Regular eye exams allow your Petrolia eye doctor to check for changes in your eye’s refraction to determine if you would benefit from glasses or contacts or alterations to your existing eyewear. Your doctor will also perform an examination of the back of your eye, the retina, to ensure that your eyes are healthy and not showing any signs of disease.
Our eye doctors in Petrolia, ON have the ability to take digital pictures of the back of your eye, right in the office. Using the latest technology available, our eye care specialists are able to capture, examine and review these images with your during your visit.
Photos are stored digitally and create a permanent record of the current condition of your eye. Retinal images are captured in less than a second, nothing will touch your eye and drops for the pupil dilation are not required (although pupil dilation aids in taking better photos in some cases). Over the years changes can be detected and measured, alerting your doctor to potential health risks including early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy, hypertension, macular degeneration, glaucoma and retinal tears and detachments. It is a lot easier to look for small structural changes in a patient’s retina with a photo than it is comparing back to your doctor’s hand drawn pictures. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! As well, with the digital camera your doctor is able to view your eye with considerably more magnification than they can with any of their other instruments, helping them to look for things like very small broken blood vessels in the retinas of our diabetic patients.
At Petrolia Optometry, our optometrists love to review your retinal images with you, point out and explain any issues that may be discovered, and show you example photos of eye diseases that you may be concerned about in comparison to your own photos. The retinal photos really are an amazing educational tool! We can also email your photos to you if desired.
To assist our doctors in providing you with a thorough examination of the health of your eye, our doctors highly recommend that you make retinal photos a part of your exam. As the cost of taking photos is not covered by OHIP, there is a nominal fee to cover the cost of the equipment.
Patients 19 years old and under: $30.00
Adult patients with OHIP coverage: $40.00
Adult patients not covered by OHIP: imaging is included in the cost of a comprehensive eye exam
*There is no sales tax on the cost of Digital Retinal Imaging*
