Frequently Asked Questions

Typically forty-five minutes to an hour. We schedule two patients an hour rather than five or six, which is why we can take the time to explain findings rather than hand you a prescription and move on.

Routine exams are usually covered by a vision plan. If you have a medical eye condition such as dry eye, glaucoma or diabetes, the exam often bills to medical insurance instead. We verify your benefits beforehand and explain which applies.

Not necessarily. Optomap ultra-widefield imaging replaces dilation for most routine exams and captures over eighty percent of the retina without drops. There are clinical situations where dilation gives information imaging cannot, and we will tell you when that applies rather than defaulting either way.

Yes if you have Optomap imaging rather than dilation. If you are dilated, expect three to four hours of light sensitivity and blurred near vision. Most people can drive but it is uncomfortable, so bring sunglasses and consider arranging a lift if you are sensitive.

A screening checks whether you can read a chart, and that is essentially all. A comprehensive exam measures your prescription precisely and examines the health of the eye, which is where sight-threatening disease is found. Screenings routinely pass people who have significant undetected disease.

Yes, and this is the most important point on this page. Glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and early macular degeneration are all painless and produce no symptoms until damage is permanent. Good vision is not evidence of eye health.

Yes. Screenings check distance acuity and very little else. They routinely miss farsightedness, focusing problems and binocular vision disorders, which are precisely the issues that make reading and schoolwork difficult. A passed screening is not evidence of healthy vision.

With objective techniques that need no response. We use light reflexes, lenses and direct observation of how the eyes respond and align. We can determine refractive error and assess eye health without a single answer from the child.

Around six months. It surprises most parents, but this is when conditions like significant refractive error, alignment problems and structural abnormalities are most treatable. Then around three, before school, and annually after.

Often yes for children, and for a genuine reason: children have very strong focusing ability that can mask their true prescription. Dilating relaxes that focusing so we measure accurately rather than measuring their effort. For older children Optomap may replace dilation for the retinal portion.

It happens, and it is worth ruling out. A child who cannot sustain focus at near, or whose eyes do not team properly, avoids reading, loses concentration during near work, and appears inattentive. That looks like an attention problem and is a treatable vision problem. An eye exam is a cheap and quick thing to rule out first.

Most vision plans cover annual paediatric exams. We verify your benefits before the appointment and tell you any out-of-pocket cost in advance. Cost should never be the reason a child goes unexamined, so ask us and we will work through the options.

Because it is genuinely additional work: corneal measurement, tear film assessment, trial lens fitting, over-refraction, handling training for new wearers, and follow-up evaluation. It is a separate service from a glasses exam rather than an add-on fee.

No. A contact lens prescription includes base curve, diameter and a lens-specific power that differs from your spectacle power, plus the specific brand the fit was assessed with. A glasses prescription contains none of that. It is also not legal to dispense lenses against a spectacle prescription.

Almost certainly yes. Toric soft lenses correct most astigmatism well, and rigid or scleral lenses handle higher and irregular astigmatism. If you were told years ago that astigmatism ruled you out, that advice is out of date.

For most wearers, yes. A fresh sterile lens every day gives the lowest infection risk, no cleaning routine, and consistently better comfort. The per-day cost gap has also narrowed considerably. For allergy sufferers and part-time wearers they are clearly the better choice.

Not unless they are specifically prescribed for overnight wear, and even then we assess whether it is appropriate for you. Sleeping in lenses not designed for it dramatically raises the risk of corneal infection, which is the complication that can permanently affect vision.

Annually at minimum. We are checking the fit, corneal health under the lens, and whether the prescription has changed. Contact lens prescriptions expire for a reason, and problems developing under a lens are frequently painless until they are advanced.

Yes. Good control substantially reduces risk but does not eliminate it, and retinopathy can develop in well-controlled patients. The exam is not a judgement on your management, it is the only way to see what is actually happening in the retina.

Unfortunately not, and this is the central point. Diabetic retinopathy is painless and symptom-free through its early and even moderately advanced stages. Vision changes appear once the macula or a bleed is involved, which is late. Normal vision is not reassurance.

