Ask an Optometrist
Post your questions about vision and eye health and a BCAO optometrist will reply.
Most Recent Question
“What is the difference between a sight test and an eye exam?”
Dr. Antoinette Dumalo answers:
A sight test is performed by an optician using automated equipment guided by a computer program to determine a lens power for eyeglasses. The comprehensiveness and accuracy of these automated sight tests is limited. Sight tests may miss problems with the eye muscles and do not in any way assess the health of the eye. Because of this they completely overlook many serious problems and diseases that do not blur a person’s vision at all or until the disease is more advanced. That is why it is important to always check the health of the eyes when determining a person’s lens power.
An eye exam performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist looks at the entire eye and vision system and is an important part of preventative health care. Eye exams can detect eye diseases and disorders such as glaucoma, cataracts or retinal degeneration, and other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and brain tumours. Your optometrist will investigate whether a change in your prescription is caused by an underlying eye health or overall health problem. Sight tests do not.
To learn more, read our information on the difference between a sight test and an eye exam.
