Eye Exams
We offer full comprehensive eye exams, with same day glasses.
Eye Exams at Look Optometry
If you’re looking to book your first eye exam or are searching for an optometrist in Surrey, then look no further than Look Optometry. We’re proudly rated Surrey’s #1 optometry clinic and we understand the hesitations and concerns you might have as a newcomer when it comes to booking your first eye exam.
We’re here to tell you that that’s perfectly normal! But by answering your questions and providing you with necessary information, we’re also here to reassure you that the process of completing an eye exam can be easy, convenient, and stress-free.
What is an Eye Exam?
First of all, what exactly is an eye exam? While there are different types, an eye exam is basically a series of tests conducted by an eye doctor or optometrist to evaluate your vision and check for any eye diseases.
A routine eye exam is quick, usually checking for any changes in your vision or eye health since your last eye exam. A comprehensive eye exam on the other is a thorough series of tests to evaluate and monitor various aspects of your eye health using a variety of tools.
It’s important to complete these eye exams regularly so that your optometrist can catch any diseases or address any concerns with your eye health early on and can treat them accordingly. Most eye problems or issues can worsen rapidly if left untreated or caught in their later stages.
How Often Should You Complete an Eye Exam?
Generally speaking, we recommend completing a comprehensive eye exam every one year. However, there are a few other things to consider such as age, risk factors, and current eye health, all affecting the frequency at which you should have your eyes checked by an eye doctor. For example, incase of diabetics with uncontrolled diabetes, the frequency of eye exam appointments is recommended to be between 3-6 months.
Children's Eye Exams
Kids can be nervous about visiting the optometrist, especially for their first visit. We never ask the parent to leave the exam room. We keep the environment relaxed, so your children can be at ease while they are here.
When you bring your children to our clinic, you can feel confident about the care they receive here. We don’t expect them to act like adults, we let them be kids. The eye exam is tailored to them, with extra time devoted to their questions and to ensure they are comfortable and calm for each portion of the exam. The machines we use are big, but they are quiet and non-invasive.
It’s important for children to complete routine eye exams early on in life to detect any issues with their eye health and implement the proper treatment if necessary. Children should usually have their first eye exam by 6 months of age, and following that, every year is recommended.
Of course, if there are any risk factors present or if any other eye health concerns are discovered, then even more frequent eye exams may be needed to monitor, prevent, and treat the issue. Otherwise, children without any risk factors should generally book an eye exam every year.
Some risk factors for children include:
- Family history of eye diseases or conditions
- Premature birth or underweight at birth
- Infection of mother during pregnancy
- Physical illness or diseases
Some of the conditions that can be discovered early in life include high prescriptions, congenital cataracts and retinoblastoma.
Adult Eye Exams
Regular checkups are the best way to take care of your eyes. Maintaining your vision and ocular health with annual visits could make the difference between a lifetime of fantastic eyesight and serious vision loss.
One hour, once a year, is all it takes to ensure your eyes are functioning well and free from disease, or detect early warning signs for conditions like glaucoma and cataracts.
Similarly, it’s recommended that adults complete a comprehensive eye exam every year. That being said, adults with risk factors may need to visit an eye doctor more frequently to monitor and prevent any serious eye health issues.
Some risk factors for adults include:
- Family history of eye diseases or conditions
- Diabetes or high blood pressure
- Taking drugs or medications that may have eye-related side effects
- Previous eye injury or surgery
Ultimately, it’s best to heed the advice and recommendation of your eye doctor regarding how often you should be completing an eye exam. If you live in the Vancouver area and are looking for an eye exam in Surrey, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll get you started on your path to proactive eye care.
Ophthalmologists
Ophthalmologists are medical doctors specializing in providing full eye care. This can range anywhere from conducting a comprehensive eye exam to performing eye surgery if required. Completing medical school as well as additional training in medical and surgical eye care is required to become an ophthalmologist.
If after an eye exam at Look Optometry, it is determined that you need eye surgery, we know the best ophthalmologists in Surrey and the Vancouver area and will more than happily provide you with a referral.
Optometrists
Having completed four years of optometry school and a bachelor degree, optometrists are Doctors of Optometry and can provide a large scope of care. This includes conducting comprehensive eye exams, prescribing corrective lenses, and diagnosing and treating eye diseases and conditions with medications. Within Optometry, Optometrists can further develop an area of interest including dry eyes, cornea disease, speciality contact lenses, vision therapy, and more.
We are proud to say that we strive to be the best at Look Optometry. Our team of friendly, experienced optometrists are here to serve you by advocating for and educating you on your eye health. We are rated Surrey’s #1 optometry clinic for a reason.
Opticians
Opticians are the masters of the lens. Opticians can fill prescriptions for eyeglasses and fit, adjust, or repair them as needed. Opticians can often also guide patients on how to properly use and care for their contact lenses.
Our opticians at Look Optometry are all fully licensed, experienced and excited to help fit you with your next pair of glasses or contacts.
If you’d like to learn more about us, we encourage you to come meet the eye specialists on the Look Optometry team in Surrey.
Optometrists You Can Trust
Different Types of Eye Exams
Depending on your needs we will employ a different type of eye exam. The following are a list of eye exams we perform at Look Optometry.
Ocular Motility Test
Ocular motility testing is conducted to evaluate your eye muscles and eye movement. Your eye doctor will ask you to focus on and follow the movement of a small object such as a pen or a light. While you are doing this, the eye doctor will monitor your eye movements for any muscle weakness and/or poor control.
