If your experience with eye exams has been limited to brief vision tests for your work or to obtain your driver’s license, you may not know what goes into a comprehensive eye exam. These exams are extremely thorough evaluations of every aspect of your ocular health, eye function and visual acuity. Everyone should have such an exam on a regular basis, especially since they allow us to detect eye diseases that might otherwise cause permanent vision loss if left undiagnosed and untreated. Let us look at what’s involved in a comprehensive eye exam here at Foster Vision.

Procedures Performed by Your Portland Optometrist

Any optometrist on our three-practitioner team will be more than happy to conduct your comprehensive eye exam. The all-important first step is collecting detailed information on your medical history, history of eye or vision issues, and any current vision problems you may be suffering from. Other essential steps and procedures you can expect your Portland optometrist to administer include:

• Eye movement testing – By asking you to follow a rapidly-moving point of light, we can evaluate your eyes’ teaming and tracking abilities.
• The cover test – The cover test simply involves covering first one eye and then the other as you stare at an object. If one eye or the other has to shift to maintain focus, you might have a functional issue such as amblyopia.
• Slit lamp testing – The slit lamp is a special magnifying device with a light attached to it. Your optometrist can use this device to examine the pupils, irises, corneas, and other structures at the front of the eye.
• Visual acuity testing – This is the portion of the exam that includes the familiar eye chart. By testing your ability to see clearly at various “distances” (as simulated by the different font sizes), we can figure out whether your vision corresponds to normal healthy clarity (“20/20”) or to what extent it deviates from that standard.
• Refractive testing – If your visual acuity test results indicated a possible refractive error, your optometrist will use a device called a phoropter to perform precise refractive testing. By switching out different lens combinations inside the phoropter until you’re seeing clearly, we can determine the exact corrective lens prescription for eyeglasses or contacts.
• Internal eye inspection – by dilating your pupils, we can see deep inside the eye to inspect most of the retina. This lets us spot any indications of damage, tumors, or retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Inspection of the optic nerve, coupled with eye pressure testing, helps us identify potential glaucoma.

Ready to Schedule an Eye Exam?

An annual comprehensive eye exam is a smart move, whether you know you need new eyeglasses or you just want to keep your family’s eyes as healthy as possible for life. Call Foster Vision today at (503) 546-4460 to schedule that next exam!