Optomap ultra-widefield imaging replaces dilation for most diabetic retinal exams and produces a permanent comparable image, which is a real advantage in a condition monitored over decades. In some cases dilation adds information and we will tell you when.

Diabetic eye exams are a medical service and are typically covered by medical insurance rather than a vision plan. Many plans cover annual diabetic retinal screening with no cost sharing, because insurers understand the economics of preventing blindness. We verify your benefits beforehand.

Yes, and effectively when caught in time. Options include injections into the eye, laser treatment and surgery depending on stage. Early stages are often managed by optimising glucose and blood pressure control and monitoring closely. The entire prognosis depends on when it is found.

The lens inside the eye absorbs fluid when blood glucose is high, which changes its shape and therefore your prescription. This is why we avoid finalising a glasses prescription during a period of poor control. It usually stabilises within a few weeks of steadier glucose.

Annually, without exception. The conditions that matter most in this age group are painless and symptom-free until damage is done, so the exam is not driven by how your vision feels.

Medicare covers medically necessary eye care, including annual diabetic retinal exams and glaucoma screening for those at high risk, and it covers cataract surgery. It generally does not cover routine refraction for glasses. Many Medicare Advantage plans add routine vision coverage. We verify your specific coverage before your visit.

When the cataract is affecting things you want to do, rather than at a particular measurement. Difficulty driving at night, trouble reading, faded colour, or having to decline activities are the real indicators. We assess it annually and tell you honestly when we think the balance has tipped.

No. It is common but not universal, and risk is influenced by genetics, smoking, blood pressure, diet and sun exposure. Not smoking is the largest modifiable factor. Early detection matters enormously because treatment for the wet form works far better when started promptly.

Not necessarily. Even when a condition cannot be treated further, low vision rehabilitation can often restore specific abilities like reading, using magnification, lighting, contrast and task-specific devices. Being told the disease is fully treated is not the same as being told nothing can help you.

Regularly. We keep full records so a patient who sees us from November through March is not starting over each season, and we coordinate with a home optometrist elsewhere. Continuity of care matters more than proximity for anything being monitored over time.

For most eye problems, call us first. We can examine an eye properly and treat what we find, which a general emergency department usually cannot. Go straight to an emergency room for penetrating injury, major trauma, or if the eye problem accompanies a head injury or other serious symptoms.

Yes, treat it as urgent and call today. A sudden increase in floaters with flashes can indicate a retinal tear or detachment. Caught early a tear is often treated simply and vision preserved. Left alone it can progress to a detachment, which is far more serious.

It depends on what accompanies it. Redness alone is usually not urgent. Redness with pain, light sensitivity or reduced vision is, and should be seen the same day. Redness in a contact lens wearer should always be treated as urgent, and the lens removed immediately.

Yes, in most cases. We remove foreign bodies routinely using a slit lamp and anaesthetic drops, including embedded metal and rust rings. Do not try to remove anything yourself, and never rub the eye, which drags the object across the cornea.

An urgent visit is billed as a medical eye examination, which usually goes to your medical insurance rather than a vision plan. We are not going to leave you sitting with an injured eye while sorting out billing. Call, come in, and we will work the coverage out.

For a genuine emergency outside our hours, go to an emergency room or an ophthalmology emergency service. If it can safely wait, call us as soon as we open and we will fit you in the same day.

No. No treatment currently available reverses myopia that has already developed, and any product claiming to is not being honest with you. What treatment does is slow further progression, which is why starting earlier produces a better final result.

We have successfully fitted children as young as six or seven in Ortho-K, and low-dose atropine can be appropriate even earlier. The deciding factor is rarely age, it is whether the child can handle the routine with parental help. A motivated eight-year-old often does better than a reluctant thirteen-year-old.

When fitted properly and followed up properly, yes. The main risk with any contact lens is infection, and that risk is managed through correct fitting, genuine hygiene training, and keeping to the review schedule. We do not fit a child and send them away for a year.

