Before you come in, a few things to remember:
Come in a little earlier:
If you can, please arrive 10-15 minutes before your eye exam so there’s plenty of time to check through your details and get you ready for your appointment.
If you wear glasses:
Please bring your current pair along with you.
If you wear contact lenses:
Please bring your contact lenses and, if you use them, case and solution, as you’ll need to remove your lenses for the exam.
List of your medication
It’s useful for your optometrist to know all the medications, supplements and eye drops you’re currently using, even if it isn’t directly related to an eye health problem. There are several medications that can impact your eyes, vision and management plans following your eye exam. Knowing your medication, dosage and how often you take this helps your optometrist to provide you with the best care possible.
Vision insurance details:
If you’re a vision plan member, you can get a comprehensive eye exam, including an OCT 3D eye scan with no or low out-of-pocket expense. Even better, with many insurance companies we can bill direct, saving you time and hassle. Find out more
To save yourself a bit of time in store, you can have a look through our range of glasses online and put together a wish list of your favourites. Then we can help you with those frames and any others you’d like to look at when you come in for your appointment.
Diagnostic testing and optometrist consultation
Each test room is thoroughly cleaned before each person we see, and we’ll be using protective equipment where required. We’re also limiting the number of people in our consulting rooms to just you, the optometrist and eyecare consultant, but carers are welcome to come in if needed.
Diagnostic testing
Before you see your optometrist, one of our eyecare consultants will carry out some diagnostic tests. These tests provide the optometrist with important information to help them assess the health of your eyes.
The first piece of equipment is a Tonoref, which measures the internal pressure of your eyes, generates an approximate measure of your vision and scans the curvature and thickness of the front surface of your eye. These tests help the optometrist to assess your vision and identify any potential risk of eye conditions.
The tonometry test measures the internal pressure of your eyes by blowing a gentle puff of air onto the surface of each eye. This is one of several eye health checks that allows the optometrist to assess your risk of developing glaucoma.
After this, you'll have an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan, which creates an advanced 3D image of the back of your eye. This allows your optometrist to analyze the structures of your eye and identify early signs of potential eye diseases, often well before they cause you any vision problems.
These scans are saved as part of your record and are really useful in monitoring your eye health over time.
If you have an existing prescription and have brought your glasses along with you, the eyecare consultant will use a lensometer to measure your existing prescription.
Optometrist consultation
Once your diagnostic tests are all done, you’re ready to see the optometrist.
Please note that for the optometrist to do their job properly, at times during the eye exam they’ll need to be closer to you than social distancing recommendations. At all times, they’ll be complying with regulatory guidelines set out for health care professionals.
Your optometrist will start by discussing your eye health history, family history and how they can help you with your visual needs or any problems you may be experiencing. They’ll also review the information from your diagnostic tests and talk through the results with you.
During your eye exam, your optometrist will carry out a series of further assessments tailored to your visual needs. These are done to check your vision, the health of your eyes, and look for any other signs of medical conditions that could be affecting your eyes.
To check your vision, your optometrist will perform a refraction test – this determines whether you need prescription lenses, and if so, which prescription you need to help you see clearly.
To check the health of the front and back of your eyes, your optometrist will use a slit-lamp and lens. This is a microscope which is used to examine the health of your eyes from front to back.
After this the optometrist will be able to make vision and eye health recommendations based on your needs, or you might need some further eye health assessments.
One of these additional assessments is a visual field test. This is a non-invasive test that uses a computerized screen to determine the sensitivity of your peripheral vision and usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Visual field tests are commonly recommended for people at risk of glaucoma but may also be recommended for various other clinical reasons.
Your optometrist may also recommend a dilated fundus examination. This involves adding some painless eye drops to enlarge your pupils so that your optometrist can get a wider and clearer view within your eyes. They’ll use a lens to thoroughly assess the health of your eyes, and obtain clear images with an OCT scan. Eye dilation can make your vision blurry and your eyes sensitive to light for a few hours, so it’s best to arrange for someone to drive you home if you have this test.
Frame selection and ordering
After your eye exam, you’ll be given a copy of your prescription and we’ll help you choose some frames and lenses, or contact lenses, to suit your prescription and lifestyle needs.
We’ll start with the wish list that you brought in with you, but we can also help you with any other frames that you’d like to look at on the day.
We’ll be cleaning any glasses that have been touched and tried on throughout the day so that we keep everything as clean and hygienic as possible.
Once you’ve found the pair for you, the eyecare consultant will take careful measurements to make sure your new glasses fit perfectly. This is done using digital precision eyecare tech, which helps the eyecare consultant to get all the measurements needed to fit your lenses.
Then they’ll show you how different lens options can enhance your glasses to suit your lifestyle needs using a ‘real time’ demonstration.
Once they’re all done with your measurements, the eyecare consultant will send your measurements and lens selections to the lab where your glasses will be custom-made for you. They’ll also let you know when your glasses will be ready to be collected.
