A revealing trip to the optician

Getting older can throw up lots of challenges, not least keeping on top of eye health, and ensuring good vision for all occasions. As part of The Heathfield News’s new goal to get more hands on with our members, one of the team visited Pople & Broad for a full sight test and eye examination.

“I felt a bit lost when they took my glasses away, but it was only to check the prescription, and they were quickly returned. Then, Joanne, who is one of the owners, ushered me into a consulting room, where the serious business started. Firstly, we discussed what I currently use and how that works for me, and any issues or challenges. I currently juggle contact lenses, but get easily irritated by the solutions and suffer from dry, gritty eyes, which means resorting to glasses for screen work and glasses for driving. Joanne took a creative approach, and made useful suggestions as to how I might tackle things like the irritable eyes, with switching to daily contact lenses for example.

After the routine eye test, during which you don those crazy specs and squint at lots of letters on the wall, we concluded that apart from a slight tweak; any significant change in vision was really down to the fact that my glasses’ coating was so scratched, that I was looking through a fog. This came as both a surprise and a relief! Although, I do find it annoying how quickly anti reflective coatings seem to expire.

Next, an eye pressure checker blows a puff of air at the cornea, followed by a check on what was going on behind the eye, she used a bright torch to see the health of the retina, time for another surprise. She spotted that I had high cholesterol as she could see deposits in the eye. I had recently had the NHS free Health Check, so I knew she was right, but it was something that had never been mentioned before. I was then reassured that it won’t affect my vision, but is just an indicator of  health elsewhere in the body. I really do need to get that gym membership I promised myself in the Summer!

Next bit, was the technology and fancy machines. Pople & Broad have an amazing OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scanner, which is an advanced eye scanner and works in a similar way to ultrasound. The equipment uses light rather than sound waves to build up an image comprising the different layers that make up the structures at the front and rear of the eye. It produces clear images of the retina and a 3D layered scan of the back of the eye, which is excellent for monitoring and spotting macular degeneration, diabetes, Glaucoma and vitreous detachments. Clean bill of health there!

Manufacturer library shot of OCT equipment

Then on to a machine that tests peripheral vision, looking for blind spots that might indicate a problem. This was most peculiar, as you have to stare into a void inside the machine and look for blobs of light, each time you see one you squeeze a sensor, they come thick and fast and it felt quite intense spotting them all. Scored 100% so  that was good too.

In addition to all of the eye health and vision testing, they also offer an on site lab for fulfilling prescriptions, repairing spectacles and even fitting new lenses to old frames.

After all of the tests and exams I felt comfortably reassured that all elements of my eye health had been examined and to have all of this done in a welcoming, and professional  environment was a bonus.

A plus point is that eye tests are free for the over 60s, not there yet, but it gives me something to look forward too.”

Thank you to Pople & Broad, 50 High St, Heathfield TN21 8JB for help with this article.

Call 01435 863 232 for appointments