OUR SERVICES

CHILDREN'S VISION

Our optometrists are experienced and committed to providing exceptional service in children's eye care. We can assess children of any age, including babies, non-verbal patients and those with special needs in our family-friendly clinic. We provide a safe and comfortable space for your child during their time at our clinic.

Our comprehensive children's examination involves assessment of eyesight, binocular vision and eye health. Visual processing assessments are also performed where appropriate. Our optometrists have many years of experience in managing high prescriptions, managing the progression of short-sightedness in school-aged children (myopia control), diagnosing and treating childhood eye conditions, including turned eyes (strabismus), lazy eye (amblyopia), and focussing and eye alignment difficulties, as well as identifying any childhood onset ocular health conditions.

We recommend children without visual concerns have routine examinations in 4 year old kinder, grade 2, year 7 and year 11.

ADULT'S VISION

Visual demands and eye health change throughout life, and it is important to diagnose and manage these changes as they arise. Our eye care services address a range of vision concerns and eye health issues which may arise throughout adulthood. These can include:

Refractive problems - conditions such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. We offer a range of corrective options such as glasses, prescription sunglasses, soft contact lenses, rigid contact lenses and orthokeratology. Additionally, we also offer certified prescription safety glasses and prescription swimming goggles.

Visual stress - stress on the visual system can occur due to use of devices and computers. Our optometrists will accommodate your lifestyle and work with your visual needs (or something).

Double vision - seeing double can be caused by a variety of eye conditions. Our team of optometrists diagnose and manage double vision and will work to identify the underlying cause.

Dry eye - a common condition where your eyes don’t produce enough tears or the right quality of tears, leading to discomfort. Our optometrists diagnose dry eye and offer the right solution to manage your symptoms and alleviate dry eye.

Eye injuries, infections and allergies - our optometrists are therapeutically endorsed to prescribe ocular medicines to treat common eye infections and allergies. They are also experienced in removal of foreign bodies from the eye such as metal fragments. We will always accommodate urgent appointments when needed.

Eye conditions such as cataract, macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy - our optometrists have experience in diagnosing and monitoring many eye conditions. It is important to have regular eye examinations to ensure that any eye conditions can be identified at the earliest possible stage for timely diagnosis and management.

BEHAVIOURAL OPTOMETRY

Behavioural optometry is an area of optometry that goes beyond simply clarity of vision. It involves assessment of near focussing and eye-teaming which are important for optimal visual comfort and efficiency. Additionally, in primary school aged children, assessment of visual processing skills can assist in understanding reading difficulties in some children.

Our optometrists use specialised techniques to effectively assess, manage and treat all types of visual difficulties.

All of our optometrists are members or fellows of the Australasian College of Behavioural Optometry (ACBO).

VISUAL PROCESSING

Some children may have clear vision but have difficulty with visual perceptual skills that are important for early learning. Our visual processing assessment can identify difficulties with your child's developmental visual skills.

Some signs that your child may have difficulty with their developmental visual skills include:

Letter and number reversals persisting beyond grade 1
Difficulty with reading skills including loss of place when reading, requiring a finger to keep place when reading or poor reading fluency and comprehension
Difficulty with writing skills including keeping letter size and spacing consistent, and writing on the line
Inaccurate copying from the board or difficulty remembering and retaining visual information

Our optometrists can provide advice on how to manage visual processing difficulties, as well as offer developmental vision therapy where applicable, to improve these visual skills and help to reduce classroom difficulties.

VISION THERAPY

Vision therapy can be used to treat certain eye alignment, focussing and tracking problems, as well as improve the developmental skills involved in visual processing, such as visual analysis and pencil-paper skills that are important for learning.

A comprehensive eye examination is performed to identify any areas of difficulty, and if vision therapy is recommended, a tailored, indivisualised therapy plan of exercises and activities is designed specifically for the visual needs of you or your child.

We are one of the few practices in Melbourne that offer face-to-face, one-on-one vision therapy with the treating optometrist.

