Ophthalmoscopy: How It Is Done

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How It Is Done

Direct ophthalmoscopy

This is the most common type of examination to look at structures inside the eye.

• Your eyes may be dilated, and you will be seated in a darkened room and asked to stare straight ahead at some distant spot in the room.
• Looking through the ophthalmoscope, your health professional will move very close to your face and shine a bright light into one of your eyes. Each eye is examined separately.
• Try to hold your eyes steady without blinking.

This examination takes 3 to 5 minutes. See a picture of a direct ophthalmoscopic examination .

Indirect ophthalmoscopy

This type of ophthalmoscopic examination gives a more complete view of the retina than direct ophthalmoscopy. It is usually done by an ophthalmologist.

• Your eyes will be dilated, and you will be asked to sit in a reclining or semi-reclining position in a darkened room.
• Your health professional will hold your eye open, shine a very bright light into it, and examine it through a special lens.
• Your health professional may ask you to look in different directions and may apply pressure to your eyeball through the skin of your eyelids with a small, blunt instrument to help bring the edges of your fundus into view.

This examination takes between 5 and 10 minutes. See a picture of an indirect ophthalmoscopic examination .

Last updated:	July 06, 2007
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Carol L. Karp, MD - Ophthalmology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer