Do you find yourself squinting to read the smaller print or screwing up your eyes to read hoardings in the distance? Do your eyes water if you read too long or feel itchy if you binge watch television? Are constant headaches the bane of your life? Do you feel blinded by bright sunlight? Is your vision blurred maybe in poor lighting conditions or even if the light is good? Maybe its cataract or maybe you are a diabetic. Have you not been doing any of the things mentioned above, but your eyes feel perennially tired, or are there other issues relating to your eyes? Maybe you already use eyeglasses and yet do not feel comfortable in doing your daily chores.
If you have answered “yes” to any of the questions above, you certainly need to have your eyes examined. And now you must ask what kind of doctor to visit.
Difference Between Ophthalmologist And Optometrist
You will find both, ophthalmologists and an optometrist in your local facility and not surprisingly you will be at a loss to know who to book an appointment with. Though both are doctors who specialize in eye care, their levels of training and what their license permits them to do differ.
People commonly use the words ophthalmologist and optometrist interchangeably. The words sound so similar. So, you Google the words and you end up more confused than before.
Who Is An Optometrist?
He is also a healthcare professional. His schooling includes two to four years at the college level followed by four years in an optometry school.
Optometrists are allowed by virtue of their license to perform eye examinations and visions tests. They can prescribe corrective lenses, and they can also prescribe medications in a limited area of eye care. An optometrist can detect abnormalities of the eye and prescribe corrective measures for those.
An optometrist is not licensed to perform surgeries or do research like an ophthalmologist.
Who Is An Ophthalmologist?
He/she is a doctor who has specialized in eye and vision care and eye diseases. Typically, an ophthalmologist would have studied to get a degree in medicine and then spent four years of additional training.
An ophthalmologist can check your eyes to prescribe eyeglasses for you. He can upgrade the number of lenses or bring them lower depending on the need. He can also detect if there is any other underlying cause for the problems you are facing with your sight. If conditions are suitable, an ophthalmologist can use inert lenses into the eye to correct vision. Prescribing and fitting contact lenses are part of an ophthalmologist’s normal routine. This again is subject to the condition of the patient’s general health and the condition of the eyes. He is also licensed to medicate.
An Ophthalmologist is trained to diagnose and treat diseases of the eyes. These include glaucoma, retina, and diseases affecting the cornea. He can perform cataract operations routinely. He is licensed to perform other operations of a more complex and delicate nature.
Having obtained the degree and training, an ophthalmologist can branch off into any of the subspecialties, such as pediatrics which deals in depth with childhood eye diseases and eye problems of children. These could range from malnutrition to injury to congenital defects, apart from covering a wide range of other problems.
Some ophthalmologists specialize in the subspecialty of neurology which deals with the problems of the optic nerve. The optic nerve controls the vision in the eyes. Oculoplastic surgery is complex and delicate procedure involving the eyes.
Final Verdict - In short, we can say that an ophthalmologist is a doctor with more learning and is trained and licensed to work in more areas of the eye and vision care while optometrist is a licensed health professional who can do the eye examination and eye tests and recommend measures for improvement of eye-sight.
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