The eye-puff test sucks but what I really hate is the bright light they use to look at the back of your eyeball. Gives me a migraine every time.
The last time I had an eye exam the optometrist checked for cataracts and other potential conditions. She was incredibly gorgeous and when she closed the door, turned down the lights, leaned in close and looked into my eyes … yes, it was stressful. 
I don’t love them, for sure. And, being 64, post-cataract, and T2DM, I see the doc twice a year.
The refraction step (“Which is better, 1 or 2?”) varies from “yeah, 1 is waaaay better” to “Could I see them both again please?” because it’s such a near thing.
And there’s the field-of-vision test where you’re staring with one eye into a big white hemisphere where you have to click on a handheld remote whenever you see a light, no matter how faint. I’m always worried I’m missing something. The doc, last time, admitted that the thing is sometimes set up to trick you (e.g. going a long time between lights). Dunno if that one is strictly routine these days; as someone who’s had cataract surgery, and had somewhat elevated eye pressure before the surgery, I put up with it.
The worst part, fortunately very fast, is the shining of “BRIGHTLIGHT.OUCH.OW.OUCH.BRIGHTOWIEOWIEOWIE!!!”. I’m sensitive to bright lights anyway. I told the eye doc once “Well, at least if I ever quit complaining about that, you know something’s really wrong!”.
I actually quit going to my previous eye doc for a while because the step where they take a quick BRIGHTFLASHOUCHOUCH of the retina, which used to be with a “set your chin here and keep your eye open wide!” machine was replaced with a device that was attached to an iPhone! It was slower and much more accident prone - it was agonizing. IIRC, I finally went back to that doctor, and refused that step. The device would be great if you were in a place where the dedicated machine was not available - but that was NOT the case here.
No injected anesthetic for my cataract surgery, unless there were a LOT more drugs in my sedation cocktail than I was led to believe. Ditto for a friend who had a much more involved cataract surgery a few months later. Light sedation would NOT have done the job, if a needle had been involved. Injections are generally used much less commonly than they used to be, I gather. I have to wonder why on earth they’d need it???
A longish thread on the topic of cataract surgery, for anyone looking at this possibility.
Well, they don’t use a blunt stick… but a device that has a blue light I need to stare into!
I learned 20+ years ago that the eye-puff thing was not a good choice for me: I’ve got thicker-than-usual corneas (apparently I’d have been an ideal candidate for lasik surgery), which tend to make the machine read a false high number. I took to refusing that step and insisting they go to the more accurate machine. But it is a useful screening device, and does not require numbing drops, at least.
I also dislike the sensation. My eyes would feel dry for hours, and it gave me headache. With the actual pressure-on-the-eyeball thing, I still get a bit of a headache, but at least I don’t have dry eyes afterward.
My eye doctor doesn’t use the eye puff thing anymore, nor the blunt instrument that they rest against your eye that sends out a pulse of some kind. Now they numb your eyes, make you rest your chin in that big all-purpose medical array, and approach a small tubular lens-like thingy to your cornea. Then they actually let it rest directly on your cornea for a second or two and read off some numbers. It never hurts; in fact, the first several times they did it I was unaware that it was actually touching my eye.
Oh, yeah, apparently I have dry eye, so in the past I’ve gotten a prescription for Xiidra, gotten plugs in my tear ducts, and told to take fish oil caplets. Insurance won’t cover Xiidra anymore, the plugs didn’t seem to do much of anything, and the fish oil caplets give me acid reflux from hell. So all I can do is put eye-wetting drops in all day long. Well, at least I gave up cannabis, so I won’t be getting any drying effects from that anymore.
Like any other important exam, if you don’t prepare you will not perform as well as you might and have no one else to blame except yourself, up to your native potential. The various eye charts are standardized for example and are published online. Study them carefully. Effective use of source material, people! There are different charts that might be used, so beware which one might be on the test. If you memorize the bottom rows especially (flash cards help immensely in this regard) you’ll get a satisfactory score.
Same. I’ve never heard of the eye-puff test and I’ve been getting routine eye exams for 25+ years. My doc uses the little hollow tube thingy pressed against the eyeball to test, I guess, the pressure inside my eyeball for possible glaucoma. It’s not the most pleasant thing in the world but it doesn’t really bother me per se.
As others have noted, the worst part of getting an eye exam is the eye drops. I just cannot open my eyes for drops and the doc has to pry my eyelids apart to administer the drops. It’s not painful but it is uncomfortable. The increased light sensitivity afterward is also a pain to deal with, but it’s never so bad I can’t drive home from my appointment. Just annoying.
I’m seriously considering getting contacts at my next exam. I need bifocals but have long resisted as I hate the fact that they reduce your normal visual field by 1/3. So I think the next best thing is to wear contacts and use reading glasses as needed. But touching my eyes… that’s gonna suck at first.
By coincidence, I just had an eye exam yesterday, so I can relay my most recent impressions.
The only part that I find stressful is the “click this thing when you see the wavy lines” test (I think that’s the official medical name for it). Makes me nervous, and I know that I’m probably missing some. My left eye is consistently worse than my right eye, and I always feel like I have to apologize for it.
The lenses comparison is not stressful at all. If you can’t perceive a difference between the two choices, say so. The optometrist is used to that, I’m sure. My eye doctor is also always willing to show me each choice again if I’m a little unsure. Indeed, he’ll usually do so unprompted if I take too long to make a choice.
