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Vision & Eye Health Testing
Routine eye exams done by your Optometrist is an essential part of your overall health routine. It is a common misconception that good vision means healthy eyes. Many vision and ocular health conditions are not always accompanied by obvious symptoms.
Through routine eye examinations your doctor can detect many eye diseases and other diseases that symptomatically show up in the eyes. Your optometrist can detect diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, glaucoma, and retinal problems.
Here is what you may expect during your routine exam:
Pre-testing
Before you see your doctors there will be a review of your health and family health history, any visual problems and complaints that you may have, current medications, as well as any specific visual demands that you may have. With computerized screening devices we will also check your peripheral vision, intraocular pressure and take a digital photo of the inside of your eye, your retina. From there you will be esc orted into the exam room where the doctor will discuss the findings during the preliminary testing.
Visual Acuity
Using a Snellen letter chart (or picture chart for children), your optometrist will assess your ability to see small detail clearly at both near and far distances.
 RefractionBy using an instrument called a retinoscope, your optometrist can check for nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. If corrective eyewear is necessary, another instrument called a phoropter (consisting of hundreds of lens combinations) is used to refine your prescription.
Eye Movement / Binocular Vision
Using a series of different tests, it is determined how well your eyes align or coordinate when working together and individually.
Pupil response to light
By shining a light in your eyes and watching the pupil's reaction, your optometrist can detect possible neurological problems.
Colour testing
Your optometrist will ask you to describe figures in a series of illustrations made up of numerous colored dots or circles. This tests your ability to differentiate colours and can detect colour deficiencies and blindness.
Ocular Health
This is part of the examination that checks the health of the internal and external structures of the eye. An instrument called a slit-lamp is used to assess the health of the external structures of the eye. Your optometrist will use an instrument called an ophthalmoscope to see the retina and optic nerve at the back of the eye. This is where clues to many diseases specific to the eye, as well as to the entire body. Depending on the Doctors assessment during this part of the exam. He/she may ask you to return to have special drops that are often used to dilate your pupils to allow a better view of the back of the eyes.
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