Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

At Envision Optical, we treat an array of eye conditions, including conjunctivitis, which can be viral, bacterial, or allergy based. It can also affect patients of all ages.

If bacteria cause your conjunctivitis, Andrew or one of his associates will likely prescribe an antibiotic eye drop to treat the condition. If it is viral, we may recommend tips to keep you comfortable until the virus passes. For allergic conjunctivitis, the best course is to eliminate the source of the allergy if possible.

As far as conjunctivitis being contagious, the viral and bacterial form can be spread from person to person, which is why it is important to wash your hands after applying antibiotic drops to your eyes. If your eye infection is viral, it may be accompanied by a cold or flu. We recommend taking precautions to prevent the spread.

For Conjunctivitis Treatment in Burleigh Waters or Tweed Heads, We Are Here for You

If you notice red, irritated eyes, eye discharge, crusty eyelids or sensitivity to light, we recommend contacting a member of our eye team today. We can arrange an examination with your Burleigh Waters or Tweed Heads eye doctor as soon as possible to restore your eye health and comfort.

Your optometrist in Burleigh Waters and Tweed Heads recommends a comprehensive eye exam every two years for patients of all. However, if you have an eye condition or family history of specific eye problems, we may recommend a more customised schedule to keep your eyes healthy.

Of course, if you notice vision changes between eye exams, we urge you to reach out to a team member to schedule an appointment. Eye changes can indicate an underlying issue, or mean you need a prescription lens change.

If you find yourself squinting or holding objects closer for reading, we want to hear from you. Likewise, if objects in the distance appear blurry or your night vision feels off, please reach out to a team member to schedule an appointment.

It is our goal to keep your family’s eyes healthy and focused for life; this includes keeping up on prescription lens changes for everyone.

For an Eye Examination in Burleigh Waters or Tweed Heads, We Welcome Your Call

An eye exam is a non-invasive and comprehensive appointment that looks at eye health and vision. If it is time for your next eye exam, or if you have any questions or concerns, we are always thrilled to chat!  

Do you have extras cover as part of your private health insurance? Most health funds – including Bupa, Medibank and NIB – reset optical extras on January 1. Any unused extras are lost after this date. 

This year, get maximum return for your health fund investment with the perfect set of eyewear. The Envision Optical team can help you claim optical benefits from ANY health fund – here are just a few great ways to claim. 

Contact Lenses 

Enjoy greater freedom for sport and outdoor activities. The latest technologies in contact lenses means we can prescribe a contact lens solution for almost any prescription. 

Prescription Sunglasses 

Prescription sunglasses open a world of possibilities for glasses wearers, and can be claimed with optical extras. Enjoy the outdoors this summer with superior clarity and essential protection from damaging UV and glare. With so many prescriptible frame options and polarised lenses available, there’s no reason to compromise any longer. 

Digital Eyewear 

Australians are spending more time in front of digital screens than ever before. Internet users aged 16+64 are estimated to spend more than 6 hours each day online, and nearly 4 hours watching television.1 Ask us about digital eyewear to help alleviate eye strain for yourself and your family. 

New Fashion Look 

We love helping people select a new look from our hand-picked range of frames. Pop in to browse our latest frames and make the most of your extras cover! 

Reading Glasses 

If you wear progressive glasses (also known as multifocals), we recommend a dedicated pair of glasses for reading and other up-close activities. Your eyes and neck will appreciate the wider zone of near-vision. 

Driving Glasses 

Your vision is responsible for around 90% of the information we use for driving. Many people experience changes to their vision as they get older, and this can impact things like night driving or the ability to judge distances. Our friendly team can assess your vision to ensure maximum road safety with appropriate eyewear. 

Spare Everyday Pair 

Planning a holiday this Spring or Summer? Losing or breaking your glasses can be stressful if you don’t have a back-up. Drop in to claim a spare pair with your optical extras! 

Envision Optical has been proudly servicing the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads community for 27 years. Book an appointment with our team before December 31 by calling Burleigh 55937844 or Tweed Heads 55249659 or clicking here. We’ll help you explore your eyewear options and access your full extras entitlement. 

At Envision Optical, we treat patients of all ages and enjoy caring for children in both of our eye clinics.

Our optometrist Andrew Bowden and his associates recommend eye check-ups every two years to ensure that your child sees clearly. It is important for school, advanced education and their future careers.

If your child has an eye condition or concern, we may recommend a customised exam schedule to help ensure healthy eyes and vision.

Our team can also provide tips for you to make sure your child sees clearly between eye checks. For example, is he or she holding a book very close to the face, squinting at far away text or images? Is your child falling behind in school and having difficulty following print in a magazine or textbook?

Our eye exams for children are comprehensive, and our team looks for an array of visual health issues and eye disorders.

If your child needs glasses, we can provide spectacles that complement his or her face and help promote easy reading and learning.

Is It Time for Your Child’s Eye Exam in Burleigh Waters or Tweed Heads?

We encourage you to reach out to a friendly staff member to arrange your child’s next eye exam today.

Dry eyes can really interfere with your enjoyment and ease. You may find yourself constantly placing rewetting drops or rubbing your eyes to no avail.

