You visit the eye doctor to check your eyesight, right? That's only part of the reason to visit our optometrist in Maple Ridge. There two types of eye health we're concerned with: the way your eyes work and how healthy they are. Each item requires a different type of eye test. At Maple Ridge Eye Care, we combine the two into a comprehensive eye health examination.

Eye Exams for Vision

Most people connect an eye exam with the need for eye glasses. The beginning of any eye examination is a vision test, which starts with the traditional image on the wall with letters of decreasing size. You'll look through a machine called a refractor/phoropter, which looks like an elaborate oversize set of glasses. While you focus on the wall and its letters, our eye doctor will switch lenses through which you can see. By comparing pairs of lenses with each other, the doctor can determine the right prescription for your eyeglasses or contact lenses.

If you decide to wear contact lenses instead of eyeglasses, we'll need to take additional measurements by shining lights into your eyes. This will determine the size and curvature of your eyeballs, so that you get the right size of contact lens for your eyes.

Whether you wear contact lenses or glasses, the result of a successful vision examination is a patient with vision that's corrected to normal.

Eye Health Exams in Maple Ridge

While a vision exam determines how well your eyes work, an eye health exam aims to find out if there is any disease or condition in the eyes themselves. We begin by giving you eye drops which dilate your eyes, making the pupil open up wider than normal. The wider pupil allows our doctor to see inside your eye more clearly. Early detection is crucial for treating many serious eye conditions, and you may be surprised with a diagnosis before even noticing any symptoms. Among the problems an eye health exam can discover are:

• Cataracts, which form when proteins in the eyeball clump together on the lens, causing yellowing and cloudiness in the vision. If left untreated, cataracts can result in blindness
• Glaucoma, which is caused by increased pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma damages the retina, doing permanent harm to vision, but can be controlled through medication if found early enough
• Diabetic retinopathy, which affects the eyes of people with diabetes. It can be controlled with medication and by regulating your blood sugar, but can cause blindness in the worst cases

Checking for a new eyeglass prescription is only the beginning of a comprehensive eye examination. To make an appointment with our optometrist in Maple Ridge, call 604-463-4469 today.