How can I check my own eyesight at home? How often do you need to do this? You will find the answers to these and other questions in the article. The organs of vision can be fully believed only when visiting an ophthalmologist. But some data on signs of eye ailments and visual acuity can be obtained at home.
For this, various testing methods have been created that can be used without leaving your computer. If the results of eye examinations are poor, you need to immediately go to the ophthalmologist for an examination. How to check your eyesight at home, find out below.
Visual acuity
Visual acuity is a relative value, which is measured in diopters or fractions of a unit. Such a vision is taken as a unit or norm when the eye comfortably distinguishes between two points that are 1/60 degrees apart (one angular minute) from each other.
If the vision is equal to unity, from a distance of 5 m the eye can distinguish points that are 1.45 mm apart from each other.
Do you need to test your eyesight?
Few know how to check your eyesight at home. Do you need to do this? This procedure must be carried out systematically, but especially it will be needed in such cases:
- if it seems to you that the picture is a little distorted, or you have stopped recognizing your friends;
- if objects change their color or unusual circles appear in front of the eyes;
- when headaches appear due to working on a PC, reading or watching TV for a long time;
- if, while reading, you bring the text closer to your eyes, or, on the contrary, push it further.
Types of visual impairment
So how to independently check your eyesight at home? First, we will understand what needs to be tested, at what points it is necessary to focus attention. Indeed, even in a healthy person, various types of visual impairment may imperceptibly appear. As a rule, these include:
- Loss of field of view. In this case, you cannot see part of the image.
- Visual acuity disorder. Farsightedness or nearsightedness may appear here.
- Violation of the clarity of the picture. Thus, astigmatism is often manifested. But it can also be the initial stage of such a serious ailment as glaucoma.
How often do you need to test?
We continue to further find out how to check vision at home. You need to do it yourself only when painful suspicions appear. This will help you free yourself from worthless experiences.
It is best for children and adolescents to visit an ophthalmologist every six months, and for healthy adults - once every two years. This procedure after 45 years must be performed annually.
Home Inspection Requirements
Many people wonder how to check their vision at home. Basically, you need to adhere to such requirements:
- A closed eye must not be closed, as the result will be incorrect.
- Paper for printing drawings and tables should be taken matte.
- The room should be well lit, but the light should not interfere with testing.
- It’s better to print all the tables, since the color and brightness of the picture can change on the computer.
Visual acuity testing
You do not know how to check visual acuity at home? We continue to understand this issue. Surely, you have already studied all the above rules. You should understand that at home you can only test the indicator of visual acuity, which is far from the only characteristic of the eye.
Visual acuity is called an indicator of vigilance of the eye. The norm is a visual acuity of 1.0 (100%). Some have visual acuity and more than the norm, for example, 1.5 or 1.1. But very often in people there is a visual acuity below the prescribed - 0.4 or 0.8, for example.
Here, in fact, it is possible to identify the distance from which a person will be able to clearly examine the subject. So, a person with a visual acuity of 0.4 can read the license plate of a machine from 16 m, and a person with a visual acuity of 1.0 from 40 m.
You can establish visual acuity using special tables with optotypes. But the most popular is the Golovin-Sivtsev table. It is she who can be found in all offices of ophthalmologists. Such a table can be printed and used at home.
Important point
Checking your computer vision at home is easy. One of the important points of testing is the distance between the checklist and the organs of vision. If you conduct a test on the monitor screen, the distance must be determined using special programs.
To do this, you need to specify at what range the verification will be carried out and the necessary parameters of the table. The program displays the required size on the screen. If you need to print tests for the eyes, do it on two or three sheets of A4 size.
Verification Methods
Today on the Internet you can find various computer techniques with which you can check your vision on your phone or computer yourself. Many sites also offer free online checks of the same type.
Often, computer tests are very effective and give results with exceptional accuracy. But if you are testing your eyesight for the first time, it’s best to use regular tests.
In addition, an online eye test for babies is very difficult, and for babies it is almost impossible. Simple tests with pictures and simple actions will help you here.
Tables Orlova and Sivtseva
Everyone should know how to correctly check their vision at home. The most unsophisticated and outstanding testing method are Sivtsev type tables. They are available in two versions:
- With letters.
- With c-shaped rings deployed at different angles.
The second option is used to test vision in babies up to 7 years old, who still can not read. Using this method, it is important to consider the ratio of the distance of the table to the eyes and the parameters of the characters. This ratio can be calculated using online programs.
Here you can either print the table, or conduct verification directly on the computer monitor. In the latter case, glare cannot be tolerated. If the kid is bored of looking at such drawings, you can use the Orlova table, since it displays various wonderful pictures.
The room also needs to be well lit. But during the day, curtains should be closed to avoid crossing light sources. Start testing from the tenth row in the table.
If you do not know how to check your eyesight at home, be sure to study this question. We continue further. So, cover one eye with your hand. If you see the letters in the tenth line clearly, then your eyesight is normal. If you can’t see them, go to the lines above until you can see the characters clearly. With the next eye, perform the same procedure.
Healthy people can clearly see the 10th line, if there are minor violations, then 8 and 9 lines are visible. If a person does not distinguish higher lines poorly, this is a sign of vision problems.
Duochrome test
Using this test, you can detect the presence of hyperopia or myopia. If verification according to the Sivtsev table showed a negative result, try to pass it as well. The duochrome test sheet has 12 rows. Only it depicts not letters, but open circles. One half of the table is red and the other is green.
To pass the test, you need to move away from the computer a certain distance and cover one eye. If the circles on the green field are better distinguished, then there are symptoms of hyperopia, on the red - myopia. The other eye needs to be checked as well.
Color test and astigmatism
It is very simple to check your eyesight for astigmatism. To do this, it is only necessary to print a specific test in the form of a circle with diverging rays. If there is no astigmatism, all lines will look clear. In the presence of pathology - the lines are blurred.
Color perception is checked using special cards on which colored circles are depicted. Among them there are circles of the same color that make up the number. If a person distinguishes it without tension, then the color sensation is normal.
Amsler grille
Using this test, you can find out if there are defects in central vision. It is a square lattice, in the middle of which a black dot is drawn. For testing, you need to cover one eye, and the other look in the middle of the grill at the black circle for one minute. If there is a visual impairment, the lines will begin to deform after some time.
Check in newborns
Verification of vision in infants is a very complex process. However, if you think that the baby has vision problems, do the following: make a couple of small balls of brown bread. Then place them on a white sheet so that there is nothing left in the line of sight besides them. Put the child near the balls.
Babies, starting from 6 months old, are interested in everything. If your child does not pay attention to the balls, show it to the ophthalmologist. After all, there is a possibility that he has poor eyesight. In a child under 6 months, it is unlikely that it will be possible to test eyesight in any way.
In our age of television, vibrant advertising, computers, the intense traffic of cars and everything else that negatively affects the eyes and health in general, the test of our basic sensory organ should not be neglected. And be healthy!