Why Eye Exams Are Important
Annual eye exams safeguard your vision and health with early detection.
Regular eye exams give us a chance to support you in any concerns you may have, and they let us give you early warning for several serious health problems. We recommend most children and adults come in for an exam about once per year, but if you have a history of certain conditions, we’ll ask to see you more often. We try to keep you as safe and healthy as possible.
Eye exams allow us to stay on top of any developing eye conditions like:
But regular eye exams are a critical part of maintaining your overall health in addition to your vision. The tests we perform in eye exams allow us to detect early warning signs of more than 270 systemic and chronic diseases including:
Coming In for Your Eye Exam
Have you made an appointment? Welcome to Parker Optometry! We look forward to getting to know you and your eyes.
In case you were wondering, here’s what you can expect from your exam with us…
If you haven’t already spoken with us on the phone, someone from our office will contact you to verify the reason for your appointment with us and remind you of anything you need to bring with you, including your insurance information, glasses, and contact lenses.
On the day of your appointment, try to get here a few minutes early. If you’re more than 10 minutes late, it will be tricky to fit your exam into the rest of the appointment slot, and we stay busy around here, which means we’d need to cut it short. If you can’t make it to your appointment, or you need to reschedule, just be sure to get in touch with us at least 24 hours before your appointment time to avoid our no show fee.
Once you’re here, our friendly front desk staff will say hello, and there will be some pre-tests at the start of your appointment, which will take 10 – 15 minutes. We’ll update your prescription, if necessary, talk a bit about your eye health, answer any questions you might have, and this is usually the stage where we ask if you’re interested in things like contact lenses or laser eye surgery.
Bring Your Glasses and Contacts
If you wear them, make sure to bring your current glasses and contact lenses with you for your eye exam. Unlike most optometry offices, we won’t charge you an extra fee if you wear contacts, but we will still need to test your eyes with and without them on.
Exam Fees
As of October 1, 2025, our exam fees have changed. These fees have been adjusted for BC Medical Services Plan coverage, but the remaining copay fees are still eligible for coverage from other insurance providers.
*In cases where we would otherwise dilate the eyes, you have the option of requesting we use Optomap, which takes digital photos of the back of your eye. This negates the need for dilation but does cost an additional $25.
Eye Exams for Children
We usually recommend bringing your child in for their first eye exam at around 3 years old and then once per year afterwards, but we’re happy to see your child at any age and at any time if you have concerns about their eye health or vision.
Don’t worry if your child doesn’t know their alphabet yet. Our tests for young children include pictures instead of letters, and there are plenty of other tests we can run to verify general eye health in children as young as 6 months.