It varies by treatment. Atropine is the least expensive, Ortho-K the most because it includes custom lenses and a much more involved fitting and follow-up programme. We give you the complete cost in writing at the consultation, including follow-ups and lens replacement, so there are no surprises. Some vision plans contribute toward parts of it.

With Ortho-K, generally not during the day, which is much of its appeal. With atropine or myopia-control soft lenses, glasses are usually still worn or kept as a backup. In every case the goal is the same: a lower prescription at the end of growth than there would otherwise have been.

It is normal in the sense that it is common and expected. It is not harmless. Both things are true. Normal progression still produces an adult eye with elevated lifetime risk, and that progression is now treatable, which was not the case a generation ago.

Yes, when fitted and monitored properly. It is FDA approved and has been in use for decades. As with any contact lens the principal risk is infection, and that risk is managed with correct fitting, proper hygiene, and keeping to review appointments. The risk is comparable to other overnight lens wear and considerably lower than sleeping in lenses not designed for it.

No. There is an awareness of the lens for the first few nights, similar to any rigid lens, and it fades quickly. Pain is not normal at any stage and is a reason to call us, not to push through.

Your cornea returns to its original shape and your original prescription comes back, typically over several days to a couple of weeks. Nothing is permanently changed. That reversibility is one of the main reasons parents choose it for children.

Occasionally, yes. Most patients find vision holds well enough for a day after a missed night, though it softens by evening. Skipping regularly means the correction never fully stabilises. If you routinely cannot wear them nightly, a different option may suit you better.

Ortho-K works best up to about minus six dioptres with mild to moderate astigmatism. Higher prescriptions are sometimes possible with modern designs. Corneal shape matters as much as the number, which is why the topography scan at consultation gives a far better answer than the prescription alone.

Yes. Invisalens is the name we use for our orthokeratology programme. The underlying treatment is orthokeratology, also called corneal refractive therapy or CRT.

Adults use it widely. Children get the additional myopia control benefit, but plenty of our Ortho-K patients are adults who work in dusty or air-conditioned environments where daytime lenses are uncomfortable, or who want freedom from correction without surgery.

Because dryness irritates the ocular surface, which triggers a reflex flood of tears. Those reflex tears are watery and lack the oil layer needed to stay on the eye, so they spill over and run down your face without relieving anything. Constant watering is one of the most common presentations of dry eye, not evidence against it.

That is useful diagnostic information. It usually means the problem is your oil layer rather than your water layer, and artificial tears are topping up the wrong thing. Meibomian gland dysfunction needs treatment aimed at the glands. This is the single most common reason people give up on treatment when effective treatment was available.

It is usually chronic, meaning it is managed rather than cured. That is not the same as untreatable. Most patients who work through a properly targeted plan achieve comfortable eyes and stop thinking about it daily. It does generally require ongoing maintenance.

Yes, if left untreated for long enough. Chronic dryness causes inflammation and damage to the corneal surface, and in severe cases scarring that affects vision. Untreated meibomian gland dysfunction can also cause permanent loss of gland structure, which is not recoverable. This is a reason to treat it rather than adapt to it.

Often yes. Dry eye is a medical condition, so evaluation and treatment frequently bill to medical insurance rather than a vision plan. We check your specific coverage before treatment and tell you what to expect.

Usually yes, though the lens type and material may need to change and the underlying dry eye needs treating first. Many patients who were told to give up lenses entirely are back in them comfortably once the dry eye is properly managed. In severe cases scleral lenses actively improve comfort by holding fluid against the cornea all day.

Almost certainly not. Keratoconus can severely impair vision if untreated, but with modern management, cross-linking to halt progression and specialty lenses to restore vision, the large majority of patients maintain functional vision for life. Very few now progress to needing a corneal transplant, which was far more common before cross-linking existed.

In the earliest stages, sometimes adequately. As the cornea becomes more irregular, no. A spectacle lens has a regular surface and cannot correct an irregular one. This is why patients often describe endless prescription changes that never quite work, and it is the point at which specialty contact lenses become necessary.

