Resources

Patient resources

The practical side: what to bring, how insurance works, what to do in an emergency, and what all those abbreviations on your prescription actually mean.

What to Bring to Your Appointment

Bring your medical insurance card and your vision insurance card, which are usually different, your current glasses, a list of your medications, your sunglasses and, if you wear contact lenses, the boxes.

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Patient Forms

New patient, returning patient, child and records release paperwork can be completed before your visit. Ask the office to send the current forms when you book, so the appointment time goes on your eyes.

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Insurance Checklist

Vision plans typically cover routine examinations and eyewear. Medical insurance typically covers disease, injury and monitoring. Which applies depends on why you are being seen, so bring both cards.

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Preparing a Child for an Eye Exam

Nothing about a children's eye examination requires reading, speaking or cooperation. It is lights, targets and lenses, nothing touches the eye and nothing hurts. Book when your child is usually alert.

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After Your Appointment

New prescriptions take days to a couple of weeks to settle. If yours has not settled after two weeks, come back rather than putting up with it. Certain symptoms mean call the office immediately.

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Eye Emergencies: What to Do First

For a chemical splash, irrigate with clean water for at least fifteen minutes before travelling or phoning. For a penetrating injury, do not remove anything. For sudden painless vision loss, seek care immediately.

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Understanding Your Prescription

OD is your right eye and OS your left. Sphere is the main correction, cylinder and axis describe astigmatism, and add is the extra reading power. A glasses prescription cannot be used to order contact lenses.

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Caring for Your Eyewear

Rinse first, then clean with a microfibre cloth. Never dry clean a dusty lens, because that grinds the dust into the coating. Frames drift with wear, and adjustments are free for as long as you wear them.

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Vision and Driving

Night driving difficulty usually has an addressable cause: early cataract, an outdated prescription, or missing anti reflective coating. Reflected road glare is best handled with polarised lenses rather than a plain tint.

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Screen Use and Your Eyes

Screens do not damage your eyes. What they do is halve your blink rate and hold your focusing system at one distance for hours, and both of those are addressable without buying anything.

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