Visual Acuity Test
The visual acuity test is probably the one you’re most familiar with and is conducted to test the clarity of your eyesight. Your eye doctor will ask you to read letters off of an eye chart displayed some distance away. Starting from the top and going down, the letters decrease in size, making it potentially more difficult to read or differentiate the letters. As both eyes can have different weaknesses and strengths, each eye is tested separately from each other.
Refraction Test
When light enters the eye they are bent (or refracted) as they pass through the cornea and lens. If the light is not bent correctly against the back of your eye, you have what is known as a refractive error. Examples of refractive errors include hyperopia (farsightedness), myopia (nearsightedness), and astigmatism.
A refraction test is completed with the use of an instrument called a phoropter to determine the prescription required for your eyeglasses. Your eye doctor will set up the phoropter with various lens options and combinations, and will ask you to determine which two lenses make your vision clearer or more sharp. Based on your answers, your eye doctor will continue to adjust and fine-tune the power of the lenses until they finally arrive at your prescription.
Visual Field Test (Perimetry)
A visual field test is completed to check if you have difficulty seeing in any part of your field of vision. There are a few different methods of completing a visual field test, but they are all conducted to examine your visual field for any possible blind spots, typically in your peripheral vision. Blind spots are sometimes the result of eye diseases like glaucoma and can even hint at other health issues or brain damage such as after a stroke or a pituitary tumour.
Colour Blindness Test
A colour blindness test is used to detect any colour vision deficiencies. The test usually consists of showing you various multi-coloured dot-pattern images with a number hidden within them. If you have difficulty recognizing and distinguishing the number apart from the rest of the image, you may have poor colour vision.
Cover Test
Eye doctors will conduct a cover test to determine how much your eye needs to move in order to focus on an object. During the cover test, you will be asked to focus on an object across the room as your eye doctor alternates between covering each of your eyes. This test can help your eye doctor recognize and treat conditions such as strabismus or amblyopia.
Slit-lamp Examination
A slit-lamp refers to a microscope used by eye doctors to illuminate and magnify your eyes so that they can examine its various structures. The slit-lamp allows eye doctors to closely examine structures such as your eyelids, eyelashes, cornea, iris, lens, fluid chamber, retina, and optic nerve. A slit-lamp examination is useful in detecting many eye conditions or diseases such as cataracts or corneal ulcers
Stereopsis Test (Depth Perception)
Stereopsis tests are conducted to examine your depth perception and often involves wearing a special pair of glasses and observing various images. Your eye doctor will then ask you to identify which object in the image looks closer to you. Your answers will determine the quality of your depth perception.
Retinal Examination / Pupil Dilation
A retinal examination is conducted to allow your eye doctor to evaluate the back of your eye, the retina, the optic disk, and the choroid. Because this examination involves shining a light into your eye, your eye doctor may need to administer eye drops to keep your pupils dilated while they work. Retinal examination and pupil dilation is an important part in a thorough eye examination. At Look Optometry, we also use an ultra-widefield retinal imaging system, called Optos, to take a picture of 80% of your retina in a single capture!
If drops are required, it usually takes about 30 minutes for the eye drops to take affect and the effects can last several hours. This means after the examination is over, you may have increased sensitivity to light. Eye doctors often advise bringing a pair of sunglasses with you for after the exam or will sometimes provide disposable ones that you can use. It may also be wise to coordinate a way to get home so that you do not need to drive. We use the best technology available.
Glaucoma Screening
Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages your optic nerve due to an increase in intraocular pressure, or the pressure inside of your eyes. If left untreated, glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss. Tests to screen for glaucoma involves examining and monitoring your intraocular pressure and at Look Optometry, we have 3 ways to check your eye pressures!
Non-contact Tonometry - This method blows a tiny puff of air into your eyes and based on its resistance to the puff, your eye doctor can measure your eye pressure. As the name suggests, nothing will come in contact with your eye, though the puff of air can sometimes be startling to some.
Applanation Tonometry - Your eye doctor will administer eye drops containing fluorescein (a yellow dye) as well as an anesthetic. This is not the same as the pupil dilating eye drops and will instead cause your eyes to feel slightly heavy and numb. This allows your eye doctor to then use the slit-lamp and a tonometer to gently touch your cornea and measure your eye pressure. This process may sound scary, but because of the numbing agent it is completely painless.
Diaton Tonometry - While leaning back in your chair, the Optometrist will hold a pen like device over your eyelids. The diatom device will press down above the eyelashes and you will feel 3 slight gentle taps over the eyelids. https://tonometerdiaton.com/
Booking and Preparing for an Eye Exam
With so many different types of eye exams, all testing and evaluating different things, we understand that they can feel overwhelming or even intimidating. For this reason, our team at Look Optometry is dedicated to making you feel welcome, comfortable, and safe while you’re visiting our eye clinic in Surrey. You can trust that you’re in good hands with our experienced eye specialists and unmatched customer service.
If you’re in the Vancouver area and are looking to book an eye exam or speak with an eye specialist in Surrey, we encourage you to reach out to us. As Surrey’s #1 rated optometry clinic, we at Look Optometry have the best optometrists and opticians on our team, and we’re all excited to meet you.
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop by the clinic where our friendly team is ready to assist you and can help you in preparation for your eye exam.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
