This test will not cause any damage.
Puff tonometry or "non-contact" tonometry is definitely still used, especially in optometric practices. It is a good screening test but can sometimes overestimate pressures. Not as accurate as goldman tonometry but very sensitive in picking up pressure problems. Glaucoma, however takes much more than pressure to diagnose and up to 30% of people with glaucoma can have normal pressures. By the way the test will not hurt the eye and glaucoma can occur at any age but much more common as you get older.
MJK MD
The air puff is a test for glaucoma, an eye disease that's caused by elevated pressure within the eye. The test tells the number pressure; when you get up into the high twenties doctors get concerned. I would doubt that a fifteen year old has glaucoma There's no danger in the test. But, you know, that test is quite old...didn't think any doctor administered it any longer. What they do now to check for high pressure is put a drop in each eye that deadens the feeling and then put a small device on the eyeball to get the pressure. Sounds freaky, I know; but trust me with the drops you can't feel it at all. I've had it done tons of times.