Eye Doctors - Ophthalmologists vs Optometrists

The terms optician, optometrist, and ophthalmologist are easy to confuse.  Your optician is the trained professional who will help measure, fit, adjust, and craft your spectacles. The optometrist is the primary eye physician, handling most of your eyecare and vision needs such as the treatment of dry eyes, glaucoma, and monitoring the overall ocular health as well as fitting contact lenses and correcting your vision with glasses. The ophthalmologist is the tertiary specialist, a medical physician who has completed a residency and typically specializes in a particular form of ocular surgery, such as cornea, glaucoma, cataract, LASIK, retinal, etc.  

For most of your eye care needs, a trained optometrist can handle most non-surgical eye matters in their office.  This can include the treatment of glaucoma, a diabetic eye exam, dry eye, as well as many other ocular diseases. Once the problem requires a surgical fix, we typically refer to the proper ophthalmologist to correct or manage the ocular issue.  Your optometrist knows most of the specialists in the area, so if you ever have a question about your eyes, skip your general doctor and start with your optometrist.  If your optometrist can't fix the issue, they can refer you to the correct ophthalmologist who can.

We work with many fantastic local ophthalmologists and refer to those we trust who will care for you like you deserve.  If you are in need of a surgical referral, don't hesitate to call us at 407-647-2020 and we will be glad to guide you in the right direction.