COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMINATIONS

COST: PRIVATE PAY AGE 20-64 years   // COVERED BY VALID OHIP ONCE A YEAR FOR SENIORS 65 YRS +

Seeing the world clearly begins with having healthy eyes.  Your visit with the doctor begins with a thorough review of medical and ocular history, as well as a focus on the primary reason for your visit and your lifestyle needs.  Examination tests include:

Visual Acuity 

This test measures your ability to see at a distance using a 6M or 20FT notation on a computerized eye chart.  We will also measure your ability for reading as well. 

BINOCULAR VISION

We test the co-ordination or eye-teaming of the muscles controlling focus and alignment of the visual system. Your optometrist may decide to perform stereoacuity (depth perception) testing as well.

VISUAL FIELD TESTING 

This measures the peripheral field of vision in each eye with sophisticated computerized technology.  It can help your Doctor of Optometry detect conditions such as glaucoma or neurological disease from the patterns of blind spots that may show in the vision. 

REFRACTION

A series of lenses is shown to you to improve your level of vision to its fullest potential for clarity.  Specific techniques are used to ensure your prescription is balanced properly and check for eye fatigue.

OCULAR HEALTH ASSESSMENT (GLAUCOMA, CATARACT AND MACULAR DISEASE SCREENING)

Our advanced ophthalmic instruments allows for screening of ocular diseases such as cataract, glaucoma and macular degeneration.   This portion of the examination includes eye pressure testing, digital retinal imaging and dilated fundus exam.  

PEDIATRIC EYE EXAMINATIONS (AGES 6 MONTHS+)

COST: COVERED BY VALID OHIP CARD ONCE A YEAR FROM AGE 0 to 19 years

Children can be tested for an eye examination from the age of 6 months + , with the recommended first examination by age of 2 years and annual examinations thereafter.  OHIP will cover the examinations once a year until the age of 19 years.

We utilize special vision charts and equipment to test eye muscle co-ordination, vision and eye teaming.  An objective check for prescription can be done with your child focused on a video screen in our office without any verbal cues required.  Ocular health can be tested in a non-invasive way and is done to ensure that there are no physiological barriers to your child's eye development.

Be alert for symptoms that may indicate your child has a visual problem:

• red, itchy or watering eyes

• sensitivity to light

• an eye that consistently turns in or out

• squinting, rubbing the eyes, or excessive blinking

• a lack of concentration

• covering or closing one eye

• irritability or short attention span

• holding objects too close

• avoiding books and television

• visible frustration or grimacing

DIGITAL RETINAL PHOTOGRAPHY

COST: PRIVATE PAY / THIRD PARTY INSURANCE

To better document, monitor and educate our patients on certain eye conditions, Specs & Spines Optometry offers high resolution retinal photography. 

Digital retinal photography is the new standard of care for a routine eye examination. This technology allows you to observe what your optometrist sees looking inside the eye.  Retinal photography also provides a long term record of your eye health, which can be referenced at a later date, especially if your eye health status changes.  With our latest technology of the Nidek AFC-210 Digital Retinal Camera, we can document the health of the optic nerve, macula and blood vessels with pupils as small as 3.0 mm in size. 

Our Doctors of Optometry recommend retinal photographs for all new patients, from young children to the elderly. In particular, presence of disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, optic nerve disease, retinal degenerations, retinal lesions and retinal detachments are well documented for records with the technology and strongly recommended by our doctors.

CONTACT LENS FITTINGS AND ASSESSMENTS

Our doctors will assess your candidacy for contact lenses using results from your eye examination. Your prescription, corneal curvature, tear film quality and lifestyle are all taken into consideration to determine the healthiest contact lens for your eyes.

If you are a current contact lens wearer and require an updated prescription, we provide contact lens assessments to ensure your lens gives you optimal clarity and comfort that you can achieve.  We also review any new advancements in lens or solution compatibility that may improve your wear of contact lenses.

