The eyes are one the most delicate organs of our body. Examination of the eyes includes a chain of tests performed to check the vision and ability to focus. Eye check-ups are performed by an ophthalmologist, orthoptist, or optometrist. During an eye test, the overall health of the eyes is checked, and it is determined whether someone needs glasses or has any eye-related disease. However, some people hesitate to reach out to an optometrist and perform eye tests at home. Here is a detailed discussion on eye tests to answer your query, “can we do an eye test at home?”:
What happens during the eye check-up?
To check if someone needs glasses or contact lenses measurement of visual acuity is done. Some more parameters are mentioned below.
A numbing drop is given in the eyes to measure eye pressure as it makes it convenient for the optometrist to carry out an in-depth analysis of the eyes.
Lastly, assessment of the health of our eyes.
Different types of eye test
There are several categories for eye check-ups; a few are:
- Visual acuity test
- Visual
- field test
- Eye muscle test
- Colour visioning test
- Glaucoma test
How is eye pressure measured?
A numbing drop is put in our eyes. Then the ophthalmologist checks our eyes with a device to measure the pressure inside each eye. There is no single accurate eye pressure as everybody has different eye pressure.
Some of the common eye diseases are:
- Cataract
- Glaucoma
- Amblyopia
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Refractive errors
What are myopia and hypermetropia?
Myopia:
It is short-sightedness which means images from far away are more challenging to see and appear blurry. This patient has a clearer vision of images that are close to him, but the farther objects are unclear to him.
Hypermetropia:
It is farsightedness, which means images that are closer appear blurry to them, and far-off objects are clearer.
Both the symptoms can be corrected by glasses and contact lenses.
Can we do an eye test at home?
Yes, we can do eye tests at home, but it may not be as accurate as performed by the eye doctor. But for general testing, we can test it in the comfort of our home.
Here is how it can be done:
Equipment required for the test.
- A pen to record
- A measurement tape or ruler
- Facial tissue to cover up the eye area
- Scissors
- Torchlight
- The testing charts
- A well-lighted room (minimum 10 feet long)
How to test:
The person must be seated 10 feet far from the testing chart with the chart leveling with their eyes
The person must cover one of their eyes, and if they use eyeglasses, then it must be worn during the test
Flash the torchlight to the letters of each line on the chart so the person can read it out loud. Continue this process till it becomes difficult for the person to see.
Record the serial number of the last line read correctly
Continue the same process with the other eye and record the results.
Average scores for home vision testing:
| Category | Age | Score |
| For children | 3 to 12 | 20/40 and 20/30 |
| Teenage & Adult | 12 and above | 20/20 |
If there are some abnormal results or circumstances, visit an eye doctor.
Nowadays, online eye test facility is also available by many companies. By following the procedures given, we can check it with the help of our smartphone, laptop, or tablet.
So, we can test our eyesight within the comfort of our home either with the help of home equipment or online. But it can’t be helpful to determine the overall health of our eyes, as diseases or any other severe problems can’t be checked at home. We need to visit an eye doctor for that. So, we should have regular eye checks by our eye doctors.
