Please have your eyesight checked regularly!

[Michael P]

Pat, it would seem that you have assessed the situation correctly.

MEH optomotrists seem to only be intersted in managing the KC and are not looking for other eye or medical conditions whch can be diagnosed through the eye.

I am sure you could see a local optom who is versed with KC but you will have to pay high street prices for the consultations.

If you continue with your KC care at MEH, then you should have periodic eye tests elsewhere and presumably tell the optom what you want from the check up.

That's now my understanding of the situation.

[Lesley Foster]

Like Pat I have been getting slightly confused by this thread. Is an optometrist the same as an optician and if not what is the difference?

I always thought I was a bit intellegent but now I'm beginning to wonder if more than a few senior moments are greeping in.

Lesley

[Prue B]

This is an area where Australia is quite different. My KC was diagnosed by and optometrist, as was my sister. Then we were referred by the optometrist to an opthalmologist and they share the care. I go into my optometrist for annual check ups, which are a complete eye exam, now in my case including topography, and are free. Eye examination every two years is free for every Australian. We have to pay for glasses and lenses unless on health care. I am entitled to more check ups as are my children due to KC and the risk of KC. They just use different item numbers and we get open slather as required. In Australia the optometrist generally also prescribes spectacles, though an orthoptist can too. They can diagnose eye conditions and refer for further treatment. I believe, but am not totally sure, that they can treat some eye conditions and can even prescribe some medication.

[GarethB]

optemetrist to me is a posh way of saying optician

[Lesley Foster]

Thanks Gareth, that's what I thought but one does question ones undestanding sometimes doesn't one?

[Pat A]

I've just found this....!

http://www.nhs.uk/England/Opticians/Typ ... ician.cmsx

Doesn't say what an Opthamologist is though!

[GarethB]

Are.. Opthamologist is a posh way of saying eye specialist or eye consulatant or eye surgeon.

[Andrew MacLean]

As Lynn said, things are different in Scotland!

The more convoluted this string becomes, the more I wonder what is happening in other jurisdictions.

Andrew

[GarethB]

Exile the Scotish users to keep it simple

[Anne Klepacz]

I'll leave it to one of the professionals to explain the difference between 'optician' and 'optometrist'. But the main point of all this is that just because we have KC, it doesn't mean that we're immune to other eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal problems. As Lynn says, at a KC clinic, the optoms are looking at our KC and not necessarily looking out for other problems. Like others here, I'd assumed that any other problem would be picked up at hospital check ups (and I have to say I was referred for 'field' tests not long ago to check my periphal vision so they obviously were looking wider than my KC). But I remember a sad story from one of our members some years ago whose glaucoma remained undiagnosed despite his regular KC checks for many years. So the moral seems to be that yes, we do need to make sure we have a full eye test regularly, and we shouldn't assume that all aspects of our eyes are being looked at in a KC clinic.
Anne