If you wear contact lenses, you need both. They are not the same appointment and they do not produce the same prescription.
This is the most common billing surprise in optometry, so it is worth understanding before you book.
What each one covers
The comprehensive eye exam measures your prescription and examines your eye health: the retina, optic nerve, eye pressure, and the front surface of the eye. Everyone needs this, contact-lens wearer or not. See what happens during a comprehensive eye exam.
The contact-lens exam and fitting adds everything specific to putting a lens on your eye: the curvature of your cornea, how the lens sits and moves, how your tear film handles lens wear, and how your cornea is responding.
One answers whether your eyes are healthy and what power you need. The other answers which lens works on your particular eye.
Why the prescriptions differ
Glasses sit about twelve millimeters in front of your eye. A contact lens sits directly on it.
That distance changes the power required, and the effect grows as prescriptions get stronger. A contact-lens prescription also includes the brand, base curve, and diameter, none of which appear on a glasses prescription.
That is why you cannot order contacts with a glasses prescription. The information simply is not there. If you are curious what the glasses numbers mean, we break them down in what the numbers on your glasses prescription mean.
Can they happen on the same day?
Often yes. Tell us when you schedule that you wear contacts or want to try them, and we will plan the time.
The fitting includes a follow-up visit. That is part of the fitting, not an extra appointment, and it is where the fit actually gets confirmed after a full day of real wear.
Why you are billed for both
Because they are different services with different work involved. A vision plan that covers a routine exam may treat the contact-lens fitting as a separate benefit, or not cover it at all.
Our front desk can check what your plan does before your appointment. Ask at check-in rather than at the end.
Do I need the fitting every year?
A contact-lens prescription expires, so it is renewed with an evaluation of how your eyes are handling lens wear.
That check is not a formality. Lens wear affects the cornea and tear film over time, and the point is to catch a problem while it is still small.
Common questions
Yes, if you want a valid contact-lens prescription. Occasional wear is a good reason to consider daily disposables.
Can I skip the exam and just get the fitting?
No. The fitting depends on knowing your prescription and that your eyes are healthy.
How do I reorder lenses?
Existing patients can reorder prescribed contact lenses online. New patients should call the office to schedule an exam and fitting.
My lenses get uncomfortable late in the day.
Common, and usually fixable. See why contacts get uncomfortable by the end of the day.
Do you fit astigmatism and multifocal lenses?
Yes. See contact-lens exams and fittings.
Schedule your exam
Tell us you wear contacts when you book and we will set aside the right amount of time.
Request an appointment or call 805-925-9575.
