What to Expect During a Comprehensive Eye Exam

Comprehensive eye examinations are essential for your long-term eye health and vision outcomes. There are many conditions that can cause permanent damage to your eyes, making it harder for you to see clearly and live a normal life. Early detection of these conditions is crucial, so make sure you visit your optometrist for regular exams.

Eye assessments are a necessary first step before any kind of laser eye surgery. At Clearview Vision Institute, we use these detailed evaluations to determine your candidacy for procedures like LASIK, ZEISS Smile Pro, or laser cataract surgery.

What happens during an eye exam?

Medical History Review

The first step is reviewing your medical history. Your eye doctor will go over your general health, current medical conditions, and eye-specific health. This is the time to share if you have experienced any eye health issues, surgeries, or injuries in the past, as well as if you have a family history of any eye diseases (like glaucoma or macular degeneration). You should also disclose your current vision concerns and symptoms, if you have any. This may include blurriness, eye strain, or headaches.

The more your optometrist knows about your medical history and eye health, the better equipped they are to provide the highest level of care. They can tailor care and treatment to your specific situation, addressing your concerns and ensuring your long-term eye health.

Visual Acuity Test

Next is the visual acuity test. This test measures how clearly you can see at various distances. You are asked to identify a series of letters or numbers on an eye chart (called a Snellen chart). Each line gets progressively smaller the farther down the chart it is.

Your optometrist uses this test to assess the quality of your vision. Are you able to see clearly, or do you struggle to read the chart from certain distances? For instance, you may be able to see perfectly, or you may have a refractive error like myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, or astigmatism.

Refraction Test

If your optometrist determines that you need prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses to see clearly, they will perform a refraction test. This exam involves a special device, called a phoropter.

Phoropter devices contain numerous lenses of varying strengths. As you look through the phoropter, the optometrist switches between different lens choices so you can find the one that produces the clearest vision. This is how we discover which prescription strength is best for you.

Eye Muscle and Alignment Testing

Also called the eye movement test, this is when your optometrist checks how well your eyes move and work together. Do your eyes move correctly in all directions without having to move your head? Does each eye align with the other properly?

You will be asked to track a moving object or a pattern of light with your eyes. As the target moves in different directions, your eyes should be able to follow it without issue. Your eyes should be able to work as a team while focusing on and tracking moving objects.

This test helps your eye doctor identify issues with eye movement and coordination, such as eye misalignment (strabismus), binocular vision problems (double vision), or difficulty focusing.

Visual Field Test

The visual field test evaluates your peripheral vision to see how well you see in each section of your field of vision in each eye. It detects blind spots that shouldn’t be there. This test is particularly important for those with glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, pituitary gland disorders, a history of strokes, or diabetes.

Slit Lamp Examination

Using the slit lamp test, your optometrist can observe your eye’s internal structures. They use a special microscope fitted with a bright, high-intensity light to examine the different layers inside your eye. For example, they can see the sclera (the white part of the eye), cornea, lens, retina, and even the optic nerve. In some cases, your eye doctor may apply dilating eye drops to widen your pupils for a better look.

The slit lamp exam allows eye doctors to check the overall health of your eyes, screening for specific conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, dry eye, scratched corneas, corneal disease, and macular degeneration.

Eye Pressure Test (Tonometry)

Tonometry is the process of measuring the pressure inside your eye, or the intraocular pressure (IOP). It’s crucial for determining your risk level for glaucoma.

There are many different ways to test the IOP. One of the most common methods is called non-contact tonometry, where a tiny burst of air is pushed at your cornea. A device measures the momentary changes to your cornea’s shape as the air bounces off its surface. Other methods use a small device that touches the eye to measure pressure.

How often should you visit an optometrist for an eye assessment?

Adults

Healthy adults should have their vision checked every one to two years. However, those with a higher risk of eye diseases (like glaucoma) or vision issues may need more frequent eye assessments. Comprehensive exams play a crucial role in the early detection of any health issues, since many conditions do not cause noticeable symptoms in their early stages.

Children

It’s very important to monitor the development of your child’s eyes and vision closely. Regular eye exams detect vision problems early, before they can impact their development and educational performance.

Infants should have their first eye exam between six and nine months, followed by another between two and five years old. Once they reach school age, they must have annual eye assessments.

Explore Vision Correction Options at Clearview Vision Institute

Clearview Vision Institute is a leader in advanced vision correction procedures. We are proud to have introduced many groundbreaking treatments to Canada, thereby making effective, safe, and comfortable laser surgery accessible to more patients. If you have a refractive error that compromises your sight, or an eye health condition like cataracts, we can help with a comprehensive vision check.

To request more information on vision correction treatment, or want to schedule an eye exam, call Clearview Vision Institute today at 647-493-6371 or contact us here.