Your vision and eye health matter to us, this is why we offer a comprehensive checkup through our adult and senior exams, and why we recommend incorporating eye exams into your overall healthcare routine. Our eye exams take a thorough look at your visual system by assessing spectacle and contact lens prescriptions, peripheral vision, intraocular pressure, and the general health of the eye, while considering your visual health history. There are many benefits to a routine checkup like being able to see clearly and knowing your prescription is up to date, or by addressing any symptoms of concern to you. But eye exams can also help to determine and catch issues early. Many eye diseases can be asymptomatic and routine exams can assist in early diagnosis or a more positive prognosis.

As a family-owned practice, we want to prioritize the eye care of your entire family and ensure your kids have the tools to learn, progress, and thrive. Our optometrists and opticians provide the highest level of optometry services, from your child’s eye exam and follow-up care, to lens consultations, and helping you find the perfect pair of kids’ frames. A regular eye exam helps with the early detection of eye issues in kids, even before they have the words to describe their symptoms. You can also keep an eye out for changes in your child’s behaviour like eye-rubbing, excessive squinting, frustrations with reading, or any of these symptoms combined with nausea or dizziness. As a trusted name in Grande Prairie, we can provide you with peace of mind while making your child’s eye care our top priority.

‍*Children from 0-18 years old are covered by Alberta Health for full comprehensive eye examinations plus any follow-up assessments that may be required.

Annual eye exams are very important for people with diabetes. Eye exams give you an indication of how diabetes is affecting your overall health. At Grande Prairie Eye Care, we recommend routine eye examinations for everyone, but see the appointments as an especially important part to diagnosing and/or managing diabetes. Other common systemic conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and many neurological issues can also be detected by a routine eye exam. Eye disease is a common complication of diabetes, which can lead to severe symptoms like blindness. If you have diabetes, you are at increased risk of developing eye disease. You can trust our experienced optometry team to help you detect possible diabetes, detect other diseases, and provide quality care in managing your vision health.

As a contact lens wearer, it’s important to make sure that your lenses fit your eyes and your vision properly. Contact lens exams, like regular eye exams, allow our team to thoroughly assess the health of your eyes and the quality of your vision.  A regular exam for your lenses — about once a year — allows our optometrists to keep a close eye (if you’ll pardon the pun) on any changes to your vision before they become serious. Almost everyone is a candidate for contact lenses, including individuals with chronically dry eyes, those with astigmatism, and those who require bifocals, in addition to individuals who prefer contacts over frames. Our trusted optometrists are experienced in fitting all types of contact lenses for patients of all ages and varying types of vision health.

Eye diseases and eye disorders can rear their heads in numerous ways and can vary in severity. A regular or routine eye exam with our professional and friendly team is the most reliable way to ensure we can catch any issues as early as possible. If you are experiencing abnormal vision symptoms, it is important to see your local optometrist right away, as these could be signs of a varying amount of eye-related disease and disorders.  Symptoms that seem to be affecting your vision or eye health can be signs of mild disorders like dry eyes or conjunctivitis (pink-eye), age-related disease like Macular Degeneration, a serious yet painless diseases like Cataracts, or other serious eye care issues like Glaucoma, Diabetes, and Retinal disease. We offer comprehensive eye care, and with our routine exams, you can stay on top of any vision changes that could be a sign of something more serious.

‍For more detailed information on specific Eye Diseases and causes for concern,
visit the Alberta Association of Optometrists, or the Canadian Association of Optometrists.

What is Glaucoma? This progressive eye disease can present at any age, but is more commonly diagnosed in people over the age of 40. It is an eye disease which can present with no pain or symptoms early on, so routine eye exams are the most effective way in catching glaucoma. If left untreated it can become painful, partial or full vision loss, and present as other symptoms. Our comprehensive eye exams include glaucoma testing, and if diagnosed, our Grande Prairie Eye Care team can help manage your symptoms every step of the way.

Cataracts refer to cloudy or sometimes opaque areas that can develop in the eyes as we age. Those over 60 years old are at higher risk for developing cataracts which can be a result of age, along with possible eye injury, or it can show in infants as congenital cataracts.  If you notice a sudden change in your vision like blurriness or haziness, or develop a higher sensitivity to light outside of your routine optometry visits, book an appointment today. We will help assess the progression of any cataracts, and develop a treatment plan that works best for you and your lifelong vision health.

Generally speaking, flashes and floaters may be nothing to worry about. We all experience them. You might see them as cobweb-like shapes, as small dots of light, or dark spots- any you can never really get a good look at them yourself. The flashes and floaters move quickly around your line of vision, and might have you asking yourself if you’re hallucinating. These are perfectly normal occurrences, and could be a result of recent retinal stimulation (looking at the white snow on a sunny day; fast flashes of light on TV; staring at a screen for long periods of time).

But if you are noticing the flashes, spots, or floaters showing up more frequently and/or more suddenly, it could be a sign of something more serious. The onset of these sudden flashes or spots should be assessed immediately. If you experience any of these, take advantage of our same-day bookings to have your eyes assessed as soon as possible.

If surgery is the next step in your overall eye care and vision health (planning to ditch the glasses or contacts soon?), we can help get you a referral for laser eye surgery in Alberta. Laser eye surgery, or LASIK, can improve upon your quality of life by correcting issues like myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism, and hyperopia (farsightedness).

It can be difficult to avoid digital eye strain these days with so much occurring on screen. And for some, careers or occupations make it even more challenging to avoid digital screens, while some of us may be staring at brightly lit screens for over eight hours a day. And while digital eye strain, or computer vision syndrome, may be caused by the frequency you’re staring at screens, it may also come from underlying causes. Routine and consistent eye examinations will help you keep your eyes at their best for those long screen-time days, with custom solutions available for all ages, and a better chance of diagnosing minor issues that contribute to digital eye strain.

Grande Prairie Eye Care is generally open six days a week to meet your routine and your emergent vision care needs. We accommodate urgent eye care needs as quickly as possible and our doctors of optometry might be able to treat the care in house, or can provide a referral to a specialist. The Alberta Optometrist Association and Alberta Health Services consider the following emergency eye care situations covered:
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• Eye infections
• Eye injuries
• Foreign objects in the eyes
• Dry eye
• Sudden changes in vision
• Monitoring for diabetes issues, glaucoma and retinal disease
• Post-operative care for cataract patients