Complete eye examinations

A comprehensive eye examination will involve evaluating your vision and checking for any eye diseases. Visiting your optometrist for a regular eye exam will help detect problems at an early, more treatable stage. In addition, it will give your eye care professional a chance to correct or adapt to sudden or gradual vision changes that you may have. They will also provide you with tips to help you care for your overall eye health.

An eye exam will usually involve the following:

• A measurement of your visual acuity to see if you require glasses or contact lenses.
• A measurement of your eye pressure
• An evaluation of the health of your eyes

However, there are several different eye exams that your optometrists might perform depending on your needs, such as:

Eye muscle test

This test evaluates the muscles that control your eye movement to determine whether there is muscle weakness, poor control or poor coordination.

Visual acuity test

This test determines how well you see and usually involves identifying letters of the alphabet on a printed chart.

Refraction assessment

This eye test will measure your prescription for glasses or contact lenses to give you the sharpest, most comfortable vision.

Visual field test

A visual field test will determine the total area in which objects can be seen in your peripheral vision or whether you have difficulty seeing anywhere in your field of vision.

Colour vision test

This exam, also known as the Ishihara Colour Test, evaluates your colour vision to determine if you have a deficiency or if you are colour blind.

The most common causes of poor colour vision include:

• Genetics
• Ageing
• Certain medications or diseases such as glaucoma
• Exposure to harmful chemicals

Slit-lamp examination

Your eye care professional will use a slit lamp and a microscope that magnifies and illuminates the front of the eye to examine the eyelids, lashes, cornea, iris, lens, and fluid chamber between the cornea and iris.

Retinal examination

Sometimes referred to as an ophthalmoscopy or funduscopy, a retinal examination allows your eye doctor to evaluate the back of your eye. This includes the retina, optic disk and blood vessels that nourish the retina.

Screening for glaucoma

Along with a complete eye exam, screening for glaucoma includes the diagnostic test and ocular tonometry. Tonometry is a procedure that measures the fluid pressure inside the eye.

If you are a Discovery Vitality rewards member and are 60 years old or above, you can earn points for having a glaucoma screening with us.