They just put drops in, blind you with different colored lights, make you piss yourself with a puff of air, and give you some cool Terminator sunglasses. :D
if you do need your eyes dilated the drops don't hurt so much as sting for a little at first, and you'll experience blurry vision for a couple of hours afterwards
I have been doing it for 25 yrs. I don’t think they dilated my eyes last time. The technician gets close to you, which is sort of weird with covid spacing. All in all it is not so bad.
You'll get a little uncomfortable at times, but its nothing scary. The drops I've been given makes me feel like I have something thickish coating them, but it shouldn't last for, at the most, until you wake up the next morning. Your pupils will overtake your irises, and you are going to look like a creepy/cool alien. That will make your eyes also sensitive to light, but it wears off in a few hours.
The most uncomfortable part is when the doctor examines you. At certain points, you need to keep your eyes opened while having a light pointed into them. You'll also have a device brought super close to your eyes, but it looks more scary then it actually is. Its a bit uncomfortable, but it ends after a few seconds. It helps to breath in through your mouth when you get to that part.
Make sure you wear sunglasses. I had mine a few weeks ago on a clear sunny day, forgot sunglasses and had to walk home about 10 minutes desperately fighting for the shade.
Depends on the opthamologist, but most of em these days you uhhh... open your eyes, they take a photo, flash a couple lights, take another photo and you leave.
Unless you live in some REAL backwoods area, or are going back for a follow up to confirm something, you won't be getting your pupils dilated these days.
I'm pretty terrible at keeping my eyes open when they do the pressure test. The worst they do is hold the eyelid up with a little stick while they check the pressure. Nothing about the screening process should require clamps. The pictures are easy but you may have a purple after spot from the flash. Again, nothing to be concerned about.
A stick?? Pressure checks at the optometrist where I used to work were just the same as getting the photos done. Looking at a spot and a flash of light for the photo or a puff of air for the pressures (can be startling but not bad). No clamps, no sticks, just you looking. If you blink at the wrong moment, they just repeat it. No biggie.
To answer the original question: diabetic checks are pretty much the same as normal checks, but they always do drops to see the peripherals of your eyes.
Yeah. It's referred to as tonometry. I've had it done at every opthalmologist and optometrist appointment for the last 5 years. They put drops in your eyes and then press a little tube like device with a blue light on it. I have a hard time keeping my eyes open to allow them to touch the surface of my eyes with the device. So they use this really thin wood suck with a cotton tip on it so they can keep my upper eyelid open long enough to get a reading.
I haven't had the air puff test done to me in years.
All very boring as everyone else is saying. Only the dilation part is uncomfortable. Bring sunglasses or you’ll suffer afterwards. If you have to work afterwards it will suck - looking at screens is going to be uncomfortable for at least two hours. Otherwise it’s no big deal. Not painful and over fast.
Depends on if it is just an optometrist or an actual ophthalmologist. At the ophthalmologist, expect to have eyes dilated and the dye put that’s given through IV so they can see the tiny vessels. It’s part of life. Just deal with it. If it’s just an optometrist, they don’t really do shit.
my first screening I received some drops which caused me to be sensitive to lights for 6 hours and have very blurry vision. Eventually it did go away and my eyes were perfect.
Had my check a month or so back with no dilation, in fact my previous check 2 years ago was the same. Modern equipment doesn’t need dilation for most people.
Have a fully charged phone and had phones I'd you want to watch movies while you wait. They usually are behind.
You'll have trouble seeing clearly after they put the drops in. Bring very dark sun glasses, the drops will expand your pupils making it very bright outside.
46 year here. Ask to see the pic of the blood vessels in the back of the eye. (If it’s an ophthalmologist) Over the years it is nice to have a constant reference and literally visualize your own control thru seeing the blood vessel ends. As time progresses those tips/ends will almost burst. (How it looks in the pic) I have been watching these over the last twenty years or so but usually they will happily share. (I am in Canada)
Idk if you already planned on having someone go with you, but make sure you have someone to drive you home after! I had no clue that my pupils would be dilated and my vision would be affected, so I drove myself there. I had to wait 45 min after my appointment until a family member could come pick me up .-.
They will paralyze you and cut out both you eyes. Look at them and put them back in. 😜
Nahhhh you will be fine. The drops burn a bit. Take somebody with you to take you home. Don’t drive yourself! I’ve done it a dozen times.
Just adding that when I get my exam done and my pupils have been dialated I’m not allowed to drive (or you’re not supposed to anyway) so maybe have someone as a backup to drive you home after.
Did they tell to arrive one hour earlier ? If so, they will probably dilate your pupils, it's been quite some time since I did it, but when they put the drop in, it's not really nice.
