Comprehensive Eye Exams

Do you remember the last time you had a comprehensive eye exam? Yearly eye exams are important for everyone, even if our eyes and vision are fine. Let’s learn from the past and history of eye disease and encourage regular eye exams. It can save vision.

Why Are Eye Exams so Important?

It is not common that you would schedule an eye exam when your eyes feel fine. What many people do not realize is that many degenerative eye diseases cannot be felt. Glaucoma, for example, is painless and is often referred to as the sneak thief of sight.

Benefits of Eye Exams

Adults, children and senior citizens all need yearly eye exams. Individuals with chronic health problems, like high blood pressure and diabetes, may need eye exams more often.

Catch refractive errors early
Catch other diseases early
Get your eyes tested for common eye diseases

Your Comprehensive Eye Exam

At New Century Ophthalmology, a comprehensive eye exam involves testing your visual acuity as well as checking for eye diseases. When you first walk into our office, you will be brought to a room with a few pieces of equipment. In this room, we will screen your eyes for many things and the results will aide the doctor in the examination room.

Testing Your Visual Acuity

Once you are in the exam room, the doctor will test your visual acuity by having you read letters and/or numbers from an eye chart. If you do not see 20/20, which is considered appropriate vision, our doctors will test various lenses in order to determine your eyeglass or contact prescription.

Color Blindness Test

Children and individuals who have never been tested for color blindness may undergo a color blindness test. This test involves looking at circles with various colored dots and stating the number that is seen in the center of the circle. Red/green color blindness is the most common type and affects males more than females.

Depth Perception Test

Your depth perception allows you to tell how far away an object is located. This test is often given to children but may also be given to adults. It involves looking at dots on a page and stating whether or not they appear elevated. Individuals without depth perception typically have a lazy eye or problems with eye teaming. Certain eye exercises and visual therapy may be able to help increase your eyes’ ability to work together.

Eye Movement Test

Eye movement tests check to see how well your eyes move and focus on objects. This often involves following a pen or our eye doctor’s finger while he or she watches your eyes. Problems with eye mobility can lead to eye strain and difficulty reading. If you play sports, having limited eye mobility and slow focus can affect your performance.

Eye Health

As part of a comprehensive eye exam, our doctors examine the overall health of the eye by visually inspecting the eye and eyelids using magnification and a bright light. To examine the internal structures of the eye, we may dilate the pupils. This test involves putting a few eye drops in your eyes to dilate your pupils. If our doctor plans to administer this test, we will suggest that you bring a second driver.

Eye Exam Scheduling

Children, adults and seniors should schedule yearly eye exams. If you have a chronic disease, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, or an eye condition, like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration, more frequent eye exams may be needed. To schedule an appointment for your next eye exam, give our office a call today.