Low vision evaluations

When sight can no longer be corrected to normal with glasses or contact lenses, there is still a great deal that can be done.

What low vision means

Low vision is any loss of sight that cannot be corrected to normal with ordinary glasses or contact lenses. The most common causes are age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts. It can affect peripheral vision, central vision, contrast sensitivity, or any combination of the three.

What people actually notice is rarely a number on a chart. It is that reading has turned into work. That handwriting is hard to follow. That faces are harder to place across a room, and that driving after dark has quietly stopped being comfortable.

Two jobs, both of them necessary

The condition causing the sight loss has to be treated and managed. Dr. Crane does that, and works alongside and in conjunction with ophthalmologists where a condition needs care beyond an optometrist’s scope.

But the sight that remains can also be made to go considerably further, and that is a separate piece of work. It is what a low vision evaluation is for.

What the evaluation involves

It is a different appointment from a routine examination. Rather than establishing a prescription, Dr. Crane measures how you actually use the sight you have — at what distance, in what light, at what level of contrast — and then works through the aids that suit how you live and what you want to keep doing.

Prescribing a visual aid properly requires that. Handing someone a magnifier does not.

The aids

  • Magnifiers

  • Digital magnifiers

  • High-magnification reading glasses

  • Telescopes

  • Prism glasses

  • Filtered lenses

  • Low vision lighting

  • Text-to-speech devices

  • Wearable electronic glasses

Eyedaptic wearable electronic glasses

Dr. Crane fits and dispenses Eyedaptic wearable electronic glasses. They use a camera and live image processing to shift what you are looking at around the blind spot in your central vision — the gap macular degeneration leaves in the middle of the scene. The image is adjusted continuously as you move your eyes.

Because they are worn rather than held, both hands stay free. That is the difference between reading a page and reading a recipe while you cook, or holding a hand of cards, or doing close work that needs two hands.

They are not right for everyone, and they are not a cure. Whether they help you is something the evaluation establishes — which is why they are fitted rather than sold.

Booking, and what it costs

Low vision evaluations take place at our Manhattan showroom, 1016 First Avenue. Book an appointment online, or call (212) 758-2346.

A good many of the people who call about a low vision evaluation are calling on behalf of a parent. That is welcome, and you are welcome to come with them.

Clairmont Nichols is out of network with every vision plan. We accept FSA and HSA cards, and the receipt you leave with is fully itemized for out-of-network reimbursement.