Eye Exams

Eye exams at Eye Clinic of Austin are administered by our highly experienced optometrist Dr. Melanie Prosise with the assistance of our ophthalmic technicians. Eye Clinic of Austin is committed to the thoroughness of the eye exam to ensure no issues are left undiscovered. To schedule an eye exam, use our Online Scheduler or call us at (512) 427-1100.

Your Health History

Eye Clinic of Austin eye exams consist of several different elements performed in various stages to evaluate the complete visual system. One of the most important parts of the eye exam is discussing and documenting your health history, including personal medical history and family medical history for not only your eyes, but general health as well. If you are a new patient, you can print and fill out new patient forms before coming into the office.

Physical Exam & Eye Chart

After reviewing health history, a physical examination of visual functions will begin. First, Dr. Prosise and our team physically examine the eye and your eyesight is tested by reading an eye chart at various distances. If this test shows that your vision is less than perfect, a refraction will be performed.

Refraction

A refraction is a test to determine each eye’s refractive error. Using a phoropter, a series of lenses in graded powers are presented to determine which provides sharpest, clearest vision. The test is a required separate element of most visits at Eye Clinic of Austin and is used to create prescriptions for glasses and/or contact lenses and/or to evaluate possible changes in vision due to medical conditions. This is essential in order to determine if a decrease in vision is due to only a need for glasses, which is easy to correct, or if another medical reason exists. Dr. Prosise will also test your pupil function, peripheral vision, muscles, and for double vision.

Slit Lamp Exam

Next, a slit lamp examination is performed. The slit lamp is a binocular microscope that the eye doctor uses to examine your eyes under high magnification. During this portion of the exam the eye doctor is able to closely examine your eyelids, whites of your eyes (sclera & conjunctiva), your cornea, pupil, iris and your crystalline lens.

During the slit lamp exam, the optometrist will use some anesthetic eye drops to numb your eyes then using a tonometer will measure the fluid pressure of your eyes to determine if you might have glaucoma. This is painless. The doctor will simply touch your eye with the tonometer probe, which has a smooth plastic surface, for a few seconds.

The back of your eye can also be examined with a very bright light on the slit lamp after your eyes have been dilated or by using the Optomap® Retinal Exam without dilation. Dilating drops are used to enlarge the pupil so that the doctor can get a good view using an ophthalmoscope of the back of your eye to examine and evaluate your retina, blood vessels and optic nerve. The doctor will also use a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope to perform a panoramic view of the entirety of the back of your eye to look for retinal holes, tears, detachments, moles, tumors or abnormal blood vessels.

Corrective Lenses

Once all the tests have concluded, any eye health issues will be discussed with you. At this time the eye doctor can also answer any questions or concerns. We will then determine which corrective lenses would be best to prescribe, whether it’s prescription glasses and/or contact lenses, including the type and brand.