New Type of Eye Exam – Dilation Free : )

I had an eye exam yesterday because three months ago when I went to get new glasses, there was a  spot on my retina that I think my doctor, Eugene Balogh, O.D., said was probably a blood clot.  He explained these are fairly common and usually remain the same size or go away, but they can occasionally keep growing and indicate cancer, so he would check it again in three months.

The good news is that mine had disappeared completely.  Some other good news is how easy the exam was.  I used to hate having my eyes dilated, with light sensitivity and blurry vision for the rest of the day, and I often said no because I was on my way to work.   Now my doc has a new machine that uses laser technology to take a photo of the entire retina, not just the small area that a doctor can see with dilation.  You can read a good explanation of how this works here.  

At my exam yesterday, the doctor was able to put the original and follow-up photos side by side on his large computer screen, and we could see clearly the spot had gone and there were no others.  Don't these pictures look cool?

Can you see the red spot about 1/2 inch from the center at 2:00 o'clock?

Here it is gone