What to expect at your eye exam

YOUR EYE EXAMINATION

Eyes are one of the most complex organs in the body and vision is our most important sense.

An eye examination should be:

Accurate, so you can get the best possible vision.

Thorough, so we can detect any eye condition or disease that may impact on your current or future vision and any relation to general health issues.

Long enough, to listen to you, so we can find out about what areas of your lifestyle are affected by your vision problems and so we can customise your eyewear to suit the particular tasks you do and the way you do them. So we have time to answer any of your questions and discuss fully any concerns that we have about your eye health, vision and any other issues that may arise in the exam.

At Curtis Optometrists we allow extra time to thoroughly investigate all aspects of eye health in detection, treatment and prevention of eye disease. We allow extra time to fine tune your spectacle and contact lens prescriptions to provide you with the very best vision we can and to minimise the number of people returning with glasses that do not work as well as they should.

And if you do have a problem we will give you more time to try to get to the cause.

A typical eye examination at Curtis Optometrists will proceed as follows:

Preliminary check with our 3 in 1 Auto-Refractor/Keratometer/Tonometer. This takes readings that we use to help determine your spectacle prescription/ Measures corneal curvature – used mainly for contact lens fitting/ Measures the internal fluid pressure in your eye (high pressures can cause glaucoma). A mild puff of air provides this measurement.

Case history: We ask you lots of questions to determine any problems or concerns you may have. We will ask about any past history of eye problems and any general health problems or medications that you are taking, we ask you this as many health problems and medications can affect both your vision and the health of the eye.

Slit lamp ophthalmoscopy: Using a microscope that examines both the inside and outside of the eye, essential for early detection and management of eye disease.

Refraction: Using a phoropter, essentially a big pair of glasses with thousands of possible combinations of lenses built in. Various tests that we do through this together with the results from the auto-refractor machine determine your spectacle prescription if you need one.

Discussion: We take time to discuss the results of the previous test and to help you with any choices that you may need to make.

Other tests: There are several other tests that may be performed on indication but the most common are:

Visual fields: an automated machine that measures your peripheral vision, useful where there is a suspicion of glaucoma and for some other rarer conditions.

Digital Retinal Imaging, This machine photographs the retina, the back of the eye. It is especially useful for detecting and monitoring Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration. We recommend that everyone over 40 has a baseline photograph so we can more easily detect any changes that occur in later years. Some eye conditions occuring in the front section of the eye such as Cataract and Pterygium can also be monitored with this machine.

To do all of this and do it to accurately, thoroughly and with enough time for it to be about you and your eyes, we allow up to 45 minutes for an examination – well above the industry standard. Not everyone will need that amount of time but it is there for when you do.

Call us on 9448 2303 to book your eye examination.