EYE HEALTH

At Croucher, Rateau and Chew, our optometrists incorporate the use of the latest technology to assess, diagnose and manage a variety of eye health conditions, including:

dry eye
cataract
glaucoma
macular degeneration
diabetic retinopathy
eye infections
eye injuries and foreign body removals

We also perform comprehensive health assessments for patients taking medications which may affect their eyes.

All of our optometrists are therapeutically endorsed to prescribe ocular medicines, and can effectively treat many eye health conditions.

MYOPIA MANAGEMENT

Myopia (short-sightedness) occurs when the eyeball grows too long, causing blurred distance vision. Most childhood myopia is progressive, meaning the eye will usually continue to elongate over time. High myopia can increase your risk of some eye conditions including cataract, retinal detachment and glaucoma.

At Croucher, Rateau & Chew, we offer a variety of options to successfully manage myopia long term, and slow the progression. These include the prescription of eye drops, specialised soft-contact lenses, specialised spectacle lenses and orthokeratology. The reduction in myopia progression with these treatments varies between 60-90% according to current scientific literature.

Atropine Eye Drops

Our optometrists are all therapeutically endorsed to prescribe atropine eye drops to slow myopia progression. This is one of the most effective treatments and can be prescribed for any age and level of myopia.

Myopia Control Soft Contact Lenses

At Croucher, Rateau and Chew, our optometrists can prescribe specialised soft lenses which are designed to not only correct your child's vision, but to slow the progression of their myopia. These are designed to be worn during the day, and are available in both daily and monthly modalities.

Myopia Control Spectacles

Myopia control spectacles such as the Hoya MiyoSmart and Essilor Stellest use specially designed technology to slow progression of myopia.

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology involves using specially designed custom contact lenses to reshape the cornea to correct vision and reduce myopia. These lenses are worn at night, and reshape the lenses during wearing time, so that when they are removed in the morning, the new corneal shape allows clear vision all day without the need for glasses or contact lenses. The custom design of these lenses also allows for very effective myopia control, significantly reducing the progression of myopia.

Orthokeratology can also be used in adults for vision correction and freedom from spectacles or daytime contact lenses. Orthokeratology uses the same principles as laser surgery, by flattening the cornea, the image is re-focused on the retina, and is an effective, reversible alternative in people who are not suitable for laser surgery.

CONTACT LENSES

Some of our optometrists are members of the Contact Lens and Orthokeratology Society of Australia and have experience in fitting contact lenses for both adults and children. We offer a range of lens options including soft lenses, rigid/gas permeable lenses and orthokeratology, as well as contact lens options for keratoconus.

Our lenses can be designed to correct hyperopia (long-sightedness), myopia (short-sightedness), astigmatism and can also be designed in multifocal form. We also offer a range of contact lens based myopia management options.

Our contact lens fitting process includes:

comprehensive assessment of the eye to assess suitability for contact lens wear and to determine the best lens option
in-depth tuition of contact lens insertion and removal, and how to care for the lenses. This ensures that you or your child will be confident in handling contact lenses at the end of the process.
aftercare appointments to ensure that the lenses prescribed are working optimally for you or your child.

All contact lenses prescribed are claimable through private health insurance.

SPECTACLES

We are pleased to offer a large range of frames for all ages including babies and toddlers. We have over 1000 unique frames in stock. Our frames range from high quality European frames to budget friendly alternatives.

We have a range of children's frames which carry a 2-year unconditional warranty.

We have a range of certified safety eyewear for adults, as well as sports glasses for all ages and prescription swimming goggles for adults and children.

Our staff understand the needs of patients with high prescriptions and are able to advise on frame and lens choice to achieve a balance of both aesthetics and function.

OPTICAL LABORATORY

We are one of the very few practices in Melbourne to offer an on-site optical laboratory.

Our experienced optical technician Paul Ryan has over 30 years of experience, and personally conducts all laboratory work, including tracing, cutting and fitting of lenses to ensure the highest quality control. This also ensures faster turn-around times as there is no need to send frames to an external laboratory.

Adjustments and minor repairs can be done on the spot, and more complex frame repairs may also be undertaken.