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We celebrate diversity in all of its facets!

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in Asheville, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, Eyewear.

We celebrate diversity in all of its facets!

  • Envision Eyecare embodies diversity and inclusion in our everyday lives. We believe in equality for all people no matter race, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, or religion. During the recent protests we have made donations to the Asheville Bail Fund and Color of Change Organization, which is the nation’s largest online racial justice program. June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots that happened at the end of June 1969.

Glasses & Contact orders: Delays.

  • Due to COVID-19, the optical labs we use are not operating at full capacity, therefore we have been experiencing longer than normal return times for optical orders. Orders are averaging 3 weeks turn-around. We appreciate your patience for your orders, we will call you once your order has passed our check-in inspection and is ready for you to pick up!

Happy National Sunglasses Day!

  • Saturday, June 27th is National Sunglasses Day! The number one concern that American adults have about UV eye exposure is vision loss, yet 27% report they do not typically wear sunglasses when they are outside. Remember to take care of your eyes by wearing a quality pair of polarized sunglasses!

Bari, our Billing & Insurance Specialist is celebrating 5 years with Envision Eyecare!

  • We would like to take the time to congratulate Bari for working at Envision Eyecare for 5 years! An insurance specialist for over 15 years, Bari is determined to learn the ins-and-outs of the insurance world to best support our patients in their care. She is a behind the scene’s mastermind and a most integral part of the Envision Eyecare team!

 

BARI KOVAL

Thank you for everything you do, Bari!

 

SEE you soon!

Dr. Larry Golson, OD and Dr. Eric Bryant, OD

&

The Envision Eyecare Team

We Are Open For YOU!

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, COVID-19, Eye Care & Eye Health, Eyewear.

To our incredible patients and community,

We are excited to announce we are officially open! Your Envision Eyecare team is seeing patients for all appointments; comprehensive eye health exams, spectacle fittings, contact lens evaluations, medical checks, and telehealth virtual appointments! We are scheduling limited number of appointments per day to foster our new safety procedures for patient care. To summarize the most critical procedures we are executing, here is a summary of our top:

  • Masks, of course! We’re all wearing masks, and you are too!
  • We’re crazy about sanitizing! All testing instruments, exam chairs, surfaces, spectacles, optical desks, door handles, phones, etc. are sanitized after each patient and throughout the day.
  • Social distance please: We ask all patients to respect a 6ft social distance with other patients, at all times in the office. Orange markers are placed around the office to indicate 6ft between each person.
  • COVID-19 Health Screening Questions: Before a patient enters the office, the medical assistants are conducting COVID-19 health screening questions interviews. Depending on a patient’s answer to each question, a patient may be rescheduled according to their answer if they are at risk.
  • Only patients with appointments, at this time: Only patients with appointments are allowed in the building to help maintain our safety measures. We are limiting the number of patients in the building at one time.
  • Minimal points of contact: All dry eye products, therapeutic supplements, and glasses frames are handled by our team only. We are happy to assist patients with all of these items!

PLEASE PARK and CALL or TEXT when you arrive for your scheduled appointment! We appreciate your patience!

We are open for our normal business hours. Your safety and wellness is our top priority. We hope all of our patients are staying safe, happy, and healthy! Thank you for all the support throughout the weeks. Supporting a small, locally owned and operated business in Asheville means that any service or purchase makes a difference in our community!  If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call! We are excited to SEE and take care of you again soon!

Sending Love & Care!

Dr. Larry Golson, OD and Dr. Eric Bryant, OD & The Envision Eyecare Team

Order Contacts Online With Us!

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in Asheville, Contact lens, Cost, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, Featured.

Supporting local businesses during this time of uncertainty is critical. Here at Envision Eyecare, we are adapting to our ever changing world. We now offer ordering your contact lenses through our website!

How to order your contact lenses online:

  1. Access https://www.myenvisioneyecare.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the section labeled as “Order Contacts” 
  2. Create an account with an email, first & last name, DOB, an approved username & password.
  3. Once the order is placed, please be mindful that there is a 1-2 business days pending approval before the order can be processed, to ensure authorized and valid contact lens prescriptions.
  4. If there are any issues, you will be contacted by an Envision Eyecare team member.

Please allow 1 week after your order is placed to receive your contacts. If your contact lens prescription is expired, at this time we are allowing patients to order a 6 month supply through our office to hold over until we are open for normal care.

