Before your exam we will run a series of tests to check the general health of your eyes.  Using specialized instruments to gather important data, we will measure the power of your eye to focus at distance, the pressures inside your eye (glaucoma screening), curvature of your eye, prescription in your old glasses (if applicable), and your field of vision (peripheral vision).

Once you are in the exam room, we will take a detailed medical history. Many health conditions and medicines may affect your eyes; therefore, it is important that we understand your general health and are aware of medicines you take, including vitamins, herbal supplements, tobacco, alcohol or other substances. This is especially important if we need to prescribe any medications for eye related conditions so there are no adverse reactions. Past injuries to the head or eye itself are important in understanding your visual performance, as well as the work, school, hobbies and recreational activities you enjoy. Understanding your visual needs allows us to better evaluate your vision and make recommendations to enhance your quality of life.

Finally, we will run a preliminary check on how clearly you are seeing using the familiar eye chart. Once this is done, Dr. Hart will review all the data and continue the exam. 

Eye Health Testing

One very important part of your annual eye exam is to ensure that your eyes are healthy and free of disease.  Besides the information gathered earlier, Dr. Hart uses several instruments to help him determine the state of your eyes' health.  The slit-lamp is a high-powered microscope designed to give him a very close look at your cornea, iris, lens and eyelids.  An ophthalmascope allows Dr. Hart to shine a bright light into your eyes to look at your optic nerve and the surrounding tissues. 

Routine dilated examinations are an important and painless part of your annual visit. The pupil of the eye is like a window. Dilating the pupils allows the doctor to see the entire back of the eye to make sure it is healthy. Most eye diseases do not have painful or noticeable symptoms until it is too late. Early detection of serious eye diseases can prevent sight loss. Your eyes are completely evaluated inside and out for not only eye disease, but other health problems that affect the eyes. The following is an example of visual and health problems that can be detected with a routine dilation:

Visual Acuity Testing

During the exam Dr. Hart will check your visual acuities, or sharpness of vision, to assess how well you are seeing.  Did you know that vision is a dynamic process?  Your vision is constantly changing, and the questions we ask and our testing help Dr. Hart to understand how your vision is throughout the day.

Dr. Hart will test your near and distance vision to determine the correct amount of lens power you may need for best clarity of sight and comfort.  This is done using an instrument called a phoropter, a large lens and prism bank used to subjectively measure the power of your eyes to see clearly (refraction). At the conclusion of this procedure Dr. Hart will know the prescription power you need for glasses, as well as the contact lens prescription if you wear contacts.  

All the information that has been gathered during the exam helps Dr. Hart make some important decisions about your vision.  Obviously, if you are nearsighted or farsighted or have an astigmatism, he will prescribe glasses or contacts to help you see clearly.  Sometimes lenses may be prescribed to prevent further problems down the road. For instance, he may prescribe a stress relieving lenses to a child for nearwork when they are young to help prevent nearsightedness when they get older. Other times he may prescribe an occupational lens to a patient who experiences fatigue and eyestrain from working on the computer all day.

Vision Performance Evaluation - Going beyond 20/20

Because it is our goal to eliminate all visual obstacles, we routinely provide an expanded assessment of eye tracking, focusing and teaming skills to determine if your visual system is working as efficiently as it should be.  We will check to see if your eyes aim, move and work as a coordinated team, if they maintain clear vision at varying distances, and if you can accurately control your eye movements.  Eighty percent of what we learn comes through the visual system. Problems with poor visual skills can affect ones performance in school, work, or play.  Visual deficiencies may cause an individual to slow down, be less accurate, experience excessive fatigue, or make errors. Symptoms of headaches, eyestrain, miscopying, frequent loss of place, difficulty sustaining attention, and blurred or double vision relate directly to deficient visual skills of tracking, focusing or eye teaming. 

We can also evaluate visual information processing skills that allow us to perform at our full potential.  If patients have poor visual skills and exhibit symptoms that indicate their visual system is hindering their performance or affecting their behavior, we will recommend a full diagnostic assessment (sensory-motor and neurobehavioral status exams) to identify low areas in visual information processing.  We will assess strengths and weakness as they relate to visual-motor integration, visual memory, visual figure ground, vision discrimination, visual closure, directionality, laterality, bilateral integration, language automaticity, letter reversals, reading, handwriting, visual attention, and visual endurance. These information processing skills are necessary to succeed in any learning or work environment, and these tests help us make decisions about treatment.  We also work closely with other professionals such as occupational therapists, psychologists, teachers, audiologists, speech and language pathologists, and medical professionals in providing a multi-disciplinary approach to your care.

Eye Exams are Recommended Yearly

Many sight-threatening eye diseases are very treatable if they are caught early, so it is critical that these tests are run every year.  Just like seeing the dentist, it is better to visit your eye doctor BEFORE something is seriously wrong, so that risk factors can be identified, small problems managed, and bigger problems avoided. 

Many eye diseases are silent threats to your vision with no obvious symptoms until it is too late. The only way to detect them is regular eye exams.  Our goal at Visionhealth is to not only provide our patients with the clearest sight possible but also to ensure that you have a healthy visual system that will last a lifetime.   

If you have not had a recent eye exam or if you are looking for a practice that is committed to providing the very best in vision care, then we invite you to call our office to schedule an examination.   We are here to help!