Most patients find them more comfortable than smaller rigid lenses, which surprises people given the size. The lens rests on the sclera, which has far fewer nerve endings than the cornea, and it never touches the sensitive cone. The fluid reservoir underneath also keeps the eye hydrated. Adaptation typically takes days rather than weeks.

No, and it is important to have that expectation set correctly. Cross-linking stops progression. It does not reverse the distortion already present. Vision improvement comes from the lens fitted afterward. The reason to do cross-linking is to protect what you still have.

In the active progression phase, typically every three to six months so we can catch progression early. Once stable, annually. If you have had cross-linking, monitoring continues to confirm stability held.

There is a genetic component, though it is not simple inheritance. Roughly one in ten patients has an affected relative. If you have keratoconus, having your children screened with topography in their teens is worthwhile, because that is exactly the window where early detection changes the outcome most.

Vigorous eye rubbing is a well-established risk factor for both developing keratoconus and accelerating it. Mechanical stress on already-weakened corneal tissue makes the cone worse. Many keratoconus patients rub because of allergy or dry eye, so treating those conditions is part of managing the keratoconus itself.

Typically one to two years with proper care, though this varies with your tear chemistry and handling. Some patients get longer, some need replacement sooner because of surface deposits. We assess this at each review.

No. Sclerals are worn during waking hours and removed at night. The fluid reservoir becomes stagnant over long wear and sleeping in them raises infection risk considerably.

Expect several appointments over a few weeks. The initial evaluation and diagnostic fitting is usually ninety minutes or more. Custom lenses take time to manufacture, and refinement follows. Anyone promising a same-day scleral fit on a complex cornea is describing something we do not recognise.

Frequently, when they are medically necessary, which is how lenses for keratoconus, irregular corneas and severe ocular surface disease are usually classified. That is a different benefit from an elective contact lens allowance. We verify your coverage and give you the cost in writing before ordering.

That is one of the most common reasons patients come to us for sclerals, and the outcome is usually good. Smaller rigid lenses sit directly on the cornea and move with each blink, which is what causes the discomfort. A scleral does neither.

Most patients achieve dramatically better vision than with any other correction, and many reach normal or near-normal acuity. If the cornea has significant scarring in the visual axis, or there is other eye disease, the ceiling is lower. We tell you what to expect at the fitting rather than afterward.

No. Low vision means significantly reduced vision that cannot be fully corrected, but useful vision remains. The great majority of people described as legally blind retain some functional vision, and that remaining vision is exactly what this care works with.

Coverage for the evaluation is often available through medical insurance, because it is a medical service. Devices themselves are frequently not covered, which is a genuine gap in the system. We tell you the cost of anything before you commit, and we can point you toward assistance programmes.

The underlying condition may be treatable or stabilisable, which is managed by us or by a retinal specialist. The vision already lost usually cannot be restored. Low vision rehabilitation works with what remains rather than attempting to recover what has gone.

Almost certainly not. Macular degeneration takes central vision and characteristically spares peripheral vision, so patients typically retain the ability to move around independently. Central vision loss is what makes reading and face recognition hard, and that is precisely what low vision devices address.

Considerably longer than a standard exam, usually an hour or more, because most of it is spent assessing function and trialling devices on real tasks. This is not something that fits into a routine slot, which is part of why many practices do not offer it.

Before they start competing seriously, and then annually. Children rarely report a vision problem because they assume everyone sees what they see. Plenty of young athletes labelled uncoordinated turn out to have an uncorrected refractive error or a binocular vision problem.

For any sport with a projectile or contact risk, yes. They protect against injuries that can permanently cost vision, and modern designs are far better than what most parents remember. They are also the only way an athlete who needs correction gets both clear vision and protection at once.

Daily disposables suit most athletes: fresh lens, nothing to clean, no problem if one is lost. Ortho-K is the better answer for swimmers, for anyone in dusty conditions, for contact sports where a lens can be dislodged, and for young athletes whose myopia is also progressing, since it addresses both at once.

Within limits, and we would rather be measured about it. Correcting an uncorrected prescription produces a large, immediate improvement. Training visual skills produces smaller, more gradual gains, and the evidence is stronger for some skills than others. We start by making sure the basics are right, because that is where the real gain usually is.

