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A common question asked during the eye exam is, “When is the puff coming?”  

Patients are referring to air-puff or non-contact tonometry. Tonometry is the procedure used to measure eye pressure, and this is important for diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma.

In non-contact tonometry, a puff of air is used to measure the pressure inside the eye.  The benefit of this test is there is no actual contact with the eye, but the air puff is sometimes very startling for patients. Some people hate that test and it isn’t the most accurate way to measure your eye pressure.

Some doctors don’t even use the air-puff test. Instead, they place a yellow drop that consists of a numbing...

We sometimes get asked, "Why do I need an eye exam when I can see great?"

An eye exam doesn't just check your visual acuity--we are also looking for a number of treatable eye diseases that have few or no visual symptoms in their early stages. In fact, the three leading causes of legal blindness in the United States all start with almost no visual symptoms detectable by the person wit the disease. The three diseases are macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Each of these diseases gets more prevalent as people age. That is why regular eye exams are recommended to become more frequent as adults get older.

Macular Degeneration: The leading cause of legal...