• Assessment for a spectacle prescription
• Evaluation of your eyes and eyelids
• Evaluation of nerve function as it relates to vision
• Evaluation of eye alignment
• Imaging of your corneal topography (to monitor for corneal degenerative diseases)
• Imaging of your meibomian glands (glands that produce oil to maintain moist eyes)
• Measurement of your peripheral visual field
• Measurement of your eye misalignment if you experience headaches, migraines, or eye strain
• Measurement of your internal eye pressure using the iCare tonometer (no eye puff!)
• Checking for glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, retinal detachments, etc
• Monitor your retinal imaging yearly (required with additional copays)

• Please see the picture above for yourself!
• Retinal imaging is critical to ensure that your eyes remain healthy from year to year
• Think of the retinal scans as a blood test for your eyes, with one distinct difference:
• Typically, if you see a change from baseline, it means that you have lost or something changed (in a negative fashion)
• For example, in the situation of nerve tissue loss, ocular nerve tissue doesn’t regenerate, meaning the patient has lost vision
• The goal is to catch changes as early as possible so you can retain vision for life
• Traditionally, doctors would subjectively grade the elements of the interior eye (optic nerve, retina, vasculature), but retinal imaging allows for objective measurements that don’t vary from doctor to doctor
• Retinal imaging is the standard of care. It is a required yearly scan that may include an additional copay.

Yes! We recommend evaluations at ages 1, 3, and 5 and yearly after that.

Pediatric exams are critical to ensure that your child’s eyes are developing in a healthy and normal manner.

Vision screeners at the pediatrician’s office are *NOT* the same thing as we check both the internal and external health of the eye along with vision and visual function. Clear vision exists on a spectrum, it’s not just a matter of clear or blurry.

We fit only the best lenses from Essilor Labs and Shamir, two of the largest lens manufacturers in the world. Most lenses on the market are clones of older designs, but at Lumen Optometric, the doctors always prescribe the best and latest technology to ensure that you’re seeing your best and most comfortable.

Our lineup:

For progressives, we fit the latest Varilux XR lens for the broadest distance, computer, and reading zones.

For computer progressives, we fit the Shamir Computer/Workspace or the Essilor Computer lens.

For single-vision lenses, we fit Eyezen 0/1/2/3/4 (depending on your visual needs).

We do not fit generic lenses, they do not perform as well!

• We carry mostly independently-owned frame lines that excel in their respective attributes (all-out lightness, playful colors and designs, high-quality Japanese titanium, and high-fashion).
• We do not carry any frame lines that are part of global frame monopolies. With most frames on the market, lower-echelon frames are made in the same factory as higher-echelon frames. The only differentiator is pricing, which is unfair to the patient and consumer.
• We chose our independent frame manufacturers because the quality is tangible. You’re not paying for a logo like with the global frame monopolies. Instead, you’re paying for quality acetate (high-quality plastics are manually rolled like taffy, not injection molded!), solid, multi-barrel hinges, longer-lasting frames, and better warranties.

We accept VSP, Eyemed, and Spectera.

*Note that although the coverage offered by the above carriers is called vision insurance, they function as discount plans, meaning that they discount the cost of examinations and materials such as glasses and/or contacts. Only under very rare circumstances do these vision discount plans fully discount examinations, glasses, or contacts (typically very high-level government officials).

Typical copays for comprehensive examinations run $10 – $20 with a required $39 retinal scans + evaluation.

• Typically, government employees or select tech companies have access to highly upgraded vision plans that include the highest levels of material coverage. However, in roughly 99% of plans that we come across, this level of coverage is not typical.

  For complete clarity, standard vision insurance covers only a “base” plastic lens, a material first commercialized in 1950. Over the past 75 years, lens technology has advanced dramatically, and we only prescribe the latest lens designs. The following benefits are not available with a “base” plastic lens:

  • Computerized lens curves to reduce peripheral distortion

  • Reading boosts to assist near vision or reduce eye strain

  • Comfort curves to help ease subtle eye misalignments

  • Anti-glare coatings to improve clarity and night vision (even the camera on your phone has this coating)

  • Blue-light filtering to reduce exposure from sunlight and digital screens and to support the circadian rhythm

  • Thinner, lighter lenses

  • Scratch-resistant protection

At our practice, we only prescribe lenses that meet modern standards of vision, comfort, and eye health. As a patient, you should expect nothing less from your eye care professional.

That said, confusion can still arise regarding what “base” lens coverage truly means. A few helpful analogies:

• Tires: Needing new tires and asking America’s Tire to install the lowest-quality tires available. In reality, they won’t offer them because of safety and performance concerns. 

• Auto insurance: Choosing the absolute legal minimum coverage. This is risky if an accident occurs.

• Smartphones: Expecting a modern smartphone to function without a high-resolution screen, scratch-resistant glass, or camera coatings—it would technically work, but no one would consider it acceptable today.

• Mattresses: Buying the cheapest mattress available and expecting proper support and long-term comfort; it meets the minimum requirement but fails your body in the long run.

Vision is no different. Meeting the minimum is not the same as receiving appropriate care. 

We accept Medicare, Blue Shield, Cigna, and United Health Care.

These are the steps that follow after you’ve scheduled your appointment through our online scheduler, or called/texted us for an appointment:

• Please fill out your paperwork before your appointment here so that we can spend the whole appointment focusing on you instead of processing paperwork!
• Bring the most important pairs of glasses with you (driving, computer, reading, sunglasses)
• Bring your contact lens boxes or copy of your contact lens prescription if you’d like a contact lens examination
• Expect that we will run you through the most comprehensive pretesting suite in the San Gabriel Valley
• Expect that we will explain all the results of the pretesting with you and why it’s important
• Expect that we will ascertain your lifestyle and visual needs to be able to prescribe the best treatments for you
• Expect that we’ll educate you on our findings and how to maintain the best ocular and physical health
• Expect that our optical staff will fit you into the highest-quality optical and frame materials with industry-leading technology and warranties
• Expect that we will be there to support you as your eyes change, or even if you happen to drop/scratch/lose your glasses