We appreciate your continued support! 

We Are Here For Your Eye Emergencies!

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, Contact lens, Cost, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, Eyewear, Personal Development.

Did you know that our doctors can still perform emergency eye care visits and follow up appointments?


Envision Eyecare is excited to offer access for urgent eye care needs with Telehealth services and in office visits as needed.
Telehealth is a virtual visit conducted with an Envision Eyecare Doctor. In most cases, this is done via video, imaging, or a phone call from a safe location of your choice. Telehealth supports the advised social distancing that could help limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.


What you can accomplish with a Telehealth appointment:
You can talk about symptoms, or follow up on your prior medical or vision problems. In many cases you can receive a diagnosis and medical prescription, for your health issues from the convenience of your safe location. If this is not possible, we can schedule an in office visit to assess and resolve your eye issue. 


How to schedule an urgent eye health appointment:
Please call (828) 254-6757 or email us at [email protected] and request an appointment and we will find a convenient time for you to schedule a consultation. If you must leave a message, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR DATE OF BIRTH. You will be contacted by an Envision Eyecare team member at your designated telephone number.


***
You can order your contact lens through our office!

Contact Lens Basics: Types of Contact Lenses, And More


Please call (828) 254-6757 or email us at [email protected] and a team member will assist you. If two or more boxes are purchased, we can ship the supply to your address for free!

We also offer online ordering for your contacts through our website!

  1. Access https://www.myenvisioneyecare.com/ and scrolled , labeled as “Order Contacts”
  2. Create an account with an email, first & last name, DOB, an approved username & password.
  3. Once the order is placed, please be mindful that there is a 1-2 business days pending approval before the order can be processed, to ensure authorized and valid contact lens prescriptions.
  4. If there are any issues, you will be contacted by an Envision Eyecare team member.

 

Please allow 1 week after your order is placed to receive your contacts. If your contact lens prescription is expired, at this time we are allowing patients to order a 6 month supply through our office to hold over until we are open for normal care.


***
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What is Best of WNC?
Each year Mountain Xpress asks the community to vote for their favorite local businesses in a variety of categories. The winners of each category are then published in the “Best Of” edition; encouraging the community to shop local and venture somewhere new.



We’d like to ask the favor of your Vote for the “Mountain Xpress’ Best of WNC!” contest which ends in a few short weeks on April 30th. We’ve been fortunate to have been voted “Best of Eyecare Specialist/Service” for the last 8 years running.


Link to vote: https://mountainx.com/bestofwnc/

***Please note! You must vote in 30 categories for your vote to count! So think of all your favorite local places in Western North Carolina and vote for them as well.***

If you have any questions or need help, please do not hesitate to reach out!

***

Be safe and be WELL!

 

Dr. Larry Golson, OD and Dr. Eric Bryant, OD 

&

The Team at Envision Eyecare

Practice UPDATES Beginning March 23rd, 2020

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, In the Media.

Hello again dear community,

We hope you’ve been staying well and as calm as can be during this heightened state of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our leadership team has been on full alert as to how we can get back to life and business as usual as soon as possible, though it doesn’t look like that will be anytime soon. In the meantime, to ensure we keep purpose in our daily lives and tend to our patients’ needs, we’ve come up with the following availability for patient care and product services. This schedule will take us through the next 2 weeks (at minimum) in the safest ways we know how.

  • ALL previously scheduled appointments through Friday, April, 3rd have been CANCELED.

Hopefully, you’ve received a phone message from us about this if you were scheduled in the next 2 weeks. We have you on our recall list and will be rescheduling appointments as soon as the CDC deems it is safe to do so.

  • Beginning Monday, 03/23/2020 our office phones will be ON (see amended hours below), though our doors will be LOCKED. 

    • What we CAN do now:

      • Telemedicine for URGENT eye care, including new patients

      • In Office urgent eye care if telemedicine is deemed insufficient

      • Fulfill contact lens orders

      • URGENT eyeglass repair

      • Product curb-side dispense for glasses and contacts

      • Product curb-side delivery for dry eye and supplements

      • Medication prescription refill via phone

    • What we CAN NOT do now:

      • Routine eye care

      • Fit glasses

      • Eyeglass adjustments

      • CL follow-up appts/dispensing of trial lenses

***Please note that we are not admitting anyone into the building unless it has been approved by one of our doctors***

  • We will be accepting phone calls at (828) 254-6757 during the following times for the next TWO weeks, March 23rd- April 3rd 2020:

    • MONDAY 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

    • TUESDAY 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

    • WEDNESDAY: 12:00 pm-6:00 pm

    • THURSDAY 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

    • FRIDAY: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

  • We will be triaging URGENT eye care needs via *Telemedicine.

