What Are the Components of a Routine Eye Exam?

During a routine eye exam, the eye doctor or technician will usually ask if you are having any problems with your vision and will ask you of your medical history. They will then examine the outer areas of your eyes with a special light to ensure optimum health. There are a number of tests carried out during a routine eye exam.

Eye Muscles

• To test if the eye muscles are healthy or weak, there is a test to explore the eye movements. This is done by the doctor asking you to follow a light with your eyes as he moves the light in different directions.

Visual Acuity

• For time eternal, eye doctors have been using the standard eye chart for visual acuity tests. This chart is medically known as the Snellen chart and tells the doctor how far away you can see. He has the patient name the letters of the alphabet to the best of his abilities by covering one eye and then the other.

Refraction Assessment

• According to Mayo Clinic, the doctor also administers a test called a refraction assessment. This test is only performed on people who will be wearing corrective lenses, because the whole purpose of the test is to help the doctor prescribe the best lens possible for the eyes.

Color Blindness

• Another test routinely performed is the color vision test. Many people have trouble distinguishing colors and are not even aware of the problem. This test uses dot patterns that consist of varied colors. Those with normal vision will see something entirely different from those that have a color deficiency.

Slit Lamp Exam

• The eye doctor is very concerned with the health of your iris, cornea, the chamber of your eyes and the lens. He will thoroughly examine these areas with a light and may add eye drops to your eyes at this point. The eye drops temporarily dye your eyes and help the doctor to find any abrasions in the eye that would not have been detectable otherwise.

Glaucoma Test

• The one test that most people seem a bit startled by is the glaucoma test. This is where the doctor sends little puffs of air into your eyes. What he is actually doing is checking the pressure in your eyes. Glaucoma is always tested for, because it can lead to blindness.

Retinal Examination

• The doctor must also examine the back of the eye. To do this, he has to place eye drops into the eyes that cause the pupils to dilate. This procedure does not hurt but can be a bit uncomfortable. Then the doctor can use special lights to see the entire eye in three different dimensions.