(Posted Apr 2003)

Now we’re going to see what we can see on or in your eyes themselves in case there’s anything obviously wrong.

This is the one where you put your chin in a chin-rest and rest your forehead against a headrest and the doctor tells you to stare at his ear while he shines a light into your eye. He might also pull down your lower lid, or pull up your upper lid, or tell you to look first down, then sideways, then up, etc, while he thoroughly examines your eye.

This exam should clearly show if there are any "icky" things going on like infections or inflammation, or excessive dry spots. It should also clearly show if there any "clunky" things going on. If you have had LASIK, this is the test that should allow them to identify anything wrong with the flap, including wrinkles, although sometimes you may be given inconsistent answers back on the wrinkles depending how large they are. They should also be able to see any stuff sitting in the flap interface like little particles from the microkeratome blade.

What this exam will NOT tell them is the impact on your optical quality resulting from the shape of your cornea and surface or stromal irregularities that are affecting your vision. Remember that. You can actually have very poor vision but with no problems at all that will be apparent in the slit-lamp exam.