Orthoptist

Orthoptists are highly specialized optical professionals who treat eye muscle imbalances, eye alignment troubles, focusing errors, and nerve issues. An Orthoptist works under the direct supervision of an Ophthalmologist, and helps people achieve normal vision by training their eyes to work together as a cohesive pair.

If you’re an Orthoptist, think of yourself as a Personal Trainer and Head Coach specifically for eyeballs. Your most common patients suffer from lazy eye or are cross-eyed. Using diagnostic tools and tests, you determine the severity of the eye condition and develop a treatment strategy.

Your strategies normally center on eye exercises, including pencil push-ups, which require your patients to focus on the tip of a pencil as you move it toward and away from their eyes. You also use physical aids like patches to cover the dominant eye, giving the weaker one a chance to get stronger and tackle its role in the task of seeing. If a patient needs surgery, you bring in an Ophthalmologist to discuss your findings and recommend the next step.

Because you deal with eye problems that are very noticeable, children are your most common patients. However, you also care for those whose vision problems were brought on by a stroke or a severe head injury. In either case, it is imperative that you communicate instructions calmly and clearly, particularly because eye exercises will not come naturally at first. Patience and understanding are more important here than in any other optical role. After all, no matter what visions problems a patient has, he or she will be able to read frustration all over your face.