How to Locate an Optometrist

Although the titles sound similar, an optometrist is different than an ophthalmologist or an optician; however, all three professions work with your eyes and vision. Finding the right eye care practitioner for your specific needs is not difficult. Most optometrists provide vision exams and some dispense medication for certain eye problems. By comparison, an ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who performs eye surgery and treats eye disease. Opticians measure and fit you with glasses or contact lenses. Some optometrists specialize in a particular area of vision correction, such as sports vision or specialty contact lenses. Finding an optometrist is fairly simple.

Instructions

• 1

  Use the American Optometric Association search form on the Internet. Enter your zip code to search by location. You may also locate an optometrist by entering the doctor's last and first name, the doctor's practice name or optometric specialty. You can search up to 100 miles from any zip code.

• 2

  Visit "All About Vision's Eye Care Practitioner Directory" online and search for an optometrist by state and city. This site finds both optometrists and opticians, so be sure to note the difference in an optical retail store and an optometrist office in the search results. Narrow your search by clicking on a specific city if available, and not "All Cities" under the state link.

• 3

  Go to VisionDirectory.com and click on your state. The link brings up a list of cities, and you click on the city where you would like to locate an optometrist. As of 2011, this site has pop-ups at each screen, which is distracting, but you can simply close them to continue your search.

• 4

  Ask your primary care physician for a recommendation for a local optometrist.