Eye Exams

Annual eye exams reduce your risk of common vision problems and present an easy, effective way to monitor your ocular health. At Meriden Eye Care, LLC, with offices in Meriden and Fairfield, Connecticut, skilled optometrist Luiza Youssefi, DO, and the team provide eye exams to people of all ages. Whether you need to update your eyeglasses prescription or want to monitor the effects of diabetes on your eyes, the team can help. Call the nearest Meriden Eye Care, LLC, office to schedule an eye exam, or book your appointment online today.

How often should I schedule an eye exam?

The Meriden Eye Care, LLC, team encourages people 18 and older to schedule an eye exam every one or two years. You might need to schedule more frequent eye exams if you:

• Are 60 or older
• Have a health problem, like diabetes, that increases the risk of vision problems
• Have a history of eye surgery or eye injuries

If you wear eyeglasses or contact lenses, you will need an annual eye exam to renew your prescription.

Most eye problems develop slowly and present few obvious symptoms. Regular visits to Meriden Eye Care, LLC, can alert you to underlying issues and keep them from worsening.

What happens during eye exams?

At Meriden Eye Care, LLC, eye exams average 30-45 minutes. No two eye exams are exactly alike, but they typically include several of the following tests:

Visual acuity

During a visual acuity test, you look at a chart across the room with letters of varying sizes. You cover one eye at a time and read the letters. You also read the letters through lenses on a device called a phoropter to help your provider determine your eyeglasses or contact prescription.

Automatic refraction

This test is used to diagnose vision problems in infants and toddlers. It involves your child’s optometrist shining a light into their eyes and measuring the response.

Corneal topography

This test uses computer imaging to create a map of your cornea. Specifically, it measures the curvature of your cornea and helps determine the fit for contact lenses.

Slit-lamp exam

Prior to a slit-lamp exam, your optometrist dilates your eyes with special eye drops. They then use a tool called a slit-lamp to magnify different parts of your eye and identify problems or changes.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT)

OCT is an imaging procedure that captures photos of the structures at the back of your eyes, like the retina and optic nerve. It’s a noninvasive and painless way to catch potentially serious problems like diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.

What types of problems can eye exams diagnose?

The Meriden Eye Care, LLC, team uses eye exams to diagnose various eye problems, including:

• Refractive errors, like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism
• Changes in vision, like cataracts and low vision
• Glaucoma
• Macular degeneration
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Tumors and eye cancer
• Problems with the muscles in the eyes
• Dry eyes
• Screen-related eye strain

Eye exams can even identify underlying health problems that increase your risk of vision loss, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes.

Routine eye exams are important even if your eyes are healthy. Regular checkups reduce your risk of age-related vision problems and present an opportunity to update your prescription if you wear eyeglasses and/or contact lenses.

Call the nearest Meriden Eye Care, LLC, office to schedule an eye exam for yourself or your child, or book your appointment online today.