For high-risk sports, yes. Protective eyewear is available without prescription, and eye injury does not require you to have needed glasses beforehand. For any child with reduced vision in one eye, protection during all sport is essential rather than optional.

It is the one coating we recommend to essentially everyone. It improves clarity, substantially reduces night-driving glare, and stops reflections hiding your eyes. The difference between budget and premium AR is also real, particularly in durability and how easily it cleans.

It depends on your prescription. From roughly minus four onward, yes, the reduction in thickness and weight is obvious and worth it. Below that the difference is small and we will tell you so rather than upsell you.

For eye damage, the evidence is weak and we do not claim otherwise. For comfort during long screen sessions, some patients report a genuine improvement and others notice nothing. If you spend many hours on screens it is reasonable to try. It is not a medical necessity and should not be sold as one.

Most often the fitting measurements or the frame adjustment, not the prescription. If the optical centres do not line up with your pupils, or a progressive corridor sits too high or low, the lens is correct in the lab and wrong on your face. This is fixable and we would rather you bring them back than adapt around it.

Lenses generally two to three years before coating wear and scratches degrade them enough to matter, though your prescription may change sooner. Frames vary enormously with build quality and handling. Both last considerably longer with a case and proper cleaning.

Yes. Bring a current, valid prescription and we will fill it. For progressives we take our own fitting measurements regardless of where the prescription came from, because those measurements have to be taken in the frame you are actually buying.

Usually a basic lens design, measurements that were rushed, or a frame too shallow for the corridor. Adaptation failure is far more often a fitting problem than a patient problem. A modern digitally surfaced lens fitted with full measurements solves most of these cases.

Most people are comfortable within a few days to two weeks. If you are still struggling after two weeks, something is wrong with the lens or the fit and you should come back rather than persevere.

Here, unusually for optical upgrades, yes. The difference between a basic and a digitally surfaced progressive is a genuinely wider usable field, and it is the difference most people notice immediately. We would rather sell you a good progressive in a modest frame than the reverse.

General progressives handle screen work, though the intermediate zone is a narrow band and you may find yourself tilting your head. If you spend most of the day at a screen, a dedicated office progressive with a much wider intermediate field is a significantly better experience and is a common second pair.

Progressives for almost everyone. Bifocals have a visible line and an abrupt image jump at the segment edge, and they provide no intermediate correction at all, which is a real problem in a world of screens. A few long-term bifocal wearers genuinely prefer them, and that is a legitimate choice.

Yes. The distance zone occupies the top of the lens where you naturally look while driving. Some wearers notice mild softening when glancing far to the side during the first days, which settles. Anti-reflective coating makes a substantial difference to night driving in progressives.

No, and the distinction matters. Hearing aids are medical devices fitted by an audiologist to a measured audiogram, and they handle a much wider range of hearing loss. These are hearing assistance built into eyewear, designed for mild to moderate loss and particularly for noisy environments. Different tool, different job.

In normal use, generally not. The technology is inside the temples and there is no earpiece. They read as a slightly chunkier pair of glasses. For a lot of patients that is the entire appeal.

Yes, including progressives, and with anti-reflective, Transitions or blue-violet filtering options. These are genuine prescription eyeglasses.

They are rechargeable and designed for a full day of use. We go through charging routine at handover, because like any rechargeable device the practical experience depends on building the habit.

Then these are not the right product and we will tell you plainly rather than sell them to you. We can refer you to an audiologist for a proper hearing assessment. Selling a device that will not solve your problem is not a service.

Yes, and we would insist on it. Come in for a demonstration. Hearing technology is entirely subjective and no description substitutes for hearing it yourself.

The specific terms are confirmed at purchase and given to you in writing. Call us and we will tell you exactly what applies to the frames and lenses you are considering. We would rather quote you accurate current terms than publish something that may have changed.

No. Adjustments, nose pads, screws and cleaning are free for the life of the glasses, whether or not there is a warranty claim involved. Walk in and we will sort it.

