Driving

The ophthalmoscopy itself is an extremely low-risk and easy to perform type of examination and is also completely painless for the patient. However, it is important to note that patients are required to have a relative or friend drive to the site of the examination and pick them up, or to use public transportation. In order to get the best possible view of the eye, the pupil must be dilated with medication (i.e. as if you were in the dark and the pupils were dilated to capture as much light as possible).

The eye drops with which this natural movement in the eye can be induced will continue for a few hours after the examination of the eye fundus has been completed, usually around five to six hours after the drops have been applied to the eye. During this period of time, an absolutely spotless and precise vision is not guaranteed and patients are therefore not allowed to actively participate in road traffic! However, this is no cause for concern: the patients themselves do not normally notice much of the slight blurring. Only reading the newspaper and recognizing distant objects does not work 100% and therefore nothing can happen, it is mandatory to wait until the effect of the eye-sweeping drops has subsided. These drops are given to the patient shortly before the ophthalmoscopy into the eye to be examined.

How often?

Since ophthalmoscopy is quick and easy to perform, it is part of the routine ophthalmological examination of every patient. Not only the diseases that directly affect the eye itself, such as retinal detachment (also called retinal detachment or amotio retinae in the technical jargon) and the widespread macular degeneration of the elderly patient are a reason to have an examination of the ocular fundus. Also numerous other diseases affect the ocular fundus and can lead to pathologically changed processes there.

Among others, diabetes mellitus, hypertension (high blood pressure) and arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) are the most frequent representatives. People who suffer from one of these diseases or other diseases that affect the eye should visit their ophthalmologist regularly and have the ocular fundus examined. How often a patient should go for a check-up depends entirely on the indication. If the eye is healthy and there are no other complaints, it is sufficient to have the fundus of the eye examined once a year as part of the routine ophthalmological check-up. However, if the eye or both eyes are diseased, or if there is a disease that could affect the patient’s eyes and also cause short-term or long-term damage, the patient is advised to consult an ophthalmologist more often, and in some special cases it may even be necessary to check the fundus of the eye daily for newly occurring complications or changes.