What To Expect During a Routine Eye Exam

Your eyes not only enable you to enjoy the paramount sense of sight and perform various everyday endeavors but often are a barometer into your general health.

Therefore, routine eye examinations may prove crucial to your current and future well-being.

Regular eye check-ups are important on several fronts.

Obviously, such endeavors enable doctors to gauge how well the inner components of your eyes are functioning. This is especially important as you age and your eyesight gradually weakens or you encounter eyesight-impacting health issues.

That said, ailing or damaged eyes might indicate the presence of significant, possibly serious underlying illnesses, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure. Get details about pink eye.

Your primary care physician could check your eyes during scheduled visits. That said, healthcare providers recommend also obtaining regular ocular assessments from specialized professionals like optometrists and ophthalmologists.

Optometrists are specially-trained eye care experts who frequently perform routine evaluations and also possess the authority to diagnose specific ocular illnesses, offer prescription glasses, and treat a host of eye-related maladies.

Ophthalmologists are medical doctors specializing in eye care. These healthcare providers also perform eye exams but also diagnose and treat various eye conditions and other medical concerns causing eye problems, and execute surgical procedures.

You, like many others, may surmise your vision is fine, are not experiencing any alarming ocular issues, and display a reluctance to undergo routine screenings.

Fortunately, however, eye exams are usually fast, non-invasive, and involve several specific facets including:

Basic Screenings

During your evaluation's initial stages, you are likely to undergo several basic screening tests. Specific endeavors include color sensitivity tests, peripheral vision measurements, and glaucoma detection.

Visual Acuity

Arguably, this is the most common feature of any simple eye exam.

The first phase of this investigation will involve you covering one eye and reading letters and numbers of varying sizes off a chart. The second stage involves repeating the same process with your other eye.

Pupil Reaction

The examiner will shine a light-emitting device into your eyes to determine how well your pupils react.

The Slit Light Test

This procedure is highlighted by a doctor inserting a light-transmitting device known as a biomicropscope into your eye. This enables a medical professional to discern damage or disease in ocular features, such as the iris, lens, and cornea.

Pupil Dilation

Pupil dilation will allow your doctor to more carefully examine pertinent eye components like the optic nerve and retina. This process is executed by placing specially-designed drops into your eyes.

Adults with no diagnosed ocular issues or whom are not displaying any outward signs of trouble are still urged to undergo a routine checkup every two to three years.

However, if you experience any possible signs of eye problems, wear vision corrective devices, or possess any diagnosed condition, such evaluations should occur at least once per year or as circumstances dictate.

For the most part, routine eye assessments are relatively quick and painless. Moreover, such evaluations are crucial to maintaining your vision and, quite possibly, your overall health.