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Eye Exam

The Eye exam is indispensable for your eye health, allowing you to monitor, assess and detect any potential vision or ocular health problem. Your optometrist will keep this information on file in order to screen for any changes in your vision or eye health. We recommend you consult your optometrist regularly—and why not take your family along to make sure your loved ones’ eyes are healthy too?

The steps of an optometric examination

Eye exams are quite similar overall, but your optometrist will adapt to your particular case as they exam your eyes, performing the tests they think appropriate to your eyes’ condition.

Step 1

Medical history : Your optometrist will ask you about your general health, medications you might be taking, your working environment, hobbies, etc. You will also be asked to describe any vision problems you may have been experiencing.

Step 2

External eye examination : Your optometrist will examine the external area around the eye for abnormalities.

Step 3

Internal eye examination : Using the slit lamp microscope and an ophthalmoscope, your optometrist will check your eyes for signs of abnormalities, from front to back. Some problems detected during an internal eye examination may point to possible disease, such as diabetes or hypertension. If your optometrist sees any of these warning signs, they’ll refer you to a physician for further examination.

Step 4

Tonometry : Tonometry measures the fluid pressure in the eye and is an important test in detecting glaucoma.

Step 5

Vision tests : A number of tests are used to assess your vision :

  • Retinoscopy : our optometrist can determine the strength of your eyes using various lenses and the retinoscope. This is done without feedback from the patient and is therefore an invaluable instrument for assessing the vision problems of children and others who may not be able to read an eye chart.
  • Visual acuity tests :Using the familiar wall chart and a hand-held chart, your optometrist will assess your ability to see small details clearly at near and far distances. You may sit behind a phoropter, an instrument containing a combination of lenses. Lens choices are systematically changed until clear focus is obtained.
  • Eye movement :Using a number of different tests, the optometrist will evaluate how well your eyes align or coordinate when working together and individually.
  • Peripheral vision : The optometrist may evaluate how well you see targets that are not directly in front of you.

Your optometrist may feel the need to perform other tests: to evaluate your ability to change focus, for instance, or see colour or perceive depth correctly. The procedures above are typical of a routine eye exam. Your optometrist will choose the specific tests required to evaluate YOUR visual system.

Source: Canadian Association of Optometrists