Eye Exams

What to Expect at an Eye Exam

Each optometrist is different, but most eye exams follow a similar pattern. First, they will review your personal and family health history – checking for special risk factors like eye disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or poor vision.

Then, they’ll conduct tests to check for:

• Vision - The optometrist will check for shortsightedness (myopia), longsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism. While you look at an eye chart, they will measure your vision precisely, and, if necessary, determine a prescription for corrective lenses.
• Coordination of eye muscles - The optometrist will move a light in a set pattern to test your ability to see sharply and clearly at near and far distances, and to use both eyes together.
• Side (peripheral) vision - The optometrist will move an object at the edge of your field of vision to make sure you can see it.
• Pupil response to light - The optometrist will shine a light in your eye and watch the pupil's reaction.
• Colour testing - The optometrist will ask you to describe figures in a series of illustrations made up of numerous coloured dots or circles. This tests your ability to differentiate colours.
• Eyelid health and function - The optometrist will examine your eyelid, inside and out.
• The interior and back of the eye - After dilating your eyes (by both using a few eye drops and dimming the lights so the pupils will widen), the doctor will use a special instrument called an ophthalmoscope to see through to the retina and optic nerve at the back of the eye
• Measurement of fluid pressure - The doctor will release a puff of air onto your eyeball using an instrument called a tonometer. This tests the pressure inside the eyeball, an early indicator of Glaucoma and other diseases.

Test Your Vision

This is not a substitute for a complete eye exam by a doctor – but it may help you discover a vision problem that requires professional attention. You will need a friend to help you, so grab someone and try it!

• Print out the Snellen Eye Chart(17.3 KB, PDF)
• Tape it on a bare, windowless wall approximately 4 feet from the ground.
• Sit in a chair 10 feet from the wall. If you normally wear Contact Lenses or glasses, wear them for this test.
• Ask your friend to hold a cover (such as a handkerchief or paper cup) over one of your eyes and use a torch to point at each line of the chart, starting at the top. Keeping both eyes open, read each letter out loud as your friend points.
• Record the number, such as 20/20 or 6/6, of the smallest line you can read correctly.
• Repeat steps four and five with the other eye.

You should be able to read the 20/20 or 6/6 line with both eyes; if you can't, you may want to ask your eye care professional about vision correction options.