Advanced Eye Care talks visual field tests – LIVING WELL Magazine

Performing the Visual Field Test

Courtesy Advanced Eye Care, Denton LIVING WELL Magazine

The visual field test measures your peripheral vision, also called your side vision. Many diseases can reduce your peripheral vision. To diagnose and treat these conditions, we must carefully measure the peripheral vision. Your peripheral vision is measured with a special test called a visual field test.

Taking a visual field test can be challenging and the results are only useful if you can perform the test well. Each eye will be tested separately, and the eye not being tested will be covered with an eye patch. To get started, your head will be comfortably positioned in the visual field machine. The tests takes 5-10 minutes per eye, and if you are uncomfortable, tell your technician so you can be adjusted until you’re comfortable.

Once you are comfortably positioned, you will be looking into a dimly-lit bowl. Your technician will ask you to stare at a small target light in the middle of the bowl. Your job is to keep staring at that spot throughout the whole test. You may blink your eyes whenever you need to – this will not affect the test. Before the test begins, you will be handed a small device with a button on it –only push this as instructed.

During the test, small lights will appear throughout the bowl. Your job is to push the bottom every time you see one of the lights. Pushing the button is how the machine knows you saw the light. If you see a light but don’t push the button, the machine will think you did not see that light. Don’t worry about missing lights when you blink; the machine will come back to each spot you missed and check it again.

You should keep looking straight at your small target even when you see the test lights in your peripheral vision. If you move your eyes to look at them, the test is no longer measuring your peripheral vision. The machine keeps track of whether you look around or not, and if you look around too much, your doctor may not be able to use your test results and you may have to repeat the entire test.

When the test is complete, the machine will print out a map of your peripheral vision. The pattern of this map tells your doctor where you can see and where you cannot see. This test is compared to older tests and can quickly tell your doctor if you have the slightest vision change.

Call Advanced Eye Care Center at 940-382-8000 to schedule your complete eye exam today.