Your Monrovia, CA Optometrist

Eye exams, glasses, contact lenses and LASIK consultations for Monrovia, California, a short drive from the office. Call today: (626)359-3937

Plaza Vision Optometry is a full-service optometry practice in Monrovia, at 525 S. Myrtle Avenue, Suite 107, Monrovia, CA 91016. Most of our patients are neighbors: people who live in Monrovia, work on Myrtle, or bring their children in after school. This page is the plain description of what happens at the Monrovia office and what we can and cannot do here, so you know before you book.

We are optometrists. That means eye examinations, prescriptions, glasses, contact lenses, and the ongoing monitoring of eye health — and it means knowing when something needs a surgeon rather than a pair of lenses, and saying so. A great deal of what an optometry practice does well is the unglamorous part: measuring properly, explaining the result, and telling you honestly when nothing needs to change.

Comprehensive Eye Exams in Monrovia

A comprehensive eye exam is two jobs in one appointment. The first is the refraction: working out what correction your eyes need and whether it has moved since last time. The second is the health examination, which looks at the front and the back of the eye for the things that do not announce themselves — changes at the retina, pressure inside the eye, the effects of diabetes and blood pressure on the small vessels of the eye.

The second half is why an eye exam matters even when your vision seems fine. A lot of eye conditions are painless and gradual, and a person adapts to slow change without noticing it. We use auto-refractors that measure the eyes directly, which shortens the guessing part of a refraction and