When it comes to maintaining your eye health, regular eye exams are crucial. Ideally, it should be a simple process where your optometrist examines your eye, checks your vision, and tailors advice and additional procedures if necessary.
While we do our part, you can also help keep the process smooth. So, should you wear your contacts to an eye exam? The answer depends on what kind of eye exam you’re getting. You shouldn’t wear your contacts to a routine eye exam, but if you’re getting a contact lens exam then do wear them.
In either case, you should bring your contacts and glasses with you when you visit. Your optometrist needs to see what you’re using to understand how to serve you better.
What Are the Different Exams?
Before we jump into specifics, it’s important to distinguish between an eye exam and a contact lens exam. Both are essential but serve different purposes.
Comprehensive Eye Exam
An eye exam evaluates your overall eye health and vision. Your optometrist examines various aspects of your eyes, checking for conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. Eye exams even help identify general health issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
You shouldn’t wear your contacts for this type of exam since we want to see how your eye functions without any correction. However, please bring your contacts in! Depending on your exam results, we may ask to see them.
Contact Lens Exam
A contact lens exam, on the other hand, focuses specifically on your contact lenses’ fit and comfort. When your optometrist first fits you for contacts, this is the type of exam you’ll undergo.
You won’t be able to wear your own contacts for the very first exam, but your optometrist may provide samples of disposable contact lenses for you to try. During this process, we determine your prescription, measure your cornea, and offer fitting lenses for you to take home and test out.
Follow-up exams are about getting your contacts to work for you, so you should wear them to the exam. We can assess how your lenses sit on your eye, check their condition, and determine if they’re providing proper vision correction for you.
What Happens During Each Exam?
Understanding what occurs during each type of exam can help you prepare better and know what to expect.
Comprehensive Eye Exams
In a comprehensive eye exam, we perform:
- A visual acuity test: You’ll read letters from a chart to determine how well you see at various distances.
- A refraction assessment: We’ll identify the exact prescription needed for corrective lenses.
- An eye health evaluation: Using specialized tools and additional tests if necessary, we examine the front and back parts of your eye.
Contact Lens Exams & Fittings
In exams and fittings for contact lenses, we will check:
- Fit and comfort: We determine the proper fit for your contact lenses to promote comfort, visual acuity, and proper protection.
- Eye health: We can check for potential side effects of contacts, such as dry eyes or corneal abrasions, and recommend solutions.
- Prescription accuracy: We’ll determine if your prescription needs adjustment by testing your vision with your contacts.
Preparing for Your Eye Exam
When it comes to a routine comprehensive eye exam, remove your contact lenses a couple of hours before your appointment. Contacts can temporarily alter the shape of your cornea, which might affect the accuracy of your exam. Wear your glasses to the exam instead. Not only does this keep your eyes in their most natural state, but we can also use this as an opportunity to inspect your glasses.
Although you shouldn’t wear them, bring your contacts and any related documentation. We may need to review your current prescription and lens type.
Why You Should Wear Contacts to a Contact Lens Exam
Conversely, when preparing for a contact lens exam, wearing your contacts is crucial. This exam is all about how your lenses interact with your eyes in everyday life. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Treat it like a normal day: We need to observe how your lenses fit and perform after being worn for a typical duration, so wear your contacts just like you would on any other day.
- Be honest about comfort: If you experience discomfort, dryness, or any other issues, mention these during the exam. This information helps us make necessary adjustments or recommend alternative options.
- Follow any instructions: Sometimes, your optometrist may request you to wear the contacts for a specific period before the exam or even ask you not to wear them. Follow these instructions for an accurate assessment.
Bring Your Glasses, Too
While contacts are essential for the exam, don’t forget to bring your glasses, too. Glasses serve as a backup for your contacts, and we’ll want to ensure your pair is accurate as well. They also provide a baseline for your vision correction, helping us compare your vision with and without contact lenses. This can highlight any discrepancies and help fine-tune your prescription.
Get Ready for Your Next Eye Exam with Pinnacle Eyecare
Taking care of your eyes is a vital part of overall health, and regular eye exams play a crucial role. By bringing both your contact lenses and glasses to your appointment, you provide us with the information needed to offer the care you deserve.
If you’re ready to book your next eye exam, our friendly and knowledgeable team at Pinnacle Eyecare is here to help. Schedule an appointment with us today and experience the difference personalized eye care can make.
