Importance of Regular Eye Checks - W Optics Comprehensive Eye Examination Review

Last month, our whole family went for the W EYExperience eye examination at W Optics that is tailored to individual lifestyle and vision needs. Hubby and I went for the W EYExperience Comprehensive Eye Examination, while Lil Pumpkin had her W EYExperience Myopia Control Assessment done.

It was long overdue {especially for me!} and I'm so glad that I went because if not, I wouldn't have known what exactly has been causing my itchy eyes!! And it was not something that I had expected.. #yikes

I go on and on about fitness, health & wellness but isn't it funny how easy it is to miss out on one of our most important organs - our eyes - when we talk about taking care of our body or going for regular health checks?

Eyesight is one of our most important and valued senses. Without healthy vision, our quality of life will be drastically affected.

As we get older, the eye and its sensitive mechanisms become more and more susceptible to damage and disease like the rest of our body.

Being alert to changes in our vision is important in picking up eye diseases. Some, like glaucoma, have no symptoms in their early stages, so you may not know you have the problem until the disease is in its later stage! This can make treatment more difficult.. thus, it's a good idea to go for regular eye examinations for early diagnosis, treatment and management of any problems that may crop up.

The W EYExperience Comprehensive Eye Examination is more than just an ordinary eye check though, and I highly recommend it, especially if you have a higher risk factor e.g. above 40 years old, have high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of eye diseases etc.

A basic eye check, even those in full body health checks, usually just test your vision and conduct an external screening of your eyes and surrounding areas.

For the W EYExperience Comprehensive Eye Examination, they do so much more...

Other than the basic testing for the refractive prescription of an individual, it consists of the following using various machines,  

• Objective & Subjective Refraction
• Vision Function: checks your central and peripheral vision to diagnose, determine the severity of, and monitor glaucoma.
• Amsler Grid: detects vision problems resulting from damage to the macula {the central part of the retina} or the optic nerve.
• Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy: checks for any red eyes, external eye problems, cornea scratches or mild infection etc.
• Tonometry: checks your intra-ocular eye pressure to see if you're at risk for glaucoma
• Fundus Photography: checks the back of eye {retinal} for eye diseases, tears or detachments, mid-peripheral retina health as well as optic disc & macular health

Yup, be prepared to spend around 30 minutes for it! Customisation of eye examination to suit individual needs is available upon request.

We made an appointment on a weekday evening after work, so thankfully the shop wasn't too crowded and we didn't have to wait long for our optometrist to take the boy and I through the tests individually.

At each station, he sanitised the machines first and made sure we were comfortable before starting the tests.  Huge props to him for being really patient (´∇ﾉ｀*)ノ

Medical or technical terms tend to fly over my head, and I usually depend on the boy to break it down into layman's terms for me, but the optometrist was very patient in making sure that I understood what each clinical equipment was testing for, and the results for each test before moving on to the next.

I'm pretty sure that I asked some silly questions along the way but at no time was he condescending or gave me a weird look hehe..

Thanks to the Comprehensive Eye Examination which checks your eyelids' health, I found out that I had a slight infection which caused Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis {GPC} in my left eye. It's an allergic reaction that occurs when one or several small round bumps {papillae} develop on the underside of the eyelid.

So that's why my left eye has been feeling itchy recently! I thought it was because my eyelashes/ eye make-up was irritating my eye or something.. never thought that it was actually my eyelid since the bumps were on the underside of my eyelid and aren't visible unless you turn them inside out, which of course, I don't. Even if I did, the small bumps aren't visible without the Slit Lamp Biomicroscopy machine.

The optometrist told me that its a common problem with contact lenses users, especially those that use soft contact lenses {I use monthly contact lenses, which are considered "soft"}. The reason for this may be because allergens are more likely to stick to soft lenses than hard lenses and irritate the eye if not cleansed properly.

Since my condition is still mild, I could lay off contact lenses to give the eye time to rest and reduce the irritation caused by the soft contacts. If I really had to, I should change to daily contact lenses instead.

Ah well... I decided to just wear specs daily instead and give it time to heal properly. Good thing I was getting a new pair that day after my check since my eyeglass prescription had changed since I made my last pair.. hmmm, 4 years ago?? haha. Also at W Optics by the way!!

For the boy, his eye health is generally good but because of his *ahem* age, he has Presbyopia aka 老花眼 which causes him to be unable to focus on near objects.

Presbyopia is an inevitable natural aging process of the eyes and usually occurs around 40 years old. The natural lens in the eye loses its elasticity and ability to change shape as the person gets older, so makes the eye less able to focus light accurately when looking at near objects.

