Eye exams are very important to maintain the overall health of your eyes. They are designed to determine how well light rays are focused on the retina. Eye doctors are specially trained to check for, recognize and treat eye conditions and diseases. We recommend you have a yearly eye exam by your eye doctor.
If you wear contact lenses, be sure to inform your eye doctor when scheduling your appointment, as additional time will be needed to measure your eye's surface and fit your contact lenses.
There are a number of tests that your eye doctor may conduct during your normal routine eye exam to ensure your vision is at its best. Some of these tests include:
Visual Acuity Test
A Visual Acuity Test is a routine part of an eye examination performed to determine the smallest letters a patient can read on a standardized chart that is 20 feet away. The test is performed on each eye, one at a time.
Visual Field Test
A Visual Field Test will allow your eye doctor to see the full horizontal and vertical range of what you are able to see peripherally. They determine the potential of blind spots (scotomas) occurring, which could indicate eye diseases.
A Confrontation Visual Field Test is the most common type of field test used by eye doctors. You will be asked to cover one eye while focusing on a specific target object, such as the doctor, and then you will be asked to describe images in his/her peripheral vision. If an eye disease is suspected, further comprehensive, more formal types of tests may be required.
Refraction Assessment
A refraction assessment helps your eye doctor determine the most accurate corrective lens prescription that will give you the best possible vision. You will be asked to look through a Phoroptor, a mask-like device that contains different lenses, which will help determine the best combination that will give you the sharpest vision.
Slit-Lamp Examination
A slit-lamp examination uses a microscope with a light attached, which allows the eye doctor to examine the structures at the front of the eye (cornea, iris and lens) under high magnification. Some patients may have to have their eyes dilated, allowing for a more efficient examination.
Glaucoma Testing
Glaucoma tests are performed to measure the pressure inside your eye. While there are a few variations of glaucoma tests, the most commonly used is the tonometer.