At Envision Optical, we want to help you live your best life and enjoy eye comfort.

Your eye doctor in Burleigh Waters and Tweed Heads relies on diagnostic tests and experience to diagnose dry eyes. Depending on the cause of your condition, we formulate a custom treatment plan that addresses your specific needs.

Our optometrist Andrew and his team may recommend one or more therapies to restore your eye moisture.

Treatments for dry eyes may include:

• Advice on lifestyle or environmental changes
• IPL therapy to promote eye moisture
• Blephasteam heat therapy and gland expression to treat gland dysfunction
• MGDRx EyeBag home therapy to promote moisture from the eye glands
• Eye drops
• Blephadex wipes to destroy Demodex mites
• Lacrimal lavage to widen narrow tear ducts
• Punctal plugs to help keep tears on the ocular surface
• Nutrition that may promote better eye health

Ready to Treat Dry Eyes in Tweed Heads or Burleigh Waters?

You should never ignore chronic dry eyes.

We encourage you to reach out to a friendly eye team member to schedule a consultation with Andrew or a knowledgeable associate.

Consistent dry eyes can create a sensation of discomfort throughout your day-to-day. If you are experiencing regular dry and/or scratchy eyes then consider scheduling a test to find the root cause of your dry eyes.

At Envision Optical we provide a variety of tests using the latest technology to help our optometrist pinpoint what is causing your persistent dry eyes, including:

• A thorough exam. We will examine the overall health of your eyes both past and present to find any
• Ocular surface disease index (OSDI) patient symptom questionnaire
• Tear analysis digital scan
• Tear volume testing
• Comprehensive biomicroscope assessment
• Vital dye staining and photography
• Assessment of the meibomian glands via infrared imaging

This array of dry eye tests give us an in-depth understanding of how and why your eyes are dry. These tests also allow us to accurately assess the best course of action to eliminate your dry eye symptoms and get back to feeling like your usual self.

Tears are essential to healthy eyes because they moisturise the eye, deliver oxygen, nourish the eyes with essential nutrients, help focus light, prevent infection, protect the eyes from irritants and promote healing. 

Every time we blink, tears glide across the clear, dome-shaped structure covering the eye called the cornea. After we blink, the tear's film thins but continues moisturising the eye. 

Dry eye syndrome occurs when insufficient tears lack the necessary oxygen and nutrients for healthy eyes. Without enough oxygen, the cornea can develop an infection or abnormal blood vessels, obstructing vision.

Dry eyes can be a severe problem because they affect every aspect of a person's daily life. Dry eyes have many symptoms, including burning, itching, sensitivity to light, and blurry vision. Untreated dry eye syndrome can even lead to vision loss. If the eyes remain dry, infection, scarring and thinning of the cornea can also occur over time. 

Dry Eye Treatment in Tweed Heads and Burleigh Waters

If you have dry eyes or vision concerns, Andrew Bowden and our team invite you to contact us for guidance and support. We can evaluate your eye health and develop a personalised treatment plan that meets your unique needs and prevents or manages dry eye symptoms. 

Andrew Bowden, your eye doctor in Burleigh Waters and Tweed Heads, and his associates take a holistic approach to eye care. This means we provide the latest treatments, but we also believe that healthy diets and certain vitamins and minerals may contribute to better eye health and lower your risks for specific conditions.

We encourage you to speak to your optometrist, however, before changing your diet. Based on your eye health and any underlying conditions, we may recommend additional changes or even a different approach.

Generally, we recommend a diet rich in the following vitamins and minerals. You can get these from food or supplements but always check with your eye doctor for the correct dosage for you.

• Beta-carotene
• Bioflavonoids (flavonoids)
• Lutein and zeaxanthin
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Selenium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Zinc

A multipronged approach to eye health—for us—means taking advantage of nature’s goodness and relying on the latest treatments and techniques.

And we are always here to offer advice and help you choose the best course for your eye health.

Would You Like More Information?

For further information about nutrition and eye health, we recommend arranging a chat with Andrew or one of his experienced associates today.

Envision Optical provides comprehensive eye health care to patients of all ages in Tweed Heads, NSW and Burleigh Waters, QLD. One of the treatments we offer is called orthokeratology. 

Orthokeratology, or Ortho-K, can be effective for nearsighted (myopic), farsighted and astigmatic patients. Ideally, a patient’s prescription for Ortho-K falls between +2.00 to -6.00, with a maximum of -1.75 diopters of surface astigmatism. However, optometrists may attempt higher prescriptions in some cases. 

Ortho-K involves specially-designed and fitted contact lenses and can be considered orthodontics for the eyes. It’s a safe, non-surgical and reversible method of vision correction for adults and children.

Patients wear Ortho-K contact lenses during sleep, and these lenses temporarily reshape the cornea to improve or promote clear vision. With Ortho-K, patients can enjoy clear vision without wearing daytime contact lenses or glasses. 

Ortho-K Treatment in Tweed Heads and Burleigh Waters

Andrew Bowden and our friendly team at Envision Optical offer Ortho-K treatment to help patients achieve clearer vision without needing corrective eyeglasses or daytime contact lenses.