Heat damage to coatings and frames is generally treated as damage rather than defect, and coverage depends on your specific terms. Bring them in and we will look at them honestly and tell you the options, including whether a repair is sensible.

The WOW Warranty covers eyewear purchased at Arizona's Vision. We are still happy to adjust and clean glasses bought elsewhere, and we do that regularly at no charge.

A prescription change is a separate matter from warranty coverage, though there are often options worth discussing. Come in, we will check the current prescription against the lenses and talk through what makes sense.

Usually yes, provided it is in good condition and structurally sound enough to survive re-glazing. We will assess it honestly. Older frames can become brittle, and we will tell you if we think there is real risk of it breaking during the process rather than take the job and hope.

Yes. This is exactly where frame selection expertise matters, because the wrong frame makes a strong prescription look and feel far worse than it needs to. We will steer you toward frames that keep the lens thin and the weight manageable.

We stock a genuine range of price points, and designer frames sit at the higher end. We will tell you what you are paying for in build quality and what is brand premium, and we never pretend a more expensive frame will make you see better. The lens does that.

Most vision plans include a frame allowance, though the amount varies considerably by plan. We check your specific benefit and apply it, then tell you the out-of-pocket difference before you commit.

Frames often outlast the prescription. Many patients re-glaze a frame they like rather than replace it. Replace when the frame is damaged, no longer adjustable, or when your prescription needs a lens the frame cannot carry.

For preventing eye damage, there is no good evidence and we will not claim it. For subjective comfort during long screen sessions, some patients genuinely prefer them. For evening screen use and sleep, there is a more defensible rationale. We are happy to fit them described accurately.

Usually not well. Reading glasses are optimised for roughly forty centimetres and a monitor is typically sixty to eighty. Using reading glasses at a screen means leaning forward to find focus, which is where the neck and shoulder complaints come from.

The intermediate zone in a general progressive is a relatively narrow band, so you tilt your head back to find it and hold that position for hours. An office progressive reverses the priorities and gives a much wider intermediate field. It is a common and highly effective second pair.

It causes real discomfort but does not cause permanent damage to the eye. The symptoms resolve when the underlying cause is addressed. The one caveat is that untreated chronic dry eye can cause lasting surface damage, which is a reason to have it looked at rather than endure it.

Very likely yes. Reflex watering is a classic dry eye presentation. The surface dries, the eye is irritated, and it floods with poor-quality tears that run rather than coat. Treating the dryness usually stops the watering.

In Arizona, yes, and it is one of the clearest value upgrades in optics. The reduction in reflected glare off roads and pale desert surfaces is immediately obvious. The one exception is if you frequently need to read an LCD screen outdoors, since polarisation can make some displays hard to see at certain angles.

No, and this is an important misconception. Tint darkness and UV protection are unrelated. A dark lens without UV protection is actively worse than no sunglasses, because the darkness dilates your pupil and lets more unfiltered UV reach the retina. Always confirm full UV protection.

Yes, and for presbyopic patients it is worth doing. Progressive sunglasses let you read a scorecard, a menu or a phone outdoors without changing glasses.

They are convenient and a reasonable compromise for many people. Two limitations: most darken poorly in a car because windscreens block the triggering UV, and they do not reach the darkness of a dedicated sunglass lens. For serious outdoor time in Arizona, a dedicated pair is better.

Some vision plans allow the frame or lens allowance to be applied to sunglasses instead of clear glasses, and some cover a second pair. It varies considerably. We check your specific benefit and tell you what applies.

First, bring them in. Persistent refusal is usually a fit problem or a prescription that needs refining rather than stubbornness. If the glasses pinch, slide, or the prescription is slightly off, the child is telling you something real in the only way available to them.

Prescriptions frequently change annually in growing children, and faster during the years when myopia progresses most. Frames often need replacing sooner because of damage. Annual exams are the minimum, and sooner if you notice squinting or complaints.

It depends on the prescription and the reason. For meaningful refractive error, generally yes, full-time wear gives the visual system consistent clear input. For some conditions, part-time wear for reading is appropriate. We tell you specifically which applies rather than leaving it vague.

