Comprehensive eye examination

Unlike vision screening done at your optometrist, which only assesses your vision, a comprehensive eye exam includes a series of tests in order to do a full evaluation of the health of your eyes and your vision.

These include formal visual field testing, photography, high-resolution scans of the back of the eye, pachymetry to check your corneal thickness, and ophthalmic ultrasound.

Your doctor will take a complete eye history including your vision problems, any corrective methods you have (e.g., glasses or contact lenses), your overall health, family history, and current medications.

During the consultation, your eyes may also be dilated with eye drops to make pupils larger. This is done so that your Ophthalmologist can look at the back of your eye.

Other tests may include:

• Examination of your pupils with a light to see if they respond properly.
• Examination of your retina with a lighted magnifying lens to see the health of blood vessels and your optic nerve.
• A slit lamp test, which uses another lighted magnifying device to check your eyelid, cornea, conjunctiva (the thin membrane covering the whites of the eyes), and iris.
• Tonometry, a glaucoma test – a painless puff of air blows at your eye to measure the pressure of the fluid within your eye.
• A colour-blindness test