You know how many of us dread visiting the dentist? Well, you shouldn’t dread about visiting your optometrist. Optometrist use a variety of tests and procedures to exam your eyes. These tests and procedures include having you read an eye chart and using a high-powered lens to visualize the tiny structures inside of your eyes. Doesn’t that sound so fun and interesting?

A comprehensive eye exam takes approximately an hour or more. This depends on your optometrist and the difficulty of test required to evaluate your vision and the health of your eyes. Here are the eye and vision tests that your optometrist will likely conduct during your comprehensive eye exam:

  1. Visual Acuity Test

One of the first tests performed in a comprehensive eye exam is a visual acuity test. A visual acuity test measures the sharpness of your vision. A projected eye chart is used to measure your distance visual acuity, as well as a small acuity chart to measure your near vision.

  1. Color Blindness Test

In order to check your color vision, a color blindness test is performed to rule out color blindness. In addition to detecting color blindness, color blindness test can alert your optometrist about possible eye health problems that can affect your color vision.

  1. Cover Test

A cover test is performed to check how your eyes work together. During this test, your optometrist will ask you to focus on a small object across the room. Then, your optometrist will cover each of your eyes alternately while you focus on that small object. The test is also repeated with you focusing on a near object.

This test allows your optometrist to assess whether the uncovered eye must move to pick up the focused target. This indicates strabismus or a binocular vision problem that can cause eye strain or lazy eye.

  1. Eye Movements Testing

Eye movements testing is performed to assess how well your eyes can follow a moving object and quickly move between and accurately fixate on two separate targets. If you have problems with eye movements, this can cause eye strain and affect your reading ability, sports vision, and other skills.

  1. Depth Perception test

In a depth perception test, you wear a pair or 3D glasses and look at test patterns. Each pattern has four small circles and you have to point out which circle in each pattern looks closer to you than the other three circles.

  1. Retinoscopy

Optometrist often perform a retinoscopy to obtain an approximation of your eyeglass prescription. The room lights will be dimmed and your optometrist will ask you to focus on a large target. Your optometrist then shines a light at your eye and flip lenses in a machine to test which lens power will best correct your distance vision.

  1. Refraction

Optometrist perform a refraction test to determine your exact eyeglass prescription. Your optometrist puts the instrument called a phoropter in front of your eyes and shows you a series of lens choices. Then your optometrist will ask you which of the two lenses in each choice looks clearer.

  1. Autorefractors and Aberrometers

Your optometrist may use autorefractors and aberrometers to estimate your eyeglass prescription. This determines the lens power that is required to accurately focus light on your retina.

  1. Slit Lamp Exam

In a slit lamp exam, your optometrist uses a binocular microscope to examine the structures of the front of your years including lens, iris, eyelids, cornea, and conjunctiva under high magnification.

  1. Glaucoma Test

A glaucoma test starts with measuring the pressure inside your eyes. Optometrist will be able to examine your eye’s resistance to the puff of air to check if you may be at risk for or have glaucoma.

Hopefully we’ve helped shed some light on the topic, and as always – if you have any questions let us know in the comments below!