For build quality and hinge durability, often yes, since they survive more. For brand alone, no. Our honest advice is to spend on impact-resistant lens material and a durable, well-hinged frame, and not to spend on a designer name for a child who will grow out of it within eighteen months.

No. This is a persistent and completely unfounded worry. Glasses correct the light entering the eye and do not change the eye's development. What does change over time is natural progression, particularly of myopia, which happens whether or not glasses are worn. If progression is the concern, myopia management is the treatment that addresses it.

No. Standard prescription glasses are not impact rated. The lens can shatter and the frame is not designed to retain a lens under impact. They also offer no side protection. For any real hazard, they are not adequate and should not be relied on.

Many employers have a safety eyewear allowance or a formal programme, particularly where protection is a job requirement. It is worth asking your safety officer. We are happy to work with an employer voucher or requirement and to provide the documentation they need.

Yes. Progressives and bifocals are both available in Z87.1 rated eyewear. For work that involves both close inspection and distance awareness this is often necessary rather than optional.

Yes, and the evidence is strong. Sport-specific protective eyewear substantially reduces the rate and severity of eye injury. It is one of the clearest cost-to-benefit decisions in eye care.

Specify anti-fog treatment at the outset rather than trying to fix it later. In Arizona heat this is close to essential. Frame ventilation helps, and how the eyewear sits relative to any face covering matters. If yours fog badly, bring them in and we will look at the fit.

For most routine exams, yes. There are situations where dilation gives information imaging cannot, including suspected retinal detachment, very high myopia, and following up something seen on an image. We recommend dilation when it is genuinely warranted rather than as a default.

Coverage varies. Some plans cover it, particularly for medical indications like diabetes. Many treat it as an elective imaging service with a modest fee. We tell you the cost before we do it, and you can always choose dilation instead.

Yes. It uses low-power scanning lasers, involves no radiation, and nothing touches the eye. There are no known risks and no recovery period.

Yes, and it is frequently much easier than dilation for a child. The main requirement is holding still and looking at a target for about a second, which most children over about five manage without difficulty.

Possibly, depending on what the exam involves. Some patients still need drops to measure the true prescription, particularly children, because their focusing ability masks it. That is separate from dilating for retinal viewing.

Yes. Arizona optometrists are licensed to diagnose ocular disease and prescribe medications to treat it, including glaucoma drops, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications. Conditions needing surgery are referred to an ophthalmologist.

For diagnosis, monitoring and medical management of most conditions, an optometrist is entirely appropriate and usually more accessible. For surgery, injections into the eye, and complex or advanced disease, an ophthalmologist is needed. Many patients are best served by both, which is what co-management means.

Typically every three to six months, depending on stage, pressure control and whether the disease is stable. Newly diagnosed or unstable glaucoma is monitored more closely. The interval is set by your measurements, not by a standard schedule.

Diagnosis and management of eye disease is a medical service and generally bills to medical insurance rather than a vision plan. We verify your coverage and explain what applies before treatment.

It means one or more findings raise concern, perhaps raised pressure, an unusual optic nerve appearance or family history, but there is not yet definite damage. It means monitoring rather than treatment in most cases. Being a suspect is a reason for regular follow-up, not a diagnosis.

Some conditions, like most infections, resolve completely with treatment. Chronic conditions such as glaucoma and macular degeneration are managed rather than cured. Management is genuinely effective: most glaucoma patients diagnosed and treated in time retain useful vision for life.

No. LASIK is performed by ophthalmic surgeons. We provide the candidacy evaluation, the referral, and the pre and post-operative care. Any optometry practice claiming to perform LASIK is describing co-management inaccurately.

Because we have no financial interest in the answer. A surgical centre is also the business that benefits if you proceed. We will tell you when we think surgery is a poor idea for your eyes, and that is a more useful opinion precisely because we do not sell it.

There are usually alternatives worth discussing. Orthokeratology gives glasses-free daytime vision without surgery and is fully reversible. Implantable lenses work where corneal thickness rules out laser procedures. Modern contact lenses handle prescriptions people assume they cannot. Not a candidate for LASIK is not the same as out of options.

