What Is A Behavioural Optometrist?

Posted by markhindsoptometrists on August 9th, 2014

A behavioural optometrist is the specialist who assesses not only a person’s eyes but additionally the visual efficiency, taking into consideration entire behaviour. They test eyes as well as try and understand how a person uses their vision and help them to gain the maximum advantage from utilizing their visual system in their specific work. There are children’s vision and the behavioural optometrist specializing in eye care relevant to children notably those struggling in school. Their practice usually involves love of children and a need to care for the child’s visual growth through school.

A Behavioural Optometrist just does not treat eyeballs but rather consider the entire person, including an examination not only of the eyes but also of the way that the patient take in, organize and use the visual information supplied by the eyes in the everyday lives. They go beyond just testing the refractive error and focus on uses of eyes, eye coordination, eye movements and visual perception. They check eye health and look for eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration, clarity of sight. 

There are people who are unable to wear contact lenses because of an irregular cornea or other problems. They may need to get a second opinion and ask their eye doctor about scleral contact lenses. These lenses are large-diameter gas permeable contact lenses specially designed to vault over the entire corneal surface and rest on the "white" of the eye (sclera). The main function of scleral lenses is to functionally replace the irregular cornea with a perfectly smooth optical surface to correct vision problems caused by keratoconus and other corneal irregularities.

Keratoconus is a progressive, non-inflammatory thinning and protrusion of the central cornea usually manifesting itself in youth or adolescence.  Corneal cross linking treatment (CXL) of keratoconus is offered by professionals which is a non-invasive procedure aimed at halting the progression of the keratoconus. In this procedure the experts work at increasing collagen cross-linking, which helps to prevent the cornea from becoming more conical and irregular, as a usual condition in keratoconic.  

With advancement in technology Orthokeratology also known as Corneal Refractive Therapy is used. Ortho-K which is programmed use of contact lenses to remould the shape of the cornea to reduce or eliminate myopic (short-sighted) and astigmatic (irregular surface) errors in the eye has helped many patients now live life with clear vision during the day. Ortho k offers freedom from glasses and the hassle of wearing contact lenses during the day, enhancing the lifestyle of those requiring vision corrections.

Mark Hinds Optometrists is an independent owned and operated Optometry Practice offering complete eyecare for spectacles, contact lenses, specialty contact lenses, children’s vision, binocular vision issues and all areas of eye health.