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Comprehensive Eye Exams performed by our optometrists are important for determining your refraction (what strength your eyes have), your binocularity (eye coordination) and your ocular health (including but not limited to cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy).
A yearly assessment can detect ocular problems before they become sight-threatening. Our optometrists are quite comfortable in examining all age groups. Infants, children and the special needs population do not need to know how to communicate in order to get a comprehensive exam.
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As most people age, their vision needs change. There are many diseases of the eye which become more common with aging. Some of these diseases do not give rise to signs or symptoms (eg. glaucoma and early macular degeneration). There are also “normal” changes of vision with age in which our eyes are not as sensitive as previously.
It has been shown that people with poorer vision have more falls, more clinical depression, experience less independence and privacy, more social isolation, decreased cognitive function and decreased quality of life. Yet, 75% of vision loss is preventable or treatable. A comprehensive eye health examination is the key to preserving your vision and making it last a lifetime.
Our state-of-the-art equipment will help earlier detection of age-related diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Vision perception is essentially a child’s ability to interpret what he or she sees. A child may have “20/20” vision, but that doesn’t mean that he or she can understand what he or she is seeing. Perceptual skills evolve through a natural process of development at a predictable rate. Through these skills, a child gains understanding of classification (organizing information according to specific features and analyzing the information for the acquisition of knowledge).
Visual analysis skills are reflected in mastery of the directionality conventions (eg. systematic counting and left to right in reading), in the ability to remember codes (eg. printed letters, numbers, their specifics and relationships), and in the ability to retain information. Analysis of these skills can answer certain questions such as: Why is my child always reversing letters?
80% of learning occurs through the eyes. Ensuring your child has good vision is crucial to successful learning and overall healthy development. Unfortunately, according to the Ontario Association of Optometrists, as many as 43% of children with vision problems are able to pass a screening test.
That is why a comprehensive eye exam by a Doctor of Optometry is important. Our optometrists can ensure that your school-aged children have:
Both a comprehensive and contact lens exam is critical to determining the best fitting contact lenses for you. A poor fitting contact lens is not only uncomfortable, but it can compromise vision and the health of your eyes. Once we have examined your eyes, we will recommend the most suitable type and send you home with a pair of trial contact lenses. Our staff will fully train you on how to insert, remove and clean/disinfect your new contact lenses.
Once you have had a chance to wear and adapt to your contacts, you will return to our clinic where the doctor will ensure that you are satisfied with the contacts and are adapting well. If necessary, changes will be made and new trial lenses will be ordered. Otherwise, a supply of contact lenses can then be ordered.
As we spend more time on our smart phones, computers and tablets, our eyes are under more strain. Digital eyestrain is not exclusive to digital device use; rather it is the intense focus on detailed tasks or close objects for an extended period of time. Tearing, irritation, redness, dryness, sore neck, shoulders and back, blurry vision and light sensitivity are common symptoms of digital eyestrain.
Studies show that blue light has more to do with sleep disturbances than digital use. Although these devices emit blue light, the greatest source of blue light is the sun and the brain regulates our sleep/wake cycle based on these signals. Excessive use of these devices, including watching television or using your phone before going to bed can disrupt your sleep pattern leading to sleep loss.
It is important to remember the “20-20-20” rule when doing intense close work—for every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look 20 feet away. This way your eye muscles can relax. It is equally important to blink often to avoid dry, irritated eyes.
These are all signs of dry eyes. Our optometrists are trained and have specialized equipment to detect and properly treat the many different types of dry eyes.
We recommend regular comprehensive eye exams to optimally correct your vision and assess your ocular health. Take the following questionnaire. If your score is above 6, it's time to talk to us about dry eye disease.
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This state of the art technology produces a digital image capturing a 200 degree panoramic view of the retina compared to only 45 degrees with other technology. The retina is susceptible to a variety of diseases (such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinal tears and holes to name a few) and it is essential that these problems are found early to prevent significant vision loss. Very often these conditions can be present without you noticing any changes in your vision at all. In addition to eye disease, the retina can also reveal signs of diseases that can manifest in the body, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. For these reasons our doctors recommend an optomap at every eye exam to verify that your eye is healthy. Furthermore, since dilating eye drops are rarely required, the optomap allows for significantly reduced face-to-face interaction and safe distancing with the doctor and staff. Taking less than a second, the optomap is safe for people of all ages, including pregnant women and toddlers. For more information on the optomap ultra-wide digital imaging, please see the link below.
Optomap websiteThe OCT is an imaging system, similar to an ultrasound, that gives us a cross-section view of the optic nerve, macula and surroundings, enabling us to see what goes on behind the eye. This enables earlier detection of glaucoma, wet and dry age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinal disease, to name a few.
Our OCTOur on-site laboratory uses Mr. Blue 2.0-cutting edge technology that is capable of generating your eyewear quickly and efficiently to the highest of standards.
Some symptoms that require immediate attention include:
Swelling in or around the eye, red painful eye, significant discharge from the eye, foreign
body sensation/scratchy sensation, and sudden development of flashes and new floaters and
loss of vision.
If it is after hours and our offices are closed, you should proceed immediately to the nearest emergency department.