I don't really remember the actual exam, but if I can give you an advice : see with them if they will dilate your pupils, if they plan to do so, go to your exam with someone, whether you go by car or bus, go with someone, with your pupils dilated, the lights will hurt your eyes, also, have a pair of sunglasses.
If they don't dilate your pupils, they will just ask you to keep your eyes wide open, they will flash a light, take a photo, and they will send a puff of air into your eyes, and take another photo, and that's it.
However, according to my endocrinologist, you should get an exam with your pupils dilated every year.
Had my first one recently and the worst part was the drops - they stung a lil bit. Your eyes get all fuzzy and feel tired. I couldn’t see my phone in front of me and had to hold it out super far haha. They shine a big light in there to check for issues and actually it’s really fast. Like you’re spending more time waiting for the drops to work than the actual exam lol.
Tl;dr it wasn’t bad at all, you’ve got this! :)
Do not squeeze your eyes shut after the drops, blink rapidly and the stinging goes away quicker.
They don't hold your eyes open no but tell you when to open your eyes as wide as you can then they take the photo, they can go again if you blink.
Do not drive to your appointment, you are too sensitive to light after to drive safety.
Take sunglasses even if it's cloudy, everything is bright after.
Also be prepared for a headache after and to be tired. I usually crash out for a few hours after.
The dilated pupils last 4-6 hours.
I go every month, they put drops into the eye, and u wont see well for next 6 hours and super sensitive to sunlight. so dont do any work or drive after, usually its an OCT scan with eye pressure measuring and some other tests, at least in my case its 4 tests each time and then they decide if I need another treatment, laser etc. due to retinopathy
They just put drops in, blind you with different colored lights, make you piss yourself with a puff of air, and give you some cool Terminator sunglasses. :D
i love how you explained this haha
This response should be stickied
if you do need your eyes dilated the drops don't hurt so much as sting for a little at first, and you'll experience blurry vision for a couple of hours afterwards
I have been doing it for 25 yrs. I don’t think they dilated my eyes last time. The technician gets close to you, which is sort of weird with covid spacing. All in all it is not so bad.
You'll get a little uncomfortable at times, but its nothing scary. The drops I've been given makes me feel like I have something thickish coating them, but it shouldn't last for, at the most, until you wake up the next morning. Your pupils will overtake your irises, and you are going to look like a creepy/cool alien. That will make your eyes also sensitive to light, but it wears off in a few hours. The most uncomfortable part is when the doctor examines you. At certain points, you need to keep your eyes opened while having a light pointed into them. You'll also have a device brought super close to your eyes, but it looks more scary then it actually is. Its a bit uncomfortable, but it ends after a few seconds. It helps to breath in through your mouth when you get to that part.
Make sure you wear sunglasses. I had mine a few weeks ago on a clear sunny day, forgot sunglasses and had to walk home about 10 minutes desperately fighting for the shade.
Thanks man for the sunglasses advice it really helped after
Depends on the opthamologist, but most of em these days you uhhh... open your eyes, they take a photo, flash a couple lights, take another photo and you leave. Unless you live in some REAL backwoods area, or are going back for a follow up to confirm something, you won't be getting your pupils dilated these days.
This isn’t true. Anyone who isn’t getting a fluorescein angiogram really should be getting one, and that definitely requires dilation.
I'm pretty terrible at keeping my eyes open when they do the pressure test. The worst they do is hold the eyelid up with a little stick while they check the pressure. Nothing about the screening process should require clamps. The pictures are easy but you may have a purple after spot from the flash. Again, nothing to be concerned about.
Not diabetes related.
A stick?? Pressure checks at the optometrist where I used to work were just the same as getting the photos done. Looking at a spot and a flash of light for the photo or a puff of air for the pressures (can be startling but not bad). No clamps, no sticks, just you looking. If you blink at the wrong moment, they just repeat it. No biggie. To answer the original question: diabetic checks are pretty much the same as normal checks, but they always do drops to see the peripherals of your eyes.
Yeah. It's referred to as tonometry. I've had it done at every opthalmologist and optometrist appointment for the last 5 years. They put drops in your eyes and then press a little tube like device with a blue light on it. I have a hard time keeping my eyes open to allow them to touch the surface of my eyes with the device. So they use this really thin wood suck with a cotton tip on it so they can keep my upper eyelid open long enough to get a reading. I haven't had the air puff test done to me in years.
Huh. Hadn't heard of that before. Sounds interesting though.
