What Usually Occurs At A First Time Eye Exam?

Just like it is important to go for regular health checkups with your family doctor, it is just as important to get regular eye exams with an eye doctor. To ensure the eyes are healthy it is important to have visits with an eye doctor annually. Often this begins during childhood as a child reaches school age. However, some people do not start having appointments with an eye doctor until they begin to have vision problems. This is what one can usually expect to happen at a first-time eye exam.

Basic Eye Chart Test

One of the first parts of an eye exam usually involves giving the patient a basic eye chart test. During this test, the patient will be asked to stand a specific distance away from the eye chart and read letters or numbers on the chart that decrease in size with each line on the chart. This gives the doctor an idea of how well the patient can see from a distance. A small chart held by hand is often used to determine how well a patient can see close up.

Cover Test

The eye chart is also used to give a patient what is known as a cover test. The patient will cover one eye at a time and be asked to read a certain line on the chart. This tells the eye doctor if the distance vision in one eye is better than in the other or if the patient has the same distance vision in both eyes. The patient may also be asked to do the cover test using the small handheld chart to determine if the close-up vision is the same in both eyes.

Color Blind Test

A color blind test is also normally given at a first-time eye exam. In this test, the patient may be shown images that have certain patterns of small colored dots on them. Each image is normally made up of two similar colors, such as blue and purple or red and orange. The patient will be asked to tell the doctor what the images are to determine if they can easily see the difference between colors that are similar.

If the eye doctor feels the patient needs to wear corrective lenses, they will be asked to take the refraction eye exam. This involves looking into a machine that allows the patient to look through different strengths of corrective lenses. The patient will look at images on a chart and tell the doctor at which point they can see the images most clearly. Quick puffs of air may be shot into the eyes to dilate the pupils so the eye doctor can better see any abnormalities inside the eye. Contact an eye exam center, such as Leader Heights Eye Center, for more information. 


Share