Amsler Grid

[Ngatt]

Out of curiosity, I have wet md in one eye so I had severe vision loss and on amsler grid I can only see one black dot. On the Good eye I look at the amsler grid and there is no change. How is change noted is it a small area? One Line which is wavy? I have no idea what the early symptoms are since on my diseased eye it happened overnight. I had an eye diluted test last week on my good eye and was told I have no MD.

[Macular_1]

Hello Ngatt,

It is difficult to give you a precise answer of what changes you will see on your amsler grid if wet MD develops.

What you are looking for however is any noticeable change in your sight when looking at the grid.

If there is no distortion at the moment, then a change should be fairly apparent.

If there is already some slight distortion or blurring, then perhaps use a pencil to mark this on your grid to compare week on week.

I am sure other forum users will have their own tips for you.

Best wishes

Macular Society

[Ngatt in reply to Macular_1]

The difficulty is with my good eye as I dont know what I should see if I have the symptoms. I dont see a wavy or distorted grid just a normal one

[Macular_1 in reply to Ngatt]

Hello again Ngatt,

That is good. If you are seeing a 'normal' grid then it would appear that there is no problem. If the lines in the grid go wavy or the grid appears blurred, that could indicate a problem which would require immediate investigation from an eye care professional.

Best wishes

Macular Society

[ironbrain]

I should say that if you have WMD in one eye, you should get regular medical checks – fundus photos, OCT, etc – to check the disease is not worsening or developing in the other eye. I have been in emergency twice, once with each eye, when CNV had already caused a dimming of my vision but the Amsler grid was still perfectly square.

An optician offered simple peripheral vision tests – I'm not sure how useful these are.

[Ngatt]

I just went last week for my eye exam at the emergency as I got worried I was not seeing properly. They did all checks and found nothing in my good eye. Mind you I have not age related as I got my disease when I was 19. I am just getting obsessed and worrying about the issue.

[Hidden in reply to Ngatt]

I fully understand that you are worried about your vision when you have already eye problems at such young age. And yes, it is easy to become obsessed with the issues at any age. You are not alone in that.

Can I just add that, personally, I do not think that the Amsler Grid tells us the whole story; it is merely a guideline. Nothing seems to have changed much for me on the grid, yet I know my vision has slightly worsened in both eyes during the last 18 months or so. I am glad that both eyes, the wet and the dry, are regularly and carefully monitored by my ophthalmologist.