Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffTo check for macular degeneration, a dilated eye exam is necessary. Make an appointment with a doctor who specializes in eye care — an optometrist or an ophthalmologist — who can evaluate your condition and perform a complete eye exam.
What you can do
Appointments can be brief. Make the best use of that limited time by preparing beforehand.
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. When you make the appointment, ask if there's anything you need to do in advance.
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to your vision problem.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking.
- Ask a family member or friend to accompany you, if possible. Having your pupils dilated for the eye exam may compromise your vision for a time afterward. You may need someone else to drive or accompany you from your appointment.
Questions to ask your eye doctor
- What kind of macular degeneration do I have?
- What is the visual acuity in my central vision?
- How advanced is my macular degeneration?
- Will I experience further vision loss?
- Will taking a vitamin or mineral supplement help prevent further vision loss?
- What's the best way to monitor my vision for any changes?
- What low-vision aids or adaptive devices might be helpful to me?
Questions your eye doctor may ask
- When did you first notice your vision problem?
- Does the condition affect one or both eyes?
- Do you have trouble seeing things near you, at a distance or both?
