Contact Lens Exam

If you are interested in contact lenses, but don’t know where to start, this post is for you. It can seem a little bit intimidating at first, but rest assured, the team at Sight To See Eyecare & Eyewear will be with you every step of the way. Let’s put those nerves to rest and walk you through what an average contact lens exam will look like.

Step 1 - Comprehensive Eye Exam.

Every contact lens exam begins with a comprehensive eye exam. If this is your first time at the eye doctor, you can read our post about what a comprehensive eye exam entails. In short, we will determine your refractive error and overall eye health. This includes entrance testing such as eye movements, pupils, peripheral vision, depth perception, and eye alignment. It also includes tests to check for signs of diseases outside and inside the eye, like glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetes, and more.

Step 2 - Evaluation

Contact lenses are a medical device, and because of that, there are things that we need to evaluate before we put one on your eye. Your optometrist will evaluate your tear film and how dry your eyes are. If you have chronic dry eyes, or an insufficient tear film, contact lenses might not be the best option for you. Additionally, your optometrist will measure the curvature as well as pupil size of your eyes

Step 3 - Contact Lens Preferences

Next, we’ll determine what you want to wear contacts for. For example, are you interested in ditching the glasses? Or maybe you want to wear them for special occasions only. Would you prefer daily disposable lenses or overnight contacts? We will go over the advantages and disadvantages of each modality, and if you’re over 40, we will discuss age-related changes to vision and how we can use contacts to address these.

Step 4 - Insertion and Removal

The next step is sitting down with one of our team members to learn how to insert and remove the contact lenses. It may take you a little while, and that’s okay! Purposefully poking yourself in your eye is definitely not a natural feeling. We will give you instructions and tips in order to make it as easy as possible, but some people may take longer than others. If you can’t get the contacts in or out during the class, we can always reschedule another class on a different day. Instead of making your eyes red and angry, sometimes it's best to take a break, regroup, and come at it again refreshed.

Step 5 - Contact Lens Fitting

Once inserted, your eye doctor will examine the lenses in your eyes to ensure a good fit. Each lens has a different base curve and diameter, and will fit differently on different patient’s eyes. We will check the alignment and movement of the lenses on the surface of your eye and if the fit looks good, the last step is to ensure the prescription is correct with a few more tests.

Now It’s Your Turn To Test It Out

Your contact lens exam is over, but if you’re a new contact lens wearer, you’ll need to come back. Your doctor will usually have you wear the trial lenses for a week. After that, you’ll have a short follow-up exam to confirm that the lenses are working well for you and you can then order a supply of contact lenses. If this is your first contact lens exam, don’t worry, we are here to answer any questions you may have.

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