On Saturday 23 Mar 2002 2:31 pm, Betty B wrote:
> In a message dated 3/22/2002 8:24:33 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask]
>
> writes:
> > I had a quick question.  I was wondering how people here handle
> > going to the eye doctor.  I'm mildly spastic, and I have a really
> > hard time getting positioned behind each of the machines.  I
> > don't know what it's called, but there's one test where they
> > shoot air in your eyes... I spasm every time they try.  My dad
> > puts me up in the doctor's chair, but I have a hard time staying
> > all the way up in the slippery leather chair.  I slide down
> > during the test, and can't lean all the way forward.  I feel like
> > these problems are compromising
>
> The test you're talking about reveals your interoccular pressure
> (the pressure inside of your eye).  This is a test for glaucoma,
> and the way it works is that the puff of air you're talking about
> depresses the eyeball to a certain degree.  The amount of
> depression is dictated by the pressure inside of your eye, and
> that's how the amount of pressure inside is revealed to your
> doctor.
>
> I don't have a tip, except that perhaps somebody can help you stay
> in that necessary position while it's being administered.  As long
> as you are able to be in that one position the second the puff of
> air is delivered, the test results should be as accurate as that
> test allows.
>
> Did the person who gave you this test indicate that he or she was
> uncertain of the accuracy of the result?

Good point Betty. I think that particular machine gives an indication
whether the test worked or not, well judging by the number of times I
had to retake it!!

> The alternative is an instrument that actually touches your eye
> while the eye is anesthetized.  That kind of test is only
> administered by ophthalmologists (as opposed to optometrists), but
> I'm guessing that the air puff test for you is the lessor of the
> two evils.
>
> Please don't take this as gospel.  Can you contact an
> ophthalmologist to discuss your concerns?    Too, at your age, this
> test might be little more than routine.  If there are no other
> factors that your doctor would consider important, like a history
> of glaucoma in your family or something else, this may not be a
> thing for you to be concerned about just yet.
>
> In saying these things, I do not mean to minimize the importance of
> glaucoma testing.