Common Things Detected during an Eye Exam

Common Things Detected during an Eye Exam

Jul 01, 2023

When you schedule your annual eye exams in Castle Rock, do you expect to return with a prescription for eyeglasses or a suggestion to care for your eyes better because you may need other treatments later? Your thinking is justified because you believe the eye doctor will concentrate on your eyes, not other body parts.

An examination of the lens, optic nerve, and retina reveals many other systemic disorders that will likely leave you surprised. Your eye doctor can detect systemic diseases like hypertension and diabetes before other symptoms become apparent.

Eye exams do not require blood tests, invasive imaging, or surgical procedures, but the specialist examining your eyes has a look inside your body and can see blood vessels and nerve tissue running up to your brain.

This article examines some everyday things detected during eye exams. Please continue reading what else the eye doctor sees when performing your eye exam.

  • High Blood Pressure : if you notice bleeding in your eyes is likely caused by coughing or sneezing too hard. It can also be linked with high blood pressure that presents as a tiny blood vessel breaking in the white of the eye to leak blood. Another sign of high blood pressure is swelling. Patients with chronic hypertension may experience stiffening of the arteries in the retina that causes bulging of the eye when pressed against a blood vessel.
  • Heart Disease : your eye health is associated with your heart health, and eye exams help detect many cardiovascular conditions like clogged arteries before you might know about the problem. Eye doctors can visualize tiny plaque deposits in your eyes that have broken up on the carotid artery delivering blood to the brain, exposing your risk to a stroke. If the eye doctor notices signs of plaque, they will order imaging tests or refer you to your primary care doctor.
  • Diabetes : Diabetes is a sneaky condition, and patients will not show symptoms. However, the optometrist in Castle Pines can detect signs of underlying diabetes. In fact, optometrists discovered over 400,000 cases of diabetic retinopathy in 2017 in patients with no history of diabetes. Retinal imaging devices help optometrists look inside the eye to detect retinal damage early to prevent vision loss. Many people perceive blindness will affect them if diabetes starts affecting their eyes. However, when optometrists discover the condition early, they can help you prevent vision loss.
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis : rheumatoid artery is a common inflammatory disease affecting the joints and the eyes. A familiar symptom of rheumatoid arthritis affecting the eyes is dry eyes. It can also inflame the sclera, which is the thin outer layer of your eyes. Rheumatoid arthritis affects your eyes because the inflammatory condition affects collagen, the primary element of connective tissue of the sclera, composed of collagen.
  • Thyroid Disorder : if you have protruding eyes or retracting lids, they are signs of an overactive thyroid gland. The condition occasionally appears through dry eyes because the eyelids cannot cover the eye’s surface. Eye doctors use an exophthalmometer to measure the protrusion of the eyeball.
  • Parkinson’s Disease : presently, no conclusive evidence or tests are available for doctors to identify Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosis of the condition is generally based on physical and neurological exams, and it is clinically misdiagnosed 30 percent of the time. However, the situation may change because the FDA cleared RightEye in 2018 to track eye movement to help evaluate Parkinson’s. In addition, studies have revealed that people with Parkinson’s also have ocular tremors in the early stages before other symptoms. Therefore the eye tracking technology that helps identify ocular tremors helps eye doctors diagnose Parkinson’s.
  • Cancer : sunlight exposure affects the eyelids and is the most specific part of the body to get skin cancer. The lower eyelids are the most likely spots, although melanoma is rarely detected inside the eye near the iris or the muscle fibers surrounding the lens.

Besides the above, visiting your optometrist for eye care enables the professional to detect conditions like brain tumors, giant cell arteritis, high cholesterol, lupus, medication toxicities, Multiple Sclerosis, et cetera. Therefore, your eye doctor may surprise you with more information than you expected when you examine your eyes, hoping to receive a prescription for eyeglasses.

You are sadly mistaken if you think you only receive an examination of your eyes if you visit an optometrist because the specialist can detect much more during your visit. You receive a comprehensive evaluation of your general health when you schedule an appointment with Founders Eyecare expecting them to merely look at your eyes which they do but notice many other conditions in your body.

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