Why the Examination Comes First
In most shops an eye test means reading a wall chart and estimating a number. A proper refraction at a hospital checks more than which lens makes the letters sharper - it checks whether the blur is a refractive error at all, or whether something else is causing it.
A new pair of glasses does not fix every kind of blur
Spectacles sharpen blur caused by a refractive error. They do nothing for blur caused by a cataract, by raised pressure inside the eye, or by damage to the retina - and a number that needs strengthening every few months is often the first sign of one of those.
What the Examination Covers
- Vision: distance and near, each eye measured separately
- Refraction: the correct spherical, cylindrical and axis values
- Front of the eye: cornea, anterior chamber and the natural lens
- Retina and pressure: examined where indicated
- For children: alignment, and how the two eyes work together
If the examination finds something beyond a refractive error, you are seen by an ophthalmologist in the same building rather than sent elsewhere.
Spectacles for Children
A child almost never complains of blurred vision, because they have nothing to compare it with. It shows up instead as falling behind in class, holding a book very close, sitting right in front of the television, headaches after school, or an eye that drifts.
An uncorrected number in a young child can also lead to a squint or a lazy eye, which is considerably harder to fix later than it is to prevent now.
Contact Lenses
Contact lenses are fitted after an examination, not sold off a shelf. The fitting checks the curvature and health of the front of the eye, and you are shown how to handle and clean the lenses before taking them home. Most complications people have with contact lenses come from how they are used rather than from the lenses themselves.
A Straight Answer About Ayushman Bharat
Spectacles are not free under Ayushman Bharat
The scheme covers surgery. It does not cover glasses, contact lenses or a routine eye test. We would rather you read that here than be told it at the counter after travelling to get here.
What the scheme does cover is the surgery itself - cataract, glaucoma, squint and the rest - for eligible cardholders. And the eye checks at our village camps are free because the hospital runs them that way, not because a scheme pays for them.
The optical counter is inside the hospital on Meja Road, open 9am to 6:30pm, Monday to Saturday. Patients come from across Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Mirzapur, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about eye tests and spectacles