Are you interested in learning more about Ortho-K and our other treatment options? If so, we kindly invite you to call one of our optometry clinics in Tweed Heads or Burleigh Waters. 

The ortho-k procedure is suitable for many patients, but not all prescriptions are able to be corrected. Ortho-k is best suited for people with healthy eyes and mild to moderate myopia, mild to moderate hyperopia, mild astigmatism, and also presbyopia. Some higher prescriptions are outside the range that can be treated. People of all ages can have ortho-k, whether they are children, teenagers, adults or mature adults. 

Your optometrist can reduce prescriptions above these measurements, but total correction is not typically possible. Because each patient has a unique anatomy, physiology, and health needs, it’s imperative that a patient speaks with one of our optometrists to know if ortho-k is right for them. 

The corneal shape’s complexity and response to the cornea itself are also factors to consider because the speed of corneal moulding from one patient to the next varies. Ortho-k success rates are very high, but this treatment cannot guarantee total success due to multiple considerations. 

We Invite You to Contact Us! 

Ortho-k is a procedure that can improve a person’s comfort and vision through gentle moulding of the eye overnight. Depending on your unique needs and specific goals, your optometrist can speak with you about possible treatment options at our clinic. 

Our team at Envision Optical invites you to contact our eye clinic today for more information about ortho-k. We are pleased to serve patients from all surrounding areas of the Gold Coast, such as Burleigh Waters and Tweed Heads. 

We look forward to inviting you to Envision Optical!

Orthokeratology (ortho-k) means you wear specialty lenses that alter the shape of your cornea. These lenses can help with astigmatism, near-vision and seeing things clearly that are far away.

It is important to wear the lenses according to your eye doctor’s instructions. When you do not wear your lenses correctly or on the prescribed schedule, your cornea returns to its normal size and eventually your vision clarity is lost.

In our eye clinic, we specialise in ortho-K in Burleigh Waters and Tweed Heads. It is ideal for patients whose careers depend on clear vision. This includes pilots, artists, and designers. Of course, it is also great for people who just want to see clearly!

LASIK or laser surgery is different, and our eye team feels that ortho-k has special advantages, including:

• Unlike LASIK, ortho-k is not associated with blurry or hazy vision.
• With ortho-k, we can help with vision changes without surgery.
• You do not have to have a stable prescription lens for two years for ortho-k.
• Ortho-k is usually a less expensive option compared with LASIK

Andrew and his associates like ortho-k because there is no pain or recovery time, just better vision!

To Learn More, We Invite You to Contact Our Eye Clinics

Let’s learn whether ortho-k is right for you. Contact our Burleigh Waters or Tweed Heads locations to book your next eye exam and learn about all of the possibilities. 

Patients meet with the doctor to undergo a thorough vision assessment and eye health examination. We order custom lenses for the patient once they show the appropriate response to a trial. After we fit the lenses at the following appointment, the patient can wear them on a regular basis, typically overnight. A patient’s vision may not be sufficient for all daily activities within the first two to four weeks of treatment. 

During the first weeks of treatment, we recommend that patients wear daily disposable soft contact lenses throughout the day. After the first month, many patients can expect excellent vision and comfort whilst wearing their ortho-k lenses. Patients may occasionally require more than one set of lenses to attain their desired effect. 

We Welcome Your Call Today! 

Do you experience vision issues or discomfort and are seeking a solution? Our professional and informative team at Envision Optical invites you to contact our eye clinic today to learn more about ortho-k and our treatment options for improving one’s comfort and vision. Together, we can find a treatment plan that works for your specific needs. 

Envision Optical serves patients at two eye clinic locations in Tweed Heads and Burleigh Waters, QLD. 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Do you suffer from near-sightedness? Perhaps objects that are a bit further off seem fuzzy or hard to make out. At Envision Optical, we want the best for our patients and their vision. Instead of wearing glasses or contact lenses throughout the day, a safe, effective treatment that we call ‘ortho-k’ helps patients reform and improve their eyesight.

What Is Ortho-K?

Instead of glasses, daytime contacts, or expensive eye surgery, our staff at Envision Optical may recommend a treatment that uses custom-fitted contact lenses that temporarily reshape the cornea to treat myopia or near-sightedness. After an initial consultation, we can easily determine the length of time patients should wear their lenses and discuss further steps to improve patients’ eyesight.

Is Orthokeratology Safe?

At Envision Optical, improving our patients’ vision is paramount, and we would never recommend a treatment that puts patients and their eyes at risk. With proper cleaning and hand-lens hygiene, ortho-k can safely treat near-sightedness, improve patients’ vision and make a difference in everyday life!

Contact Your Friendly Gold Coast Optometrist

We invite new and existing patients to contact our optometry clinics in Tweed Heads or Burleigh Waters. Our experienced staff can help diagnose and treat various conditions that affect many of our patients. You can call us on (07) 5524 9659 (for Tweed Heads) or (07) 5593 7844 (for Burleigh Waters) to arrange an initial consultation!