Comprehensive Eye Exams
Beyond 20/20 Vision
Understanding Vision Beyond 20/20
Seeing 20/20 means you can clearly identify a specific letter on a standard eye chart from 20 feet away—essentially what a person with normal vision should be able to see at that distance. But there’s so much more to healthy vision than just seeing clearly from a distance!
Our comprehensive functional eye exams go beyond the basics, evaluating essential visual skills that contribute to your overall vision and eye health. The best eye exam is a comprehensive functional vision exam.
Key Visual Skills We Assess
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Is your vision clear and sharp when focusing on objects up close? Clear sight at short distances is crucial for daily activities like reading, writing, working on computers, and other close work.
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Do your eyes work together as a coordinated team? Proper eye alignment and coordination are vital for activities that require depth perception and binocular vision. Weaknesses in these areas can lead to issues like convergence insufficiency or poor depth perception.
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Do the eyes maintain clear vision at varying distances? Rapid, automatic eye focus adjustment is critical to learning, reading, writing, sports, etc. Deficiencies can cause visual fatigue, reduced reading comprehension, and/or avoidance of close work or other activities.
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Do eye movements show adequate muscle control, tracking, fixation? In the classroom, normal eye movements allow rapid and accurate shifting of the eyes along with a line of print or from book to desk to board, etc. In sports, efficient eye movements contribute to eye-hand coordination, visual reaction time, and accurate tracking. Weaknesses in eye movement and eye tracking skills can cause numerous difficulties, including reading avoidance and/or poor reading skills, speed, concentration, and comprehension.
These are just a few of the many visual skills we evaluate during our comprehensive functional vision exams. In addition, we thoroughly assess the health of your eyes, inside and out, checking for potential issues such as Convergence Insufficiency, Accommodative Insufficiency, Oculomotor Dysfunction (tracking deficit), cataracts, glaucoma, hypertension, and diabetes.
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Vision Exams for Children
The American Optometric Association recommends that children undergo complete eye exams at six months, three years, and five years of age. It's especially important for your child to have a comprehensive functional evaluation before starting Kindergarten.
In addition, we perform visual processing examinations to assess vision problems that can interfere with learning. Once in school, yearly eye exams help ensure their vision supports their academic success.
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Vision Exams for Adults
For adults, the American Optometric Association advises yearly eye exams. These exams are crucial not only for detecting and diagnosing vision changes but also for maintaining overall eye health. Conditions like glaucoma can develop without obvious symptoms, making regular check-ups essential for early detection and prevention.
Regular functional vision examinations are also important for the prevention of vision problems created or aggravated by today’s intense academic and professional vision demands.
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Vision in the 21st Century
Modern life places more demands on our vision than ever before. Whether at work or home, we constantly use our near vision, often in environments that strain our eyes—like excessive computer use or prolonged close work.
These stresses can lead to headaches, eye strain, and other visual difficulties, which can be effectively managed with lenses, prisms or Vision Therapy.
Good vision happens through a person’s brain, mind and body connection, not just in a set of eyeballs!
So, while poets say that the eyes
are the windows to the soul, optometrists say that the eyes are the windows to the brain, mind and body. Dr. Malhotra will examine and test the entire visual system in order to determine the very best prescription and holistic vision care treatment plan.