Child & You Adult Eye Examination
What can you expect?
On this page, you can learn more about your eye examination, all of these tests help us conduct an indepth assessment of your vision
At the start of the eye examination, we find out why you are having your eyes examined. We ask about what symptoms you may have, how long you may have had them and whether changes have occurred gradually or happened suddenly. Your general health and any medication you are taking can also affect your eyes so we discuss this with you. If there is a family history of eye problems we note this. We ask that you bring your glasses and contact lenses [if worn] to your appointment. These will be used as a starting point to measure how well you see at the start of the examination.
We use a modern state of the art computerized test chart that allows us to show letters, pictures or numbers to assess your distance vision(for TV and driving) and also measure your near vision for reading and computer work.
We offer a variety of tests for all ages including toddlers and non-English speaking patients.
This is a great way of measuring the power of your eyes using a retinoscope, a specialized torch to calculate your lens power.
It is especially useful for children’s eye exams to assess of how longsighted/ short-sighted or how much astigmatism a child has.
It’s also a great way to detect corneal problems and cataracts.
This is the part of the eye exam most people think of.
Having performed retinoscopy we then ask you to say which lens is the clearest when looking at letters or circles in the distance( across the room).
Some people find this difficult and worry about giving the wrong answer. Do not worry! We are very experienced and patient and will be able to guide to an excellent result.
We also measure which lens is required for closework and computer work.
It is important your eyes work well together and that your eye muscles are aligning well. This is especially important for detailed near work such as computer or mobile device use.ests for all ages including toddlers and non-English speaking patients.
Stereopsis is a term to describe depth perception. Depth perception occurs when two eyes see normally. We measure depth perception as another way of checking if your eyes are well co-ordinated
At Murray Opticians, we measure your Colour Vision at your first eye examination.
In the normal eye there are three different types of cones which are the light sensitive cells at the back of the eye. One type of cone is sensitive to detecting long wavelength (red)light, another type of cone is sensitive to medium wavelength (green) light and the third cone type is sensitive to short wavelength(blue) light. The signals from these cones are interpreted by our brain and perceived as colour.
Some people are born with one or more of the cone types absent or different. This can lead to difficulties differentiating between certain colours. As colour deficient people can only see a limited number of colours, their ability to differentiate by colour is restricted. These colour vision deficiencies can be detected and graded using Colour Vision Tests. Usually if the maternal grandfather had colour vision deficiencies then the grandson is likely to inherit this trait.
A tonometry test measures the pressure inside your eye, which is called intraocular pressure (IOP). This is a test to detect glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye condition where a build-up of the eye pressure can damage the optic nerve permanently.
Contact tonometry involves having eye drops to numb the surface of the eye and a drop of fluorescein (yellow) dye on the surface of the eye.
A tiny probe gently touches the surface we measure the eye pressure using an applanation tonometer.
This type of tonometry measurement is very accurate and is often used to measure eye pressure after air puff tonometry finds an increased IOP.
At Murray Opticians we routinely check your eye pressure from age 40 years onwards.
The visual field test measures how far up and down and from side to side you can see when you are looking straight ahead.
We use a Humphrey Field Analyzer 3 to measure your ‘field of vision’. This is measured by asking you to look into the machine and focus on a dim light in the centre of the machine and then to click a button when you see a light flashing around the outside of your vision.
Strokes, brain tumours diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are some of the conditions that can affect your visual field. Depending on your presenting symptoms we will decide if this test is necessary for you.
We use a Topcon digital camera to capture fundus photos of our patient’s eyes. The retinal photos are high resolution colour and monochrome images of the retina and anterior segment of the eyes.
Retinal photos are taken usually every 1-2-years or more often if necessary. This enables us to carefully monitor your eye health and helps detect early signs of eye problems such as cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachments and many other eye conditions.
The whole process is pain free, quick and provided at no additional fee.
Your eye health is an important aspect of the examination. Using a slit lamp, the external eye area is examined and the inside of the eye is examined using an indirect ophthalmoscopy method . This allows a wider field of vision of the back of the eye and the view shows elevation and depth-stereoscopic (3D) view of the back of your eye.
The benefit is detecting early signs of cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration , diabetic retinopathy or retinal detachments or many other eye conditions.
We address the reason you came for an eye exam, whether that means glasses, contact lenses, eye exercises, lifestyle / dietary advice for you or just reassurance all is well.
We explain our findings and discuss our recommendations. When necessary we will refer for further assessment when clinically necessary.