Comprehensive Eye Exams
There is no Board of Optometrists in Kenya. Anyone can open an ‘Optical Shop’, test your eyes and sell spectacles.
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), children generally should have their first eye exam at six months of age, another exam at age three and again at the start of school. Risk-free children should then continue to have their eyes examined every two years until age 18.
To maintain a lifetime of healthy vision, the AOA recommends a comprehensive eye exam every two years for adults ages 18 to 60, and annual exams for seniors age 61 and older.
A comprehensive eye exam is one where the following tests are done:
- History and symptoms
- Vision check with and without spectacles and contact lenses
- Spectacle prescription check (refraction)
- Intraocular pressures: Raised intraocular pressures can cause blindness silently. This condition is called glaucoma. This should be checked on anybody who is over 35 years, diabetic, or has a family history of glaucoma.
- Intra-ocular exam: Your retina should be examined. Diabetics should have a dilated eye exam once a year.
- Anterior segment exam: The front of your eye should be examined by a slit lamp.
Additional tests – These will be done at the digression of the Optometrist
- Pupils
- Motility: are your eyes able to move in all directions
- Convergence: Do your eyes come together when looking at near objects
- Cover Test: are both your eyes coordinated at distance and near
- Colour vision and depth perception: all children should have this done once in their lifetime
- Retinal photographs
- Corneal Topography
