Not sure what to expect from your first eye exam? We’re here to clear up the uncertainty.
At Heritage, we believe everyone should take advantage of regular eye exams, even if their eyesight is great! Eye exams often give doctors a window into your overall health, and can detect conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and cancer.
Scheduling your annual eye check-up is the first step toward maintaining your healthy vision. Heritage works over 31,000 providers nation-wide, with some locations offering tele-health exams for added convenience. It is also necessary to get a prescription for vision correction, should you need it. Here’s what you need to know to get ready.
Preparing for Your First Eye Exam
You won’t need to bring much to your first eye exam, but there are a couple points to consider.
First, your care provider will probably ask about your medical history, so you may want to take some notes about your own history as well as your biological family’s.
Plan for your appointment to take about an hour, although it probably won’t take that long.
An eye dilation is not necessary for every appointment, and some doctors use Optomap as an alternative. If you expect your provider to dilate your eyes, please bring sunglasses, as your eyes will be sensitive to light afterwards. The effects of dilation last 4–6 hours, so you should arrange transportation for after your appointment.
Some good news: If you are a Heritage member, you won’t need to bring an ID card with you! Simply give the Heritage provider your identifying information (name, date of birth, and the name of your employer or group).
At the Eye Exam
There are several types of vision care providers, and they will run different kinds of tests with different types of equipment.
Your care provider will check how your eyes are functioning with a series of straightforward tests. They may:
- Ask you to follow their finger or a pen with your eyes while keeping your head still. This test checks your eyes’ ability to track movement.
- Cover one of your eyes at a time while focusing on a target, to see how well your eyes work together.
- Shine a light in each eye to observe your eyelids, eyelashes, and the whites of your eyes, and check how your pupil responds to changes in light.
- Cover one of your eyes at a time and ask you to read smaller and smaller letters from a chart. This tests how sharp your vision is at a distance.
- Ask you to keep your eyes still while they move a target around to the side of your head, to check the range of your peripheral vision.
- Check your visual field for blind spots. In this test, you will focus on a target while lights appear in other places around it.
Your care provider may also want to take some more detailed images and measurements of the less-accessible parts of your eyes. They’ll use more sophisticated equipment and procedures to do so. These may include:
- Non-contact tonometry: This is often called the “air puff test.” It checks the pressure of the fluids inside your eye, and can be used to test for glaucoma.
- Slit lamp: You’ll place your chin and forehead against a headrest, and your provider will use a bright light that’s focused down to a thin line, to illuminate the physical structures, like membranes and blood vessels, so your care provider can check for problems.
- Ophthalmoscopy: To get a closer examination of your retina, your care provider may need to dilate your eyes. They’ll use eye drops to expand your pupils, which will wear off after a few hours.
- Phoropter/refraction testing: In refraction testing, your provider will ask you to look through a device called a phoropter to determine the right corrective lens prescription for your vision. You’ll look at a target while your provider places lens options in front of your eyes and asks you which is better.
And that’s it—you’re all done!
Eye exams are an essential part of regular healthcare, even if you’re not someone who wears or needs corrective lenses.
And remember, eye exams are for your whole family. Infants through preschoolers should be tested at least once to ensure development, while school-aged children should be tested every 1–2 years. Adults should be tested every 1–2 years, especially if they are wearing corrective lenses. Seniors should schedule eye exams annually to monitor for cataracts and macular degeneration.
So, check your Benefits at a Glance package to maximize your coverage, and remember to take advantage of your eligible eye exam provided by your Heritage vision insurance benefit!
Use our provider search and schedule an exam today!