Welcome to the Chapman-Davies Eyecare Guide

Your eyes are vital to everything you do, from reading to driving to simply enjoying life. Taking care of them helps preserve your vision for the future and catch potential issues early, before they turn into bigger problems. Regular eye exams are not just about clear vision—they're about protecting your overall health and ensuring that you can continue to see the world clearly for years to come.

Our eye tests are a thorough process that helps us understand the health of your eyes and provide the best care possible. Depending on your circumstances, they may take up to 20 - 40 minutes. 

Here’s what happens:

1. Pre-Test Questions: We’ll start with a conversation about your health history and any concerns you may have.
   
   
2. Visual Acuity Test: You’ll read letters on a chart to assess how clearly you see at different distances.
   
   
3. Refraction Test: We’ll determine your exact prescription to make sure you're seeing as clearly as possible.
   
   
4. Eye Health Check: A detailed examination of your eyes to check for any early signs of conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, or retinal issues to list a few.
   
   
5. Pupil Dilation: We’ll use eye drops to widen your pupils, allowing us to get a clear look at the back of your eyes. This helps us detect any potential concerns you might not even notice. Whilst this means a longer eye examination, we pride ourselves in taking the extra time to care for your eyes. In general we dilate most patients, subject to the discretion of our optometrists. 

* Please note, patients’ response to dilating eye drops varies, including increased light sensitivity and blurred vision. It is advised to bring sunglasses, arrange other modes of transportation or to set aside time for your eyes to settle - which may take up to 1 hour in most cases.

How often should you get a Routine eye exam? It depends on your age and eye health:

• Adults (18-60): If you're healthy and have no vision problems, aim for an eye exam every 1-2 years. If you wear glasses or contacts, we recommend yearly check-ups to keep your prescription up-to-date.
  
  
• Adults (60+): Annual exams are important as age-related conditions, like cataracts or macular degeneration, become more common.
  
  
• Children: We recommend every child have at least their first eye examination before school (around age 5-6). After that, check-ups should occur every 1-2 years. 

If you notice any vision changes, such as blurry vision, frequent headaches, or difficulty seeing at night, it’s best to book an appointment right away. This includes any other eye symptoms that you may experience - if you are unsure, we are just a phone call away. 

If you're working on a screen, remember the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet (6 metres) away to reduce eye strain. This helps give your eyes a chance to relax and refocus.

We tend to blink less when we're focused on screens, which can lead to dry eyes. Make a conscious effort to blink more often, especially if you're using a computer or reading. This helps keep your eyes moist and comfortable.

If your eyes feel dry, especially in air-conditioned or heated environments, use artificial tears (eye drops) to maintain moisture and relieve discomfort.

Make sure your screen brightness and contrast are set at comfortable levels. Scientifically, reducing blue light exposure by using screen filters or blue light-blocking glasses can also reduce digital eye strain.

Avoid harsh lighting and glare, which can cause eye strain. Position your work area with adequate but soft lighting and reduce glare by adjusting your screen's angle.

If you’re reading a book or working on detailed tasks, make sure to take a break every 30 minutes and look at something far away for at least 30 seconds. This helps your eyes shift focus and reduces the strain of close-up tasks.

If you struggle to see objects at a distance, single vision lenses will provide clear, sharp vision for faraway sights like road signs or presentations.

For those who have trouble focusing on nearby objects, single vision lenses or reading glasses will help with tasks like reading, crafting, or using your phone.

As we age, focusing on close-up objects becomes more challenging. Progressive lenses or bifocals offer a seamless transition between near and far vision, allowing you to see clearly at all distances without switching glasses.

This condition causes blurry or distorted vision due to an irregularly shaped cornea. Toric lenses are specially designed to correct this, providing clearer and sharper focus

Tells us if you're nearsighted (myopia) or farsighted (hyperopia). The number will be preceded by a minus (-) or plus (+) sign.

If you have astigmatism, this part of your prescription helps correct it.

If you have astigmatism, the axis tells us the orientation of the correction, measured in degrees from 0 to 180.

This number is for those with presbyopia. It shows how much additional strength you need for reading or close-up tasks, and it’s used for bifocals or progressive lenses.