5 Things You Didn’t Know about Nashville’s Favorite Optometrists
By Dr. Michele Sonsino and Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino
Have you ever had a conversation with a close friend and replied to something they said by saying, “Really? I never knew that about you!”
Well, when it comes to Optique Eye Care / Eye Wear in Nashville, that happens all the time. So we thought we’d take a moment to spotlight 5 things you probably never knew about us . . . 5 key ways you benefit from our highly acclaimed, right-in-your-backyard eye care / eye wear services.
Unless you live on Mars, you know that, these days, you can get virtually anything online or in a multitude of stores. This includes eye glasses, contact lenses, and what they want you to believe is eye care. But it’s very important to ask yourself, What are you actually getting from those services? And—even more critically—Are you willing to trust your precious eyesight to those lesser-quality, “drive-by” services?
As you pause and reflect on that, let’s spotlight the 5 key things you may never have known about Optique Eye Care / Eye Wear:
1.) With Optique, you enjoy superior service—right in your backyard. Because we are conveniently and centrally located near Vanderbilt University, in the heart of Nashville, we are a 15-minute drive from many Music City neighborhoods. But even more crucial to you and your precious eyes is the quality of care you enjoy once you’re here. We are optometrists who are personally vested in serving patients with individualized, state-of-the-art solutions for all types of eye problems. Optique is locally owned and independently operated; we are not a franchise or chain store. We care deeply about each and every patient and customer, and treat you like family. As a result, you get vastly more time and attention when you trust your eyes to Optique. And you enjoy a personal connection with us and our staff. This kind of attention is critical to maintaining your and your loved ones’ precious eyesight, and we take it very, very seriously. We invite you to experience “the Optique difference” at our West End Avenue practice.
2.) You benefit from world-class technology—never anything less. To put it simply, we “dig deeper” to make absolutely certain you get the exact pair of eye glasses, contact lenses, or medical solution you need. Each of our diagnostic machines is top-of-the-line and offers you technically-unsurpassed instrumentation and equipment. As a result, you benefit from technology and lenses you simply can’t get at competitive stores or online. Over the years we have offered our customers technological advances in their eye care up to 1.5 years before those advances hit the wider U.S. or international markets. In part because of Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino’s diligent work and status within the industry, Optique is way ahead of the “technological curve” in the sophisticated equipment, knowledge, and care it offers its customers. For example, we were the first practice in the world to offer two different types of contact lenses developed by Johnson & Johnson. At Optique, you benefit from technology, contact lenses, and eye glasses crafted at a world-class level you simply can’t get anywhere else in Nashville.
3.) At Optique, you enter the world of “Bespoke.” You are probably familiar with the British term, “Bespoke,” that means “completely customized to the individual person.” Nowadays, the concept is used in everything from medicine to tailoring to shoes to computer software. What does that mean for you? It means at Optique you get eye glasses and/or contact lenses that are constructed to the exact specifications of your eyes, in every sense. In glasses, this includes an expert, custom fitting of the frame by a highly trained optician, the precise alignment of your lenses to your eyes, and superior quality digitally shaped lenses. In contact lenses, the prescription and curvature of your eyes is precisely measured. Then, lenses are designed with the exact curvature, size, power, and material called for by your measurements. It means, when you rely on Optique, you don’t get an off-the-shelf solution, you get your specific solution, based on your precise needs and requirements. According to industry research, up to 60 percent of eye glasses made online are actually made incorrectly, for a variety of reasons.
4.) “Dr. Jeff” and “Dr. Michele” are internationally-recognized experts in eye care. Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino is Chairman of the American Optometric Association’s Contact Lens and Cornea Section. This is a board of six optometrists who set policy and which is the leadership of cornea and contact lenses for all optometrists in the U.S. The group represents the nation’s 33,000 optometrists on all issues to do with contact lenses, including patient safety, protection of patients from corporations motivated only by profit, education of optometrists, and advocacy for evidence-based eye care. Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino is also a diplomate in Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technology of the American Academy of Optometry. This 5-year review process is the highest clinical designation in the field of optometry. “Dr. Jeff” previously was faculty at Vanderbilt Eye Institute for 12 years.
Dr. Michele Sonsino is recognized by her colleagues as a leader in pediatric optometry, anterior segment, cataract evaluation, and specialty contact lens fitting, such as options for astigmatism and “mature” eyes. Dr. Sonsino is a member of the American Optometric Association and Tennessee Optometric Association. Within the Society of Eye Care Specialists, “Dr. Michele” has a reputation for her outstanding emotional intelligence and is frequently consulted on how to handle issues that arise in patient care.
5.) Optique offers you superior over-all value. You may assume that a Vanderbilt University-area eye care / eye wear store would charge you “through-the-roof prices.” But it just isn’t true. In fact, Optique’s prices can be even lower than those of retailers such as in big box stores and 1-800-Contacts. The secret is that manufacturers offer rebates on lenses purchased from the doctor’s office to try and prevent lenses from ending up on the “gray market.” The gray market is when contact lenses are diverted from overseas sources and end up in the hands of internet retailers. It is a big problem in the industry because you never know where your lenses are coming from.
And here’s another huge issue you need to be aware of . . . Optique’s passionate desire to provide world-class, “Bespoke” service offers maximum protection of your eyesight, whereas—we need to be blunt about this—other services offer you minimum protection. One major concern in our industry—which is deeply concerning to us personally—is online contact lens resellers who blatantly break the law, putting people like you and your family at risk for permanent vision loss. We invite you to ask us about the documented cases we have collected from around the U.S. of patients who have suffered vision loss from purchasing contact lenses online.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Your eyesight is too precious to trust to online and/or discount services that offer you questionable—sometimes even dangerous and risky—eye care. We invite you to contact us at Optique Eye Care / Eye Wear so we can offer your eyes the unparalleled care they deserve.