We will put you in touch with Dr. Golson or Dr. Bryant to help resolve your urgent eye care needs as soon as possible. Instructions and information on this process are below.

*Instructions on Telemedicine:

Envision Eyecare is excited to offer access for urgent eye care needs with Telehealth service.

Telehealth is a virtual visit conducted with an Envision Eyecare Doctor, in most cases via video, imaging or a phone call from a safe location of your choice. Telehealth supports the advised social distancing that could help limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

What you can accomplish with a Telehealth appointment:

You can talk about symptoms, or, follow up on your prior medical or vision problems. In many cases, you can receive a diagnosis and medical, spectacle or contact lens prescription (as needed) for your health issues from the convenience of your safe location.

How to schedule a Telehealth appointment:

Please call (828) 254-6757 or email us at [email protected]  and request a Telehealth appointment and we will find a convenient time for you to schedule a virtual consultation. If you must leave a message, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR DATE OF BIRTH!  You will be contacted by an Envision Eyecare team member at your designated telephone number.

Globally, we want to encourage good-natured health, happiness, engagement, and relaxation during this time!

There are a lot of emotions to experience in a time like this. Please take extra good care of yourself.

Well wishes always,

Dr. Larry Golson, OD and Dr. Eric Bryant, OD & Your Team at Envision Eyecare

We Value Our Patient’s Health; Envision Eyecare’s Response to COVID-19

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health.

Dear Patients,

The health and safety of our patients and our team is the number one priority here at Envision Eyecare.

We are monitoring the status of COVID-19 carefully, staying informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as State and Federal agencies regarding gatherings/events recommendations. We would like to let our patients know the steps we are taking to minimize your risk and ensure the safest and healthiest environment for everyone. 

The Envision Eyecare Team is sanitizing all patient care areas before and after each patient, using sanitizer and washing our hands for 20 seconds or more, and staying home if we feel ill. We are disinfecting and sanitizing the lobby and common areas; wiping down chairs, tables, displays and restrooms. We are also disinfecting frames, measuring instruments, and desk before and after each patient.

We have a temporal artery scanning thermometer on order. Once in the office mandatory temperature testing for all team members and patients will begin. Any with a fever will be asking kindly to leave and return when they no longer have a fever. The definition of a “FEVER”:  Medically, a person is not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 F (38.0 C).

We are monitoring our patient care schedule based on the published guidelines. Currently we are running our normal business hours, but we will notify you immediately if there are any changes.

At this time we encourage everyone to stay alert and be diligent. Please follow all recommended sanitary and hygienic guidelines. We encourage any patient who is not feeling well to reschedule their appointments as soon as they are aware of symptoms in order to make room for other patients that need care.

The CDC has provided resources on what you need to know regarding COVID-19. Please take a moment to review for further information.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html

Thank you for your continued support and let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Your Envision Eyecare Team

828-254-6757

The importance of eating green, leafy and brightly colored vegetables for your eyes!

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, Cost, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, Eyewear, Food, In the Media.

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Happy National Nutrition Month! 

Since we were children, we’ve been taught to eat our vegetables at every meal to keep us healthy, but did you know what you eat can also help protect your eyesight and eye health too? Green, leafy and brightly colored vegetables are packed with carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin that help protect against eye-related diseases like macular degeneration and cataracts.

What is the macula? 

The macula is located in the back of the eye and is part of the retina. The macula is about 5mm and has high concentrations of photoreceptor cells that detect light and send signals to the brain. It is obvious that the macula is tiny, but a mighty part of our eyes! 

Anatomy of the Human Eye

What is macular degeneration?

There are two types of macular degeneration; dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration is the most common. Dry macular degeneration is when the macula becomes thinner overtime. Wet macular degeneration is when abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. Both cause loss of vision, but wet macular degeneration is much more serious.

What are cataracts? 

Cataracts are when the lens in our eyes become clouded or foggy with age. The protein in our eyes start to break down around the age of 40, but can be unnoticed until a few years later. Blurry vision, bothersome night vision, and double vision are some of the symptoms of cataracts.

