Eye Exams

Scheduling regular eye exams is necessary to protect your sight. At offices in Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Titusville, and Rockledge, Florida, expert ophthalmologists Hetal Vaishnav, MD, Gary Ganiban, MD, and the Atlantic Retina Consultants team provide comprehensive eye exams and retinal checks. Even if you don’t have sight problems, you should schedule exams at intervals your eye doctor recommends. Call Atlantic Retina Consultants or book an eye exam online today.

What is an eye exam?

An eye exam is a routine consultation at Atlantic Retina Consultants. Your eye doctor assesses your sight and looks for signs of eye and retinal problems.

Eye exams help you avoid disease and ensure that you get prompt treatment if any problems develop. You can also get the right corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses if you need them.

What conditions can an eye exam detect?

Diseases your eye doctor checks for during an eye exam include:

• Glaucoma
• Cataracts
• Macular degeneration
• Dry eye
• Diabetic retinopathy

Atlantic Retina Consultants specializes in diagnosing and treating retinal conditions, including tears, detachment, retinal vein occlusion, macular degeneration, and cystoid macular edema.

The earlier that these conditions are diagnosed and treated, the more successful the outcomes will likely be.

What does an eye exam involve?

First, your eye doctor examines your medical history and asks about any problems you’ve had. You also need to undergo tests, including:

Visual acuity

Visual acuity tests are where you read letters of different sizes on an eye chart. This determines how well each eye sees at a distance.

Corrective lens prescription

Your eye doctor uses a phoropter device to determine the corrective glasses or contact lenses prescription that you might need.

Pupil reactivity

Your eye doctor shines a bright light into each eye to see how your pupils respond. They should shrink when the light is on them, then widen again when it is moved away.

Peripheral vision assessment

This test checks how well you can see at the edges of your range of vision (periphery). Poor peripheral vision can be a symptom of glaucoma.

Ocular motility

An ocular motility test checks how well your eyes move. Your eye doctor uses this test to ensure that your eye alignment is correct and that the muscles controlling your eye movements function correctly.

Tonometry

Tonometry measures the pressure inside your eyeball (intraocular pressure or IOP). Raised IOP can be a symptom of glaucoma.

Structural evaluation

Eye doctors use slit-lamp microscopes to examine the front of your eye in detail. They look for problems like cataracts and scars on your cornea and check the inside of your eyelids.

Your doctor might use eyedrops to dilate your pupils. This helps them examine the retinas and optic nerves at the backs of your eyes.

Some people benefit from additional procedures, like optical coherence tomography (OCT) and retinal photography. These noninvasive tests provide a closer view of your retina.

If you’re due for an eye exam, call Atlantic Retina Consultants or book an appointment online today.