Optometrists provide vision care services, and prescribe vision aids to the eye patients. They provide vision services such as eye examination, and can help treat diseases like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. They prescribe eyeglasses, and contact lenses. They can also help in diagnosing many eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataract, macular degeneration, etc. optometrists are not physicians, but they can prescribe medicines in some places.
Ophthalmologists are physicians, and they provide complete eye care services. They provide vision services, such as eye examination, and eye care for eye diseases. Many eye diseases are related to diabetes, and arthritis. Ophthalmologists help you treat such eye diseases. The ophthalmologists can prescribe glasses, and contact lenses. The first difference between an ophthalmologist and optometrist is about the knowledge they have in eye care, and vision care. Ophthalmologists are more about diagnosis, and treatment of eye diseases. Optometrists are more about eye examination, and prescribing glasses, and contact lenses.
Vision care services by optometrists:
1. General vision services such as eye examination
2. Diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases
3. Prescribing medicines for eye diseases
4. Prevention of injury
5. Vision correction
6. Pre and post operative care for patients requiring surgery
Optometrists prescribe medicines, low vision rehabilitation, vision therapy, eyeglasses, and contact lenses. They can provide counselling, if the patient requires surgery because of an eye disease. Ophthalmologists receive more training to diagnose, and treat many complicated diseases, and eye conditions. In many cases, it is found the ophthalmologists, and optometrists are working together to treat patients.
The J Optom welcomes the submission of original manuscripts and reviews describing clinical and experimental research in the field of Optometry, Ophthalmic Optics, Ocular Surface and Basic and Applied Visual Science in general; research on Instruments and Techniques, Reports of Clinical Cases, and clinically relevant laboratory investigations are also welcomed.
Ophthalmologists are trained in providing vision care services such as eye examination, treatment, vision correction, and lens prescription; many of them do not treat vision correction as primary service.
Many times, patients are unable to decide if they should see the optometrist. it is easier to get the optometrist’s appointment, and they are anyway are prescribing eyeglasses to the patients. At times, it is believed the optometrists are more skilled in vision correction services, because they are working with patients on a daily basis. These days the optometrist’s training is more about diagnosing, and treatment of eye related problems, and less about vision correction.
