The names of the different eye professionals all begin with "O" and are easily confused.  Here is a description of each to help you decide who can best help you.

Optometrist: A general eye doctor with eight to ten years of college and graduate level training to provide you a complete eye health, eye glasses, contact lenses, laser vision correction, computer eye strain, and children's vision evaluations. These doctors also provide treatment for many eye diseases and dysfunctions. This is the doctor best equipped for the first entry point into vision health care.

Ophthalmologist: A doctor specializing in surgical care of eye health problems. The best Ophthalmologists specialize in different parts of the eye. Because of the narrow specialization of these doctors, they are best seen after a referral from a general vision exam completed by an Optometrist.

Opticians: This group of professional work to manufacture the custom glasses and contact lenses to fill the Rx's written by eye doctors above.

Had enough? To confuse you more there are:

Orthoptists: work with patients to help straighten 'crossed eyes'

Ocularists: fit and make ocular prosthesis (artificial eyes)