Routine Eye Exams

The staff at Wills Eye Physicians Paoli provides routine eye exams for patients of all ages (pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric). Regular eye exams are an invaluable tool in maintaining your eyes’ health by detecting and preventing disease. Some diseases develop slowly without causing pain or vision loss. Early detection of any problems can reduce the risk of further harm and allow for a choice of treatment options.

The staff at Wills Eye Physicians Paoli provides routine eye exams for patients of all ages (pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric). Regular eye exams are an invaluable tool in maintaining your eyes’ health by detecting and preventing disease. Some diseases develop slowly without causing pain or vision loss. Early detection of any problems can reduce the risk of further harm and allow for a choice of treatment options.

Benefits of a Comprehensive Eye Examination

A comprehensive eye exam should be performed once every year. Children should have regular tests to ensure that their vision is normal so that their schoolwork does not suffer. Older adults are at higher risk for eye conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts. During a comprehensive eye examination, simple refractive errors are detected, and serious eye problems or diseases, including the following, are diagnosed:

• Amblyopia (lazy eye)
• Strabismus
• Eye-tracking difficulty
• Glaucoma
• Diabetic retinopathy

Even in younger, healthy adults who are asymptomatic, a regular eye examination is essential. Serious medical conditions, such as high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure, can be detected, allowing patients to seek treatment early.

The Comprehensive Eye Examination Procedure

A comprehensive eye examination differs from a vision screening. The latter only tests visual acuity, and is commonly performed by a school nurse, optician, pediatrician or other healthcare provider.

In order to evaluate the eyes thoroughly and detect any problems, the following tests are performed:

• Visual acuity
• Visual field
• Retinal examination under pupil dilation
• Slit-lamp
• Tonometry (tests intraocular pressure (IOP))
• Keratometry (measures the curvature of the cornea)
• Refraction

Tonometry checks for the presence of glaucoma, and keratometry for astigmatism. All of the above tests are safe for all patients.