Because of his presbyopia, the boy has to change his specs too to get a pair fitted with special spectacle progressive lenses, and had to take even further tests to make sure that they were customised properly to his needs as each wearer behaves differently while performing a near vision task.

The optometrist had to check the boy's posture in near vision e.g. the way he holds a tablet, as well as his visual behaviour e.g. the way he reads. This took maybe another additional 15-20mins.

W Optics Suntec City is Singapore's largest vision care store at 5,000 square feet and contain many store exclusives like Essilor Vision Studio, Essilor Nautilus VR Experience corner, Myopia Control Centre and a dedicated kid's corner.  

When it was time for us to choose our new spectacle frames, we were really spoilt for choice as W Optics carries over 52 eyewear brands and a few thousand eyewear designs.

We ended up choosing frames from the Stealer Eyewear collection. It's an up-and-coming Korean brand that already has an impressive following from Korean celebrities like Song Min Ho, Lee Ju Yeon, Lee Young Ae {大長今!!} and even G-dragon himself.. wahhhhhh!!  

Lightweight and minimal in thickness and style, the collection plays with thin steel and fine steel wire to create interesting designs with an industrial yet refined feel.

The usual lead time for spectacles collection is 7 working days or lesser depending on the complexity of the required lens. Our new spectacles were fitted with Crizal specialty lens according to the results from our W EYExperience Comprehensive Eye Examination.

For the boy, he's using Crizal Varilux X Series Progressive lenses that's better than standard progressive lens as it dramatically reduces head movements so that wearers do not need to move/tilt their head to find the right angle to see sharply. There's a smooth transition from distance vision through intermediate vision, to near vision {i.e. within arm's length}.

It's great for his active lifestyle as well as the lenses are tailored to his visual behaviour so that it provides clear vision whatever the distance, even in dynamic motion like when he's at the gym. 

Since I spend so much time using the computer or my smartphone daily which is tiring for my eyes, my new specs were fitted with the new Crizal Eyezen lenses that are specially optimised to relax and protect my eyes from digital screens.

It filters out harmful blue-violet light {bad for retinal cells & cause long-term damage to our eyes}, relaxes eyes in front of screens and provides sharp vision all day.

Both our new specs also have an additional Crizal Transitions coating. Whenever we can, we always get that for our glasses as we lead very active lifestyles outdoors too. It really is a must especially when you live in sunny Singapore and don't want to switch your usual specs to another pair of sunglasses!!

Crizal Transitions blocks out 100% of UV rays and adapts quickly to the perfect shade so that you see with just the right amount of light - clear indoors to fully dark in bright sunlight. Previously, they only had gray, brown or graphite green but now they have interesting new colours like amethyst, sapphire, amber {mine!} and emerald too. Woohoo!

You must be wondering.. where was Lil Pumpkin while Mummy and Daddy were taking their eye tests??

Well, our darling was busy playing at W Optics Suntec City's dedicated kids' corner while waiting for me, and had her turn while the boy was having his Comprehensive Eye Examination done.

I posted a separate entry on her W EYExperience Myopia Control Assessment and her optometrist's recommended treatment plan for her myopia control as there's too much to cover and I think myopia is a really important topic.

Did you know that Singapore has one of the highest rates of myopia in the world?? Well, I'm pretty sure you, your kid, or someone you know has myopia so check out How to Reduce Your Kid's Risk of Myopia here! 

Experts recommend that kids go for eye checks every 6 months to a year, while adults should have their eyes checked 1 to 1.5 years. However, for anyone who has systemic issues like diabetes, hypertension, family history of glaucoma should check yearly.

The W EYExperience Comprehensive Eye Examination costs S$80. W Optics is the first optical retail chain in Singapore to offer such a comprehensive eye examination, and it is available only at their Suntec City flagship and Great World City stores for walk-ins, but I strongly suggest that you make an appointment first via W Optics' website.

Check out this video of our visit and I uploaded more pics/ short vids in my Instagram Stories Highlight Reel too - look for W Optics 230718 folder. 

W Optics Suntec City
3 Temasek Boulevard #01-400 Suntec City
Open daily, 10.30am - 9.30pm
Tel: 6736 1303
Website: http://woptics.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woptics/
Instagram:  @WOptics {Hashtags: #WOptics, #WEYExperienceSG}
* Other locations: Bedok Mall, Causeway Point, Compass One, Great World City, Hougang1, JEM, Singpost Centre, Tanglin Mall, Vivocity & Wheelock Place 

* Disclosure: This is a review for W Optics. All opinions are my own.

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