How Eye Exams Work at Lloydminster’s Violet Eyes Optometry

Did you know that your eye is the only place on your body that we can see your blood vessels at work without having to do surgery? This means that we can find and even diagnose diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol just by looking at your eyes! At Violet Eyes Optometry, our doctors and staff strive to provide eye care that is prompt, professional, family-friendly, and personalized for you! We are also proud to practise within a wheelchair-friendly facility, and serve patients of all ages, so come on in and get an eye exam in Lloydminster today!

Comprehensive Eye Exams

What happens during a comprehensive eye exam? Unlike simple sight testing, such as testing how far you can see clearly, comprehensive eye exams are done by licensed optometrists who are doctors using sophisticated equipment. Your comprehensive eye exam may include:

• Discussing vision health history and needs, such as your visual requirements for work, school, and sports
• Measuring the visual acuity of your eyes – how clearly you see near and far
• Measuring your prescription or focusing power of your eye
• Measuring binocular vision
• Assessing colour vision
• Assessing your eye health using equipment and techniques like pupil dilation
• Glaucoma screening and peripheral vision testing

Your knowledge matters, so ask questions! You can expect your eye care examination to have these key components:

1. Preliminary Testing
   • This is done by our optometric assistants. They will collect basic information about your eye health history, medical history, and visual requirements for work, school, and everyday life. They will then measure your current glasses if you wear glasses and take power and curvature readings of your eyes. They will also conduct glaucoma screening and retinal screening, and take a retinal photo.
2. Refraction and Binocular Vision
   • Here, your optometrist will measure your eyes to find the right prescription. A highly detailed process, years of school and experienced clinical judgement go into finding a patient’s prescription.
3. Ocular Health Examination
   • Your optometrist will then conduct a thorough examination of your eye, from the eyelids to the optic nerve and beyond that.
4. Personalized Patient Counseling

Lastly, we’ll discuss your eye health and provide you with professional, personalized advice. If you require prescription eyewear, we will recommend products for you.

Our Services

Here is a list of services we offer at Violet Eyes Optometry:

• LASIK assessment
• Children’s eye exam for lazy eye (including cycloplegic eye drops)
• Multifocal, toric, and spherical contact lens fitting
• Keratoconus, orthokeratology, and specialty contact lens fitting
• Corneal topography
• Ocular photography
• OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) for glaucoma, macular, and retinal scanning
• Macular degeneration assessment (including dilation and OCT)
• Glaucoma assessment (including dilation, visual fields, and OCT)
• Cataract assessment (including dilation and specialist referral if required)

Don’t be intimidated by the big words! Your optometrist will walk you through every step and provide explanations.

Recommendations

Two very common questions are: how often should I get my eyes checked out and when should my child get their first eye exam? We recommend that:

• Infants have their first exam between 6 and 9 months
• At least one exam between ages 2 and 5
• School age children should be checked annually
• Adults between 18-64 that do not wear contact lenses should be checked every two years
• Adults that have diabetes, wear contact lenses or have sight threatening conditions be checked annually
• Seniors (age 65+) should also get their eyes checked once a year

Please note that we also accept emergency and partial appointments.

If you think you may have an eye infection, a foreign body, or any visual discomfort or disturbance, please contact us now. For eye exams in Lloydminster, visit Violet Eyes Optometry.