I haven’t had eye drops or had my pupils dilated in years. I’m not sure what they’re doing now in place of it, but for me the whole “sensitive to light for several hours after your eye exam” thing is a relic of the past.
You maybe just didn’t need it. They very much still use the dilating drops.
I can’t recommend strongly enough that you consider progressive lenses. In my opinion, they are absolutely wonderful. I thought I would have trouble getting used to them, but have had no issues whatsoever. My ophthalmologist did recommend getting the very expensive name-brand Varilux progressive lenses for my first prescription with progressives because they have a wider “channel” in the center as they progress from far vision at the top to near vision at the bottom. However, I have since switched to Lenscrafter’s house brand for 50% savings and have had no issues with those either.
To address your concern directly, I’m wearing them now, and it doesn’t feel like my field of vision is reduced at all. Your mind quickly figures out how to manage the transition for different distances without you even having to think about it.
I also wear contact lenses for skiing and scuba. They make my near and intermediate vision much worse than not wearing any corrective lenses at all. Reading glasses are a must, and it’s a pain taking them on and off. Overall they are far inferior to my progressive eyeglasses. (The only advantage is that contacts are better when wearing ski goggles or a scuba mask.)
What stresses me the most is how they test both eyes at the same time for bifocals/near vision. My eyes’ near vision is different and so my bifocals really only work for one eye. I can’t seem to communicate this issue adequately so my glasses are never great.
My cataract surgeries were done with a laser. You really don’t see anything but some really pretty lights. They don’t do both eyes the same day. Mine were two weeks apart. They give you a mild sedative (IV) and a valium and you really don’t care about much of anything. The hardest part for me was the placement of the IV, because I have rolling veins.
I know this isn’t in spirit of this thread but I did have one positive experience at an eye exam. They had me do a peripheral vision test that was like an Atari game. You stare at a dark screen and push a button each timea light flashes on the exterior boundaries. It was the best part of the appointment.
The puff really got to me the first few times. I’ve always felt they should do a “practice puff” with your eyes closed. The biggest problem is the anticipation, a “practice” would help with that.
Why did you have to pay for Elton John’s spectacles? 
I wish I could say the same. I had my eyes checked in December and they dilated my pupils to the point where I could taste light. Ruined my whole day.
(In case you are wondering what light tastes like, it is greasy and full of calories.)
My eyes were done back in 2001 and 2002 (3 months between). Even then it was easy and from my friend’s experiences, even simpler now. You’re uncomfortable for a day or so. The night shield takes some getting used to but the results are worth it. The surgery is really routine nowadays. For most people, they only wait 2 or 3 weeks between operations. I had the choice of regaining my far vision which I took. I’d worn glasses seemingly all my life - I wanted to wear cool sunglasses for once. I needed some cheap reading glasses after for very small print (no big deal). One artificial lens was replaced 10 years later due to some movement. This second operation flew by and I was back to normal in just a few days. Don’t rub your eyes dry after a shower!!! Pat them dry.
Again, don’t panic/worry/fret; it’s routine. You’ll love the results.
Change docs. The folks you’re using are doing it wrong.
Speaking as one who used to perform refraction exams using a phoropter…nope, you won’t screw it up. In fact, when you start having difficulty or hesitating is when the examiner knows they’ve probably got that part of the prescription about right.
I had a retinal tear from vitreous detachment. I had a floater that resembled Smaug the dragon and required laser surgery on my eyeball it was terribly uncomfortable like excruciating. Plus the doc had the worst breath literally dog shit.
Otherwise I don’t mind routine eye exams.
I’ve tried a lot of different combos for my astigmatism since high school plus now age-driven farsightedness AKA presbyopia. For pure acuity both near and far, IME progressive spectacles can’t be beat even now at age 65. In good light I can make 20/20 corrected near & far in the bad right eye and 20/15 near & far in the good left. Which still sucks compared to the 20/12 of my youth, but whaddayagonnado?
For awhile before the presbyopia developed I also wore toric contacts. The correction wasn’t as good as the specs, but was real convenient and good enough.
As the presbyopia started I switched to progressive contacts. Which were great at first. But as the add correction grew to 2.00 I lost too much distant acuity to the progressive feature. So switched back to single-vision torics for the astigmatism plus readers. Other than the irritation of “readers on, readers off, where are my damn readers now???” that worked pretty well. So that is/was where you @robby are now. I’d finally gotten to the point where even in bright light the readers were not optional. I simply could not read e.g. menu print without them. Ugh!!
Once I retired a few months ago I could try something new. Toric progressive contacts where the dominant eye is slightly under-corrected for presbyopia so distant-dominant, and the non-dominant eye is over-corrected for presbyopia, so close-dominant.
It is the F***ing fountain of youth!!! Can STRONGLY recommend. It’s as good as Viagra for the eyes but lasts all day, not just 30 minutes.
I can still see quite adequately at distance, and I have not put on readers, not even the weak 1.00 ones, since I got the new contacts 3 months ago. I certainly don’t need the 2.50s I’d recently graduated to before the change. My progressive specs are still better, but I can make 20/25 near and far binocularly and that’s good enough for daily life. I no longer carry readers everywhere I go.
Ask your eye doctor if this is right for you. You might be very pleasantly surprised. Each lens is completely ordinary, so no more expensive than you’re used to; it’s solely the combo of the two that is unusual.
YMMV, but seriously, this is da bomb!