Telemedicine or virtual doctor visits involve audio or video calls instead of in-person visits. An ophthalmologist can detect common eye ailments like a stye or surface problems using your phone camera. They can then prescribe drugs or schedule an appointment. As you can see, you can skip unnecessary travel and get your eyes checked from home.
This is usual for glaucoma, cataracts, and pink eye.
How Telehealth for eye care works
Video consultations: Today’s smartphones have HD video cameras. You can video call your doctor wherever you are. The doctor can do a simple eye exam and advise you if you need to visit the hospital or prescribe medicine to treat your issue.
Remote monitoring: Say an eye doctor prescribed your treatment for a problem or say you’ve had eye surgery. The doctor can monitor your health remotely instead of visiting the clinic or hospital.
When to Use Telehealth for Eye Care
• You have red-eye and goopy discharge when you wake up, and you’re unsure what to do. Is medication necessary, or will patience and home remedies suffice?
• Talking about medication changes and the future steps is your primary goal, as you have persistent glaucoma that is monitored by a remote pressure-monitoring device.
• A recent increase in difficulty reading and nighttime vision difficulties have prompted you to suspect a cataract. So, what are your options?
Benefits of using Telehealth for eye care:
• As long as the weather and traffic don’t change, you’re free to relax in the comfort of your own home.
• A trip to the doctor’s office can be time-consuming and dangerous, so it’s best to avoid it if you can.
• Your practitioner gets to examine you in the comfort of your own home, where you’re more at ease. When it comes to diagnosing and treating glaucoma, for example, this could provide a more precise image of intraocular pressure.
Conclusion
Telehealth is a tremendous help in reducing the need to visit eye care providers in person at this time. In many respects, it provides a glimpse into the unprecedented future. It’s not out of the question that these visits will continue to be routine even after COVID-19 has ended.