How Is AMD Detected?
Your eye care professional may suspect AMD if you are over age 60 and have had recent changes in your central vision. To look for signs of the disease, he or she will use eye drops to dilate, or enlarge, your pupils. Dilating the pupils allows your eye care professional to view the back of the eye better. AMD is detected during a comprehensive eye exam that includes: • Visual acuity test. This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances. • Dilated eye exam. Drops are placed in your eyes to widen, or dilate, the pupils. Your eye care professional uses a special magnifying lens to examine your retina and optic nerve for signs of AMD and other eye problems. After the exam, your close-up vision may remain blurred for several hours. • Tonometry. An instrument measures the pressure inside the eye. Numbing drops may be applied to your eye for this test. Your eye care professional also may do other tests to learn more about the structure and health of your eye.
Your eye care professional may suspect AMD if you are over age 60 and have had recent changes in your central vision. The eye examination for AMD includes: Visual acuity test: This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances. Amsler grid test: this is a pattern that looks like a checkerboard and has a central black dot. You will be asked to cover one eye and stare at the black dot in the center of the grid. While staring at the dot, you may notice that the straight lines in the pattern appear wavy or that some of the lines are missing. These may be early signs of wet AMD. Intraocular pressure and anterior segment examination – this examination is performed to look for other eye diseases such as glaucoma and cataracts that can also cause symptoms. Dilated retina examination: This examination enables your eye care professional to see more of the retina and look for signs of AMD. To do this, drops are placed into the eye to dilate (widen) the pupil and the retina is view
Your eye care professional may suspect AMD if you are over age 60 and have had recent changes in your central vision. To look for signs of the disease, he or she will use eye drops to dilate, or enlarge, your pupils. Dilating the pupils allows your eye care professional to view the back of the eye better. AMD is detected during a comprehensive eye exam that includes: • Visual acuity test. This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances. • Dilated eye exam. Drops are placed in your eyes to widen, or dilate, the pupils. Your eye care professional uses a special magnifying lens to examine your retina and optic nerve for signs of AMD and other eye problems. After the exam, your close-up vision may remain blurred for several hours. • Tonometry. An instrument measures the pressure inside the eye. Numbing drops may be applied to your eye for this test. Your eye care professional also may do other tests to learn more about the structure and health of your eye. During an eye