We are pleased to offer fitting services in spherical, toric (astigmatism) and multifocal lenses, as well as rigid gas permeable lenses for regular, keratoconic and specialty fits.

NEW CONTACT LENS FIT (NEW WEARER) AND TEACH

This fitting includes insertion and removal lessons with qualified staff, trial contact lenses, starter kits for contact lens solution and follow up appointments up to a year from your first visit to ensure the proper fit and vision for your lifestyle.

CONTACT LENS ASSESSMENTS AND REFITS (CURRENT WEARERS)

A contact lens assessment includes a review of wear time, habits and solutions used with the current lenses with our doctor.  We will assess the fit of the lenses and update the prescription power, if required.

Refitting fees to improve comfort or clarity of your contact lenses can vary depending on the new lens design required.  The doctor will issue new trial lenses and reassess you at a follow-up to ensure you have committed to the right lenses. 

Contact lens prescriptions, once finalized, are valid for one year. You can then proceed to order a supply of contact lenses and refitting fees will be deducted off any purchase of an annual supply of lenses through our office.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CONTACT LENS BRANDS AND REORDERING LENSES CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:

REFRACTIVE SURGERY CONSULTATIONS (LASIK & CATARACT)

There are several surgical options available when considering refractive eye surgery to reduce your dependence on glasses or contact lenses. As your primary eye care professional, we can offer an informed and honest opinion regarding your candidacy for any of the refractive surgery options available. Following refractive surgery, your Doctor of Optometry can help manage the use of the antibiotic, steroid and artificial teardrops required to aid the healing process.

We are proud to be affiliated with the following laser eye surgery centres:

EMERGENCY EYE CARE

If you have something wrong with your eyes, you don't need to wait to see your regular doctor or sit in the emergency room - contact our office and we will often offer same-day appointments for eye emergencies, such as:

In addition to helping detect, treat and prevent eye diseases, as Doctors of Optometry, we can provide care for urgent eye health issues like infections, inflammation, allergies and eye injuries, including removing foreign bodies from the eye. As trained specialists, we can assess unusual or sudden vision changes and various conditions causing eye pain – and, when necessary, provide referrals to other specialists.

DIABETIC EYE EXAMINATIONS

COST: Covered by valid OHIP CARD - Full Exam every 12 months

If you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes, then you already know about the importance of an annual dilated retinal exam by an optometrist. But did you know that diabetes is still one of the leading causes of vision loss in Canada. Many patients with diabetes simply fail to book these eye appointments, because they don't not know how important they are. 

At Specs & Spines Optometry, we would like to help you manage your diabetes. You can reduce your risk of diabetic eye disease through routine eye health examinations and proper disease management with your diabetic specialist. Optometrists are uniquely able to view the early signs of damage from diabetes, as we have the tools and instruments to examine the small blood vessels within your eyes. When detected early, diabetic eye disease can be better managed and stabilized.

Diabetes can increase your chance of developing many types of eye health conditions, some of which include:

• Increased chance of developing glaucoma
• Increased chance of developing cataracts
• Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy - bleeding within the eye 
• Proliferative diabetic retinopathy - bleeding within the eye with new blood vessel growth
• Papilledema (swelling) of the optic nerve head
• Visual fluctuations 2nd to unstable blood sugar levels
• Dry eye syndrome

Patients diagnosed with diabetes may feel that they can only see an ophthalmologist because of their diagnosis, but this is not the case. Optometrists are well trained to detect and manage diabetic eye disease. Specs & Spines Optometry offers high resolution digital retinal photography to help detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy. Our clinic also provides convenient appointment times, and the simplicity of online scheduling to make these appointments painless.

If diabetic retinopathy or other diabetic related eye disease is discovered by your optometrist, our office will ensure that all the appropriate referrals are made. At your request, we will also provide written reports to your family physician to ensure that they are up to date with your visual health.