It's crazy what modern medicine can accomplish in this day and age, and Elsa Pao utilizes all of this to great extent with excellent results.
I moved to the bay area about a year ago, and at that time, my eyes were in terrible condition. I really have no idea why my eyes were like that (maybe it's genetics, as my mother had bad eyesight when she was in middle and high school). My parents tried to find any viable solution available to the market, but came up with no results. The only effective solution available was eye surgery or Lasik, which required cutting my eye open, and my parents were afraid that it would do more damage than good. Plus, I needed to be at least 18 years old, and last year I was 13. After some more digging, one of my relatives claimed there was a type of contacts that I would wear at night that would correct my eye sight, I'd have to go to Los Angels to get them, and my family doesn't really want to go there because we already knew the dread from traveling that far first hand. But my dad was driving around in Oakland and found this place with an article that explained the effects of the same lenses called Orthokeralology and it being a better alternative than prescription glasses, as you only needed a pair of lenses for your time of use until the age of 18. My dad told my mom about this, and a few days later, we went there to see out options.
When we got there, the staff was very nice and was helpful too. It also helped that the staff was multilingual, as they spoke English, Mandarin and Cantonese perfectly, as my parent aren't the most fluent English speakers.After discussing the condition of my eye, Elsa Pao did some examinations on my eyes. After mapping out the layout of my eye, she told me I was done and the lenses needed to be made to be configured to my eyes. It would take a week to be made. I was a bit disappointed, as I hoped to get results on the same day, but as I have learned in life, you have to wait on the important things. My parents discussed about payment for the lenses, as they costed $2000-$3000 every year. We didn't have our insurance cards, as who ever makes them do a horrible job. On the contrary, Pao was very nice about it, telling us that we can pay a certain amount in cash every month. We chose that plan. The lenses were pricey, but in the following months, it proved it's worth.
A week later after my first eye exam, the lenses were ready to be used. Just like last time, the staff was very nice and helpful. Pao told her assistant to help me out with putting on my lenses. It took what seemed a life time, but I managed to put them on successfully, with Pao's assistant helping me with the process. After I got the hang of putting on the lenses, Pao told me I wouldn't need to come back here until the week before school starts, which just so happened to be the next week.
Another week later, I went back here for my third exam. It was the usual, nice and helpful staff, simple and quick eye examinations. I was surprised that Pao was willing to give me packs of disposable soft contact lenses for daytime use when I go to school, as these lenses were usually given to people with low prescriptions. They proved useful,a they gave me eyesight that was better than when I was wearing glasses. In a couple of months, my eyes got used to the contacts, and now I don't have to wear glasses, and I can still see better than most.
Something I also like about this place is it's simple and clean layout. It reminds me about the Apple Store, with it's simplistic and effective layout. read more
