A referral solves a scheduling problem. Some symptoms are not a scheduling problem.
Most of this site is about visits you can plan. This page is about the opposite, and it is here because a referral form is exactly the wrong tool for something that started this morning. If any of the following applies to you, stop reading and get seen today — by an eye clinic that can fit you in, by an urgent care, or by an emergency room.
Any sudden drop or loss of vision, in one eye or both, whether or not it has come back. Cover each eye in turn and check them separately, because one eye covers for the other well enough that a change in one can go unnoticed for a long time.
New flashes of light, or a sudden shower of floaters where there were few before, is a same-day call rather than a wait-and-see. So is any dark curtain or shadow that has moved across part of your vision.
Not irritation or grit — actual pain in or around the eye, especially with light sensitivity, redness or a change in vision.
Anything that struck the eye, anything embedded, and anything splashed into it. For a chemical splash, flushing the eye with water immediately and continuing while help is arranged is standard first aid, and it is still an emergency visit afterward.
Double vision that came on suddenly, or eye symptoms alongside a severe headache, weakness, drooping or difficulty speaking, is an emergency room situation rather than an eye appointment.
Vision 801 is a referral line. We match people to practices, we do not treat anyone, and we cannot tell you what is happening to your eye. Putting a same-day symptom into a referral queue costs time that is the only thing actually worth anything in that situation. Call an eye doctor directly or go in.
Tell us what the visit is for and we will match you with an eye care practice taking patients near you.
Get Matched With an Eye DoctorA sentence is plenty. If something changed suddenly, call an eye doctor today instead of filling this in.