How Often Should I Have My Eyes Examined?
The frequency of your eye examinations depends on your general health, family history of eye problems, age, and past history of treatment for any eye conditions or diseases. Upon reviewing your history, your Center for Sight Optometrist will determine when they recommend that you schedule your next visits.
What Is a General Eye Exam vs. a Medical Eye Exam?
The terms “general eye exam” and “medical eye exam” are useful for patients who have a vision benefits plan such as VSP or EyeMed. Occasionally, some medical insurance carriers will offer vision benefits separately from their medical coverage. The optometrists at Center for Sight are specially trained in all aspects of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating a wide range of eye health conditions, from basic refraction and visual acuity to glaucoma and retinal disease.
If you are scheduling an eye examination at Center for Sight, it will consist of complete testing of your vision and a comprehensive evaluation of the health of your eyes. For purposes of billing a general eye exam to a vision benefits plan, the exam is limited to visual acuity (how well you read the eye chart) only. If abnormal findings are discovered during your vision eye exam, you will be asked to return for further testing and a medical exam.
Your Health and Eye History
A complete history will be taken from you regarding your current general health, any previous eye problems or conditions that you have experienced, and a review of any issues you might be experiencing with your vision or eyes. This will be important information to provide during your screening process. If you have any chronic health problems, even if they are currently stable, it is important that you share this information as well.
Please be sure to tell the eye doctor about any medications you are taking for these medical conditions, including over-the-counter medications or eye drops that you may have been using—they are all important.
Your family history will be reviewed with you as well. Please tell us about any health problems that run in your family, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. We should also be aware of any eye problems that your family members may have experienced, such as glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration, as they tend to run in families.
Finally, don’t forget to bring your glasses and contact lenses with you to your examination. This will help us understand your last prescription and make note of any changes since then.
The Eye Examination
Your eye examination will begin with a measurement of your vision, or visual acuity, with your current eyeglasses or contact lenses. Chances are that if you wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, some of the letters on the “Big E” eye chart will be blurry without them. You will be asked to read a chart projected across the examination room that consists of numbers and letters that get progressively smaller and more difficult to read as you move down the chart. This visual acuity assessment, called “Snellen Acuity,” is an important first step to understanding how well you see.
A refraction will be performed in order to determine the most accurate eyeglass or contact lens prescription necessary to fully correct your vision. This entails having you sit behind an instrument called a phoropter so that the doctor can present a number of lens combinations to determine which corrects your vision most precisely. For those patients who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, you have probably experienced the “which is better” test called refraction.
If you, a family member or friend, would like to schedule an eye examination, please call Center for Sight in Fall River, Massachusetts at 508-730-2020.
If you require vision correction, the eye doctor will provide you with a copy of your prescription so that you can take it to the Center for Sight Optical Department, where our registered dispensing opticians can help you select a quality, well-fitted, and fashionable frame and the most appropriate type of lenses for your work, hobbies, or daily activities.
Next, the movement of your eyes, or “ocular motility,” will be evaluated in order to understand how well the eye muscles function together and how effectively they move your eyes into different positions of gaze.
By shining a bright light in your eyes, the reaction of your pupils to light will be evaluated. By shining the light into your eyes in different directions, the doctors can learn a great deal about how well your optic nerve is functioning.
You will then be asked to sit comfortably behind a specialized instrument called a slit lamp biomicroscope. This instrument provides the eye doctor with both high magnification and special illumination. Using this instrument, your ophthalmologist or optometrist can examine the condition of your eyelids, eyelashes, eyelid margins, and tear film. The slit lamp will also be used to carefully examine the sclera (the “white of your eye”) and the cornea (the clear dome-shaped tissue in front of your pupil). By focusing the slit lamp through the pupil (the dark center of the iris, also known as “the colored part of the eye”), your doctor will be able to examine the health of the crystalline lens, which is where cataracts form.
To check for signs of glaucoma, eye drops will be placed in your eyes so that the pressure, called intraocular pressure (IOP), can be measured while you are behind the slit lamp or with a TonoPen, which is a handheld instrument. This is an important diagnostic test for glaucoma.
Once your eye doctor has completed the examination of the “front of the eye,” they will continue on to evaluate the health of the “back of the eye.” At this time, additional eye drops will be placed in your eyes in order to dilate, or widen, your pupils. After the dilation drops are placed in your eyes, it will usually take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for them to fully work. Please be patient. During this time, we provide you with a comfortable waiting area in which to relax while the eye drops take effect; or, if you prefer, you may take a walk and browse through our optical shop while you wait.
While the thorough examination of the retina and optic nerve through a dilated pupil is not uncomfortable, the fully widened pupil may make you somewhat sensitive to light and may also blur your vision—especially your near vision—for a few hours after your eye examination. If you have not had a dilated exam in the past, it is a good idea to have a companion with you on the day of your appointment. It is also important to bring a good pair of sunglasses with you to lessen light sensitivity.