect pathology at early stages and refer for treatment or further investigation if necessary.  It is non-invasive and safe to use on all patients including children.  
We will also scan your eyes using the DNEye scanner.  With the high-precision 3D eye measurement from this Rodenstock instrument we measure your eyes more precisely than ever before. The measured biometric values are able to be integrated into your spectacle lenses. In doing so, you receive the most individual and perfect Rodenstock lenses and thus the sharpest vision of all time.  The scanner also enables us to determine the thickness of your cornea (pachymetry), the intraocular pressure of the eyes (tonometry), measures anterior chamber depths, and the corneal curvature.   

Using the latest technology, our highly experienced optometrists and dispensing opticians will work together to provide you with optimum vision correction.

If you are eligible for a NHS test, it will cover all the core tests that we perform to establish your prescription and we will examine the health of your eyes using an ophthalmoscope or a Volk lens.  There may be supplementary tests performed on individual needs basis such as visual field screening and tonometry.  All of this would be covered by the NHS eye test.


Who is eligible for NHS eye examination?

Patients are entitled to NHS funding if they fall in any of the following criteria:
- Under 16 years of age
- 16, 17 or 18 years old and in full time education
- Over 60 years of age
- If the patient or patient's partner receive(s):            
    -Income Support            
    -Income based Jobseekers Allowance            
    -Income-related Employment and Support allowance            
    -Pension credit guarantee credit            
    -Tax credit
- If you have a HC2 certificate
- If you are registered blind or partially sighted
- If you suffer from diabetes or glaucoma
- If you are considered to be at risk of glaucoma by an ophthalmologist
- If you are over 40 years and are a parent/ brother/sister or child of a person who had or has glaucoma
- If you are a prisoner on leave from prison
- If you have been prescribed complex lenses under the optical voucher scheme

Our private eye examination is approximately 40 minutes long and covers all the core diagnostic tests and a lot more. Your child will have retinal imaging and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scan done using our Monaco imaging system.  Monaco is the only ultra-widefield retinal imaging device with integrated OCT and produces a 200° single-capture optomap image and also provides cross-sectional 40° OCT views of retinal structures.  This enables our optometrists to detect pathology at early stages and refer for treatment or further investigation if necessary.  It is non-invasive and safe to use on all patients including children.  

We will also scan your childs eyes using the DNEye scanner.  With the high-precision 3D eye measurement from this Rodenstock instrument we measure your eyes more precisely than ever before. Should you choose to you can have the measured biometric values integrated into their spectacle lenses. In doing so, they receive the most individual and perfect Rodenstock lenses and thus the sharpest vision of all time.  The scanner also enables us to determine the thickness of their cornea (pachymetry), measures anterior chamber depths, and the corneal curvature.

When booking your childs appointment please specify what appointment type you would like.  

As much as you may love your glasses we know there is many a time where you wish they were not there! Sweaty gym days to glamourous evenings out – sometimes you need relief from your spectacles. Contact lenses can be suitable for most patients from a very young age to the mature years where reading is becoming somewhat a slight problem. 

Have a read for more information on contact lens page for more information. 

Regular after care is very important and also a legal requirement in order for you to continue purchasing and wearing contact lenses. At our aftercare appointments we assess the health of your eyes, ensure your vision is the best we can achieve and also allows us to make sure the lenses are not having any adverse effects.

What is blepharitis?

It is a chronic inflammatory condition of the eye lids. Along the lid margin and the base of the lash line we have bacteria, in blepharitis there is an over growth of this bacteria causing a biofilm which traps debris and harbours exotoxins. This causes inflammation of the skin around the lashes and affects the tear glands, therefore reducing tear production. The reduction of tears means a reduction in antibodies which then allows more growth of bacteria, hence creating a vicious cycle leading to many problems.  The common symptoms that you may suffer from are:

• Dry eye
• Gritty sensation
• Tearing
• Crusting
• Inflammation/redness
• Foreign body sensation  

The eyelids are difficult to clean, so the bacteria and biofilm keeps increasing. The blephex treatment is a painless procedure which can be done at our practice, it uses a micro-sponge which rotates along the lash line and removes the debris and biofilm and exfoliates the eye lids.  

Once the procedure has been carried out there is an aftercare cleaning routine to be continued at home to maintain the treatment. Dependant on the severity of the blepharitis the treatment may or may not need to be repeated.

What you see is not purely based on having 20/20 vision, the visual system is much more than that.  Standard Optometry looks at what prescription is best suited for optimum vision, however behavioural optometry goes one step further to look at the way your brain interprets what you are seeing.  

A behavioural optomety assessment can take up to 2 hours and is tailored to each patients' needs.  The assessment involves tests to check your colour vision, eye movements, focusing skills, eye teamability, visual perception and intergration with movement, left-right awareness and directionality, handwriting and pen grip and tracking.

If you or someone you know is struggling with their vision despite having the correct spectacles or contact lenses, a behavioural optometry assessment may help.  Some of the symptoms or signs one may have are as follows:

• Regular headaches, particularly just above or around the eyes
• Blurred or double vision
• Easily fatigued when reading or writing
• Tilts or moves head while reading or writing
• Covers or squeezes/squints one or both eyes when reading or writing
• Loses place or leaves out words when reading or writing 
• Complains of tired eyes, watery eyes or rubs their eyes when reading or writing
• Easily distracted and shows poor concentration due to the effort it takes to maintain visual focus during work
• Eye strain, including computer eye strain
• Poor co-ordination and spatial awareness with near activities (but may be good at sports)
• Light sensitivity
• Needs to use a finger or marker to keep their place
• Misses out words or re-reads the same words
• Has difficulty processing what they are reading and may have to re-read something several times to understand it
• Complains of words “moving and jumping about”
• Reads very slowly, with a great deal of effort
• Poor handwriting that is irregular and/or untidy
• Has difficulty copying what is on the board down on to paper
• Extreme lack of orientation

Our body can put some coping mechanisms in place to cope with some of the above symptoms, however with the correct assessment, we can see if vision therapy would help alleviate the problems.

Vision therapy is a non-surgical programme of activities and exercises aimed to train your brain and eyes to ‘talk’ to each other effectively to develop visual skills that were not present or were poorly developed.  This would in turn help achieve clear and comfortable vision, accurate processing of visual information and improved performance in tasks involving the visual system.

Once the assessment is done, a detailed report will be drawn and we would discuss whether vision therapy would help and the various packages would be offered to you.