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Despite requests that patients bring their current glasses to their office visit, many show up without them.
Sometimes it’s an oversight: “I was rushing to get here and forgot them”; “I left them in the car”; “I picked up my wife’s glasses instead of mine by mistake.” Doctors have heard them all.
Sometimes it is unavoidable: “I lost them”; “They were stolen”; “I ran them over with the car”; “I left them on the roof of the car and drove away and now they are gone.”
Frequently, however, it’s intentional. There is a perception by some people that if they don’t like their current glasses or feel like they are not working well for them that they are better off having their eye doctor start from scratch. “Why would I want the doctor to utilize a pair of glasses I’m not happy with as a basis or starting point for my next pair of glasses?”
But bringing your glasses to an appointment is important.
There are two main reasons for eye care professionals to know what your last pair of glasses were.
The first is to see what type of glasses they are and how you see out of them. Are they just distance? Just reading? A bifocal? A trifocal? A progressive?
Even if you feel they aren’t working for you, it is essential for doctors to know the type of lens you had previously. It is also important to know how you see out of them and what
Read more: Why Bringing Your Current Glasses to the Eye Doctor Can Help a Lot
What does blood in the back of the eye signify, anyway?
It could be a retinal vein occlusion, an ocular disorder that can occur in older people when the blood vessels to the retina are blocked.
The retina is the back part of the eye where light focuses and transmits images to the brain. Blockage of the veins in the retina can cause sudden vision loss. The severity of vision loss depends on where the blockage is located.
Blockage at smaller branches in the retinal vein is referred to as branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Vision loss in BRVO is usually less severe, and sometimes just parts of the vision is blurry. Blockage at the main retinal vein of the eye is referred to as central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and results in more serious vision loss.
Sometimes blockage of the retinal veins can lead to abnormal new blood vessels developing on the surface of the iris (the colored part of your eye) or the retina. This is a late complication of retinal vein blockage and can occur months after blockage has occurred. These new vessels are harmful and can result in high eye pressure (glaucoma), and bleeding inside the eye.
What are the symptoms of a retinal vein occlusion?
Symptoms can range from nothing to painless sudden visual loss. Sudden visual loss usually occurs in CRVO. In BRVO, vision loss is usually mild or the person can be asymptomatic. If new blood vessels develop on the iris, then the eye can become red
