What happens during an eye exam?

After filling out insurance information and our basic health questionnaire, the optometrist will bring you back to a pre-testing room where preliminary tests include an estimate of your vision correction and a peripheral vision screening test. After that, she will bring you to an examination room where you will be seated in an exam chair facing the reflection of an eye chart. You will be asked to read the smallest line of letters you are able to see (if you have contact lenses or glasses, your distance vision will be checked with those lenses or glasses). The doctor will then do a series of screening tests including eye movements and pupillary reactions. The next test is the most familiar to patients - you will be asked to look through a machine that resembles a large pair of metal binoculars and given choices to see which lens power improves your vision - this is called a refraction. The remainder of the eye exam will evaluate your eye health including an eye pressure check and possibly a dilated eye exam. During the eye exam, you will have an opportunity to select eyewear and/or discuss possible contact lens vision correction options. On your first eye exam at our clinic, we suggest that you allot about an hour of your time.