Comprehensive Eye Care

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What is comprehensive eye care?

Eye exams are an essential component of overall wellness. During a comprehensive eye exam, we will assess much more than your visual acuity. You will be tested for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together and evaluate the health of your retina, optic nerve and retinal blood vessels. Comprehensive eye exams offer an accurate indication of your overall health.

Should children get their eyes examined?

Routine eye examinations are important for healthy visual development. Because children do not know what “normal” vision looks like, they may not be aware of a developing eye problem. Good vision is closely linked to the learning process and is important for success in school and activities. If your child is struggling in school, make an appointment for a comprehensive eye exam with an ophthalmologist who specializes in children’s vision.

How often should adults have a comprehensive eye exam?

As we age, yearly comprehensive eye exams continue to play an important role in healthy vision. Even a slight change in prescription can cause eye discomfort, headaches and other associated problems. Around the age of 40, most adults have difficulty reading due to presbyopia. A natural part of the aging process, presbyopia makes it harder to read small print on labels, computer monitors, books, and other printed material. While inexpensive “drugstore readers” may help, a thorough examination of your vision will give you corrective options specific to your needs.

What does a comprehensive eye exam include?

You can expect your comprehensive eye exam to include:

  • Visual Acuity to assess the sharpness of your vision, usually using the “Big E” or Snellen chart.
  • Visual fields test to determine if you have blind spots or peripheral vision issues.
  • Cover Test which can identify strabismus or binocular vision problems.
  • Retinoscopy, autorefractor or aberrometer to approximate your eyeglass prescription.
  • Refraction to fine tune the final eyeglass prescription using a phoropter.
  • Slit Lamp exam to detect common eye diseases and conditions. This instrument allows your doctor to examine the structure of your eye to assess its health.
  • Glaucoma test, known as tonometry, measures the pressure within your eye.
  • Dilation of the pupil and ophthalmoscopy to examine the optic nerve, retina and blood vessels. (We will let you know before your exam if dilation is needed.)

What are the best benefits of a comprehensive eye exam?

One of the greatest benefits of comprehensive eye exams is that you receive immediate feedback about your eye health. You will know about any:

  • Refractive errors: nearsighted, farsighted or astigmatism,
  • Focusing problems, including presbyopia, or
  • Other vision problems, such as strabismus, amblyopia or binocular vision.

If you have a refractive error or focusing problem, you can receive treatment immediately and be fit for eyeglasses or contact lenses.

For other conditions, we will discuss a treatment plan with you and provide you with helpful information so you can consider various options.

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