Recommend a location for an Eye Exam

ILikeBananas

I'm just wondering where the best place would be to go and get an eye exam in Cork city?

Are the eye specialists in the opticians suitable if it's not an "I need glasses because my eyesight is deteriorating" type of problem? In my case my eyes have gotten very sensitive to light and I've been getting headaches so I'm wondering would I be better off going to my GP about it rather than an optician.

Léan

I highly recommend Mr. Conall Hurley http://www.eyelasercork.ie/
I had a lot of trouble with my eyes during the summer, I went to a standard optician, was referred then to C.U.H which was a load of rubbish and they misdiagnosed me.. Anyway. I went to Conall Hurley (of my own accord) as he had been highly recommended to me and he was fantastic, he is a specialist in the field

Opticians are grand for a standard eye test for glasses, contact lenses etc.. But if it's anything other then that you'l just end up being referred to someone else.

Hope this was helpful!

Dermighty

I found vision express (Merchants Quay, upstairs) to be good. I don't wear glasses but I found their exam to be quite thorough and they were able to explain to me about my eyes.

charlemont

Dermighty wrote: »

I found vision express (Merchants Quay, upstairs) to be good. I don't wear glasses but I found their exam to be quite thorough and they were able to explain to me about my eyes.

Stay well away from them unless you have money to burn, I used Daly's on Oliver Plunkett Street recently and they were very good, I used to use Specsavers but I'd still recommend them over Vision Express anyday..

evilivor

ILikeBananas wrote: »

I'm just wondering where the best place would be to go and get an eye exam in Cork city?

Are the eye specialists in the opticians suitable if it's not an "I need glasses because my eyesight is deteriorating" type of problem? In my case my eyes have gotten very sensitive to light and I've been getting headaches so I'm wondering would I be better off going to my GP about it rather than an optician.

If you are worried like that you may need an
ophthalmologist. I've used Dr Traynor's practice on Lavitts Quay a couple of times when I was getting, what turned out to be, optical migraines, Dr Fennessy there has sorted me out, happy to recommend.

blindsider

evilivor wrote: »

If you are worried like that you may need an
ophthalmologist. I've used Dr Traynor's practice on Lavitts Quay a couple of times when I was getting, what turned out to be, optical migraines, Dr Fennessy there has sorted me out, happy to recommend.

Dr Traynor is absolutely outstanding. He is very highly qualified and has years of experience.

I have no experience of Dr Fennessy but I cannot imagine Traynor employing someone who was just okay - his practice would suffer.

Any optician can do an ordinary sight test - but see a specialist for anything else.

Ger89

ILikeBananas wrote: »

I'm just wondering where the best place would be to go and get an eye exam in Cork city?

Are the eye specialists in the opticians suitable if it's not an "I need glasses because my eyesight is deteriorating" type of problem? In my case my eyes have gotten very sensitive to light and I've been getting headaches so I'm wondering would I be better off going to my GP about it rather than an optician.

If you are over 40, it may be that cataracts are setting in. Dr. Traynor, attached to Egan's on Lavitt's Quay, is exceptionally good. The opthalmologist, Gerard O'Connor, Western Road, would be a heavyweight in this area and is expensive, but might also be worth considering. Or you could get a referral from a GP to the Eye Clinic in CUH which is outstandingly professional and reasonably priced, but has a longish waiting list.l

ILikeBananas

To those of you who are recommending opthalmologists, about how much would a visit to one of those cost? I don't have health insurance or a medical card so if it's 200 euro a session then I might need to just go to the GP first to make sure it's not something relatively basic.

Thanks for all the replies.

evilivor

ILikeBananas wrote: »

To those of you who are recommending opthalmologists, about how much would a visit to one of those cost? I don't have health insurance or a medical card so if it's 200 euro a session then I might need to just go to the GP first to make sure it's not something relatively basic.

Thanks for all the replies.

It's been a couple of years for me but IIRC it was €70/80 range. Ring and ask how much a visit costs and you could save the cost of visiting the GP.

blindsider

evilivor wrote: »

It's been a couple of years for me but IIRC it was €70/80 range. Ring and ask how much a visit costs and you could save the cost of visiting the GP.

Sound advice, and that price rings a bell with me.

I am open to correction, but I seem to remember hearing that Traynor is also a GP, although he practices primarily as an Ophthalmologist.

If this is true, then you don't need to see a GP separately.

Actually, this link seems to bear this out:

http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=2902


Anyway, best of luck with it!

Faith

+1 to Dr. John Traynor. He's fantastic. I'm lucky enough to have been his patient for 15 years now and I never want him to retire. You're probably looking at a wait of at least 3 weeks to get an appointment though.