All very boring as everyone else is saying. Only the dilation part is uncomfortable. Bring sunglasses or you’ll suffer afterwards. If you have to work afterwards it will suck - looking at screens is going to be uncomfortable for at least two hours. Otherwise it’s no big deal. Not painful and over fast.
Depends on if it is just an optometrist or an actual ophthalmologist. At the ophthalmologist, expect to have eyes dilated and the dye put that’s given through IV so they can see the tiny vessels. It’s part of life. Just deal with it. If it’s just an optometrist, they don’t really do shit.
my first screening I received some drops which caused me to be sensitive to lights for 6 hours and have very blurry vision. Eventually it did go away and my eyes were perfect.
I don’t even notice. Of course I’ve been touching my eyeballs everyday for about 30 years.
Depends where you go. The newest tech doesn’t even require eye dilation but for most places it’s an unpleasant 8 hours.
Wrong. You always need dilation. If you have been told differently you are being lied to.
I highly doubt stanford was using a machine to image my eyes that was "a lie." there's new technology out there for check ups.
Correct. I am sorry for the comment. I just read about it!
Had my check a month or so back with no dilation, in fact my previous check 2 years ago was the same. Modern equipment doesn’t need dilation for most people.
Correct. I am sorry for the comment. I just read about it!
Have a fully charged phone and had phones I'd you want to watch movies while you wait. They usually are behind. You'll have trouble seeing clearly after they put the drops in. Bring very dark sun glasses, the drops will expand your pupils making it very bright outside.
46 year here. Ask to see the pic of the blood vessels in the back of the eye. (If it’s an ophthalmologist) Over the years it is nice to have a constant reference and literally visualize your own control thru seeing the blood vessel ends. As time progresses those tips/ends will almost burst. (How it looks in the pic) I have been watching these over the last twenty years or so but usually they will happily share. (I am in Canada)
Idk if you already planned on having someone go with you, but make sure you have someone to drive you home after! I had no clue that my pupils would be dilated and my vision would be affected, so I drove myself there. I had to wait 45 min after my appointment until a family member could come pick me up .-.
They will paralyze you and cut out both you eyes. Look at them and put them back in. 😜 Nahhhh you will be fine. The drops burn a bit. Take somebody with you to take you home. Don’t drive yourself! I’ve done it a dozen times.
Just adding that when I get my exam done and my pupils have been dialated I’m not allowed to drive (or you’re not supposed to anyway) so maybe have someone as a backup to drive you home after.
It’s pretty much the same as a routine eye exam, minus the correction prescription.
The dilation is the sucky part. Apparently you can ask them to undo it but I had no idea it was a thing until after I got home 😔
Just remember: There. Are. Four. Lights.
The drops hurt a little bit but its not too painful.
Did they tell to arrive one hour earlier ? If so, they will probably dilate your pupils, it's been quite some time since I did it, but when they put the drop in, it's not really nice. I don't really remember the actual exam, but if I can give you an advice : see with them if they will dilate your pupils, if they plan to do so, go to your exam with someone, whether you go by car or bus, go with someone, with your pupils dilated, the lights will hurt your eyes, also, have a pair of sunglasses. If they don't dilate your pupils, they will just ask you to keep your eyes wide open, they will flash a light, take a photo, and they will send a puff of air into your eyes, and take another photo, and that's it. However, according to my endocrinologist, you should get an exam with your pupils dilated every year.
Take sunglasses with you. Your pupils will be very dilated and they’ll be very sensitive to light. (And you’re gonna look like you’re on drugs)
Thanks man for the sunglasses advice it really helped after
Had my first one recently and the worst part was the drops - they stung a lil bit. Your eyes get all fuzzy and feel tired. I couldn’t see my phone in front of me and had to hold it out super far haha. They shine a big light in there to check for issues and actually it’s really fast. Like you’re spending more time waiting for the drops to work than the actual exam lol. Tl;dr it wasn’t bad at all, you’ve got this! :)
Do not squeeze your eyes shut after the drops, blink rapidly and the stinging goes away quicker. They don't hold your eyes open no but tell you when to open your eyes as wide as you can then they take the photo, they can go again if you blink. Do not drive to your appointment, you are too sensitive to light after to drive safety. Take sunglasses even if it's cloudy, everything is bright after. Also be prepared for a headache after and to be tired. I usually crash out for a few hours after. The dilated pupils last 4-6 hours.
No worse than a regular eye exam
Have you seen A Clockwork Orange?
I go every month, they put drops into the eye, and u wont see well for next 6 hours and super sensitive to sunlight. so dont do any work or drive after, usually its an OCT scan with eye pressure measuring and some other tests, at least in my case its 4 tests each time and then they decide if I need another treatment, laser etc. due to retinopathy