At St. Luke’s at The Villages, we provide comprehensive ophthalmology service, including routine and eye wellness exams, urgent care, and first-line treatment for many conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic eye disease.
What is a Comprehensive Eye Exam?
A comprehensive ophthalmologist—also referred to as a general ophthalmologist—can diagnose and treat various eye diseases, as well as prescribe and fit both eyeglasses and contact lenses. Our comprehensive ophthalmologists, along with our expert medical team, are here to ensure that your vision is optimized and to manage common ophthalmic conditions such as astigmatism and macular degeneration. Our ophthalmologists work closely with our surgical specialists to guarantee that our patients receive the highest level of care.
Comprehensive eye care is an essential part of maintaining both eye health and overall general health. Our eyes are one of the most complex organs in our body, and comprehensive eye exams evaluate our vision, along with an overall evaluation of our health. Our eyes can provide ophthalmologists with insight and information regarding our general health, specifically information related to high blood pressure and diabetes.
What Does a Comprehensive Eye Exam Consist of?
A comprehensive eye exam is an important aspect of taking care of your eyes, vision, and overall general health. A comprehensive eye exam may include, but is not limited to, some of the following things:
Patient background and history: During this part of the eye exam, your doctor will ask you about your overall health, any eye or vision problems you are currently having/experiencing, and your family history regarding eye or health conditions. Additionally, your doctor will ask about any current medications you are taking and if you believe and work-related or environmental conditions are impacting your vision.
Visual acuity: This part of the eye exam measures and evaluates how clearly each of your eyes is seeing. Most of the time, reading charts are used to measure visual acuity and you will be asked to read letters on a chart from a distance and up-close.
Retinoscopy: Depending on the results of your visual acuity test, you may have to take a test called a retinoscopy that allows your doctor to get your approximate prescription for eyeglasses. During this test, the doctor uses a retinoscope to shine a light into your eyes in order to analyze the reflex of the light from your eyes. This allows the doctor to determine your eyeglass prescription. Your doctor will also use an instrument called a phoropter to determine your focusing ability and eye alignment, further allowing the doctor to determine your most accurate prescription. Today, there are also computerized instruments available to help accurately determine your prescription.
Eye focusing, eye teaming, and eye movement testing: During the eye exam, this testing assesses if there are any problems that keep the eyes from effectively focusing or make using both eyes together difficult.
Eye health evaluation: The most important part of the comprehensive eye exam is the evaluation of your overall eye health. Pupil dilation and tests such as a slit lamp test will be conducted to determine and identify if there are any eye diseases or conditions inside the eye or in the external parts of the eye.
Why Choose St. Luke’s at the Villages for Your Next Eye Exam?
St. Luke’s highly experienced team of ophthalmologists and optometrists were each specifically chosen due to the rigorous training they have undergone, their accomplished backgrounds, their impressive levels of expertise, and their esteemed reputation among their patients. Whether you need a prescription for eyeglasses, an annual eye exam, or continued care for a non-surgical eye condition, our team of experts is here to help and to get you one step closer to achieving life-changing vision.
An annual eye exam is often overlooked, but it is an extremely necessary and preventive measure. A routine, comprehensive eye exam can not only help in diagnosing and treating eye diseases but can also help uncover general health problems that you are unaware of. Don’t delay—schedule your exam today! Call 352-775-0080.
We proudly serve patients at our eye clinics in Tarpon Springs, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Spring Hill, Wesley Chapel and in The Villages at Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood. Our philosophy is to treat those we serve as though they are a member of our own families. From the first phone call or email to the follow-up visit and beyond, we’re here to serve you. Our goal is to help preserve and optimize your vision.