Here are foods that are rich with lutein and zeaxanthin:

  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Collard greens
  • Turnip greens
  • Chard
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Broccoli 

Have a hard time eating your vegetables? 

We have a supplement in our office that is rich in these carotenoids! Vision Essence is recommended by both Dr. Golson and Dr. Bryant. This bottle contains 90 capsules with 10 mg of lutein, 2mg of zeaxanthin, and 10mg of meso-zeaxanthin.The capsules do not contain any gelatin product, so this product is vegan friendly! 

How do I protect against macular degeneration and cataracts?

Along with fueling your body with the right nutrition and scheduling yearly eye health exams, protection is the key to prevention! Wearing sunglasses everyday can protect from the toxic rays from the sun and damaging HEV light! All of our Optical Experts can assist in finding the sunglasses that are right for you!

Sources: 

https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-lutein-and-zeaxanthin-foods.php

https://www.macularsociety.org/what-macula
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What is an OCT anyway??

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health.

Hello Asheville! We have exciting news for you and the health of your eyes: we recently updated our technology and couldn’t wait to let you know!

The What: Optical Coherence Tomograghy (OCT) is an in-office instrument that generates high resolution, cross sectional and 3-dimensional images of the retina and optic nerve in the back of your eyes.

The Why: The retina and optic nerve are essential to our vision and the OCT gives crucial information in the early diagnosis and management of many ocular diseases, including, but not limited to, glaucoma and macular degeneration.  

The How: In only a few seconds, this painless and non-invasive technology can give us a high-resolution comprehensive analysis of the retinal and optic nerve health. It provides similar information to an MRI through different technology at a significantly reduced cost and convenience to our patients.

The When: Although we’ve had an older version of this technology available to our community of patients for over 8 years, we’ve recently upgraded our instrument from a technology called Time Domain to Spectral Domain resolution. Think of regular TV versus the a High Definition (HD) TV. We are now able to more comprehensively diagnose and manage conditions that may have an impact on your precious sense of sight.  

The Who: Our team is excited to provide this advanced service for our patients to live out our mission: to protect, preserve and enhance their precious eyesight.

We look forward to continuing to provide our patients with state-of-the-art care now and into the future!

Mission: Vision

Written by Envision Eyecare on . Posted in About Envision Eyecare, Asheville, Education, Eye Care & Eye Health, Personal Development, Travel and Photography.

Honduras Vision Brigade 2018

In late February, the Rotary Club of Asheville sponsored a vision and dental mission to Copan Ruinas, Honduras.  I have been a member of this club since moving to Asheville in 2016 and it was my honor to join the brigade. We had been planning for this trip all year with fundraisers, medical supply collections, and re-purposed eyeglasses donated from many sources, including Envision Eyecare’s community of patients. Thank you for that!

The trip to get there was not easy enduring a 5-6 hour bus ride through rugged terrain after a long flight.  The days were exhaustingly long and hot, but extremely rewarding to give back the precious sense of sight to those in need. Before our visit, many of these poverty stricken individuals were unable to effectively cook, sew, weave, read, and provide for their families due to poor eyesight.  To broaden our reach, we bussed people to our clinic from other remote areas that did not have access to transportation. These people waited all year for our brigade and were immensely grateful to receive our services.

It’s amazing what we take for granted and how easily we lose focus on what is important.  I saw a variety of eye diseases not prevalent in the United States. In our country, typically they are caught and treated through newborn screenings. When undiagnosed, as in the cases we treated, these diseases are devastating to vision.

We served over 1000 people in need and a few stories that stand out are: Carlos, a 9 year old, whom I removed a metal foreign body from his eye. If left untreated,  a scar would have formed due to infection and eventually would cause a permanent loss of his vision. Second, a severely nearsighted little girl, Josefina, was never able to see well due to her uncorrected vision.  Once I placed the correct prescription glasses over her eyes, she wept because she was finally able to see her mother clearly for the first time.

I will be returning next year with more awareness of the materials needed to provide eye care to even more people.  The humble living conditions and non-existent healthcare system really brings perspective on what is truly important in life.  It’s unclear who received more out of this experience; us for helping them, or the Hondurans for receiving our care. Thank you so much for donating your eyeglasses to help our cause and for reading my account of this meaningful experience.