Yes, eventually and unavoidably. Presbyopia is the lens inside your eye stiffening with age, and corneal surgery does not affect it. If you are over forty, this is an important part of the conversation, and monovision or a lens-based procedure may suit you better.

For LASIK, most people see well within a day and return to normal activity quickly, with healing continuing for months. PRK takes several days of genuine discomfort and blurred vision, with visual recovery over weeks. We schedule your follow-up visits around whichever procedure you have.

Usually not. The procedure disrupts corneal nerves, which reduces tear production signalling, and most patients improve substantially over three to six months. A minority have longer-lasting symptoms. Having healthy tear film before surgery is the best predictor, which is why we assess and treat it first.

Yes. Medicare and most insurance cover medically necessary cataract surgery and a standard monofocal implant. Premium implants, including toric, multifocal and extended depth of focus, usually carry an out-of-pocket cost above the covered amount. We explain what is covered and what is not before you decide.

By starting from how you use your eyes rather than from the implant list. Heavy night driving argues against a multifocal. Significant astigmatism argues for a toric. Long hours at a computer favour extended depth of focus. This is the conversation we have with you before your surgical consultation.

No. The lens is removed and cannot cloud again. Some patients develop clouding of the membrane behind the implant, called posterior capsule opacification, which feels like the cataract returning. It is corrected with a painless laser procedure that takes a few minutes.

Most people see meaningfully better within a day or two, with vision continuing to sharpen over several weeks. Drops are used for a few weeks. Most normal activity resumes within days, with some restrictions on heavy lifting and swimming that your surgeon will specify.

With a standard monofocal implant, yes for reading. With premium implants, often much less or not at all, though nothing guarantees complete independence from glasses. We are honest about this rather than promising an outcome.

They are usually done separately, a few weeks apart, which allows the first eye to heal and confirms the outcome before proceeding. Your surgeon will advise based on your specific situation.

For the conditions it treats, yes, and for convergence insufficiency the evidence is strong. For conditions it does not treat, including refractive error, dyslexia and attention disorders, no. The honest answer depends entirely on the diagnosis, which is why the evaluation matters more than the therapy.

No. Refractive error is the physical shape and length of the eye, and no exercise changes it. Any programme claiming to eliminate the need for glasses is not being straight with you. Therapy improves how the eyes work together, which is a different thing.

It varies by condition. Convergence insufficiency often responds well within about twelve weeks of consistent work. More complex binocular problems take longer. We measure progress at intervals and will tell you if it is not working rather than continuing to bill you.

Sometimes. Coverage varies considerably between plans, and some cover it for specific diagnoses like convergence insufficiency while excluding it generally. We verify your benefits and give you the cost in writing before you start.

It might be, and it is worth ruling out because the assessment is quick and the treatment is effective when it applies. It also might be dyslexia or another learning difference, which vision therapy does not treat. A child can have both. We tell you honestly what we find and refer on where appropriate.

Yes. The idea that the visual system is fixed after childhood is outdated. Adults respond well to convergence and accommodative therapy, and post-concussion visual rehabilitation is largely adult work.

It means we commit to working through the solvable causes properly rather than dispensing once and leaving you with it. It does not mean every person can wear lenses, because a small number genuinely cannot for clinical reasons. Where that is the case we tell you honestly rather than continuing.

Probably not. Modern toric soft lenses correct most astigmatism well, and rigid or scleral lenses handle high and irregular astigmatism. If you were told this more than a few years ago, the advice is likely out of date and worth revisiting.

Usually yes, and this is one of the most common reasons people come to the programme. Dry eye is a treatable condition, not a permanent exclusion. Treating it first, then choosing a material suited to your tear film, gets a lot of people back into comfortable lens wear.

As many as it reasonably takes within the fitting programme. We would rather try three materials and find the right one than have you give up again. The fitting fee covers the process, not a single attempt.

It is a contact lens fitting, billed as one. It is more work on our side, and that is the point. We tell you the fee before we start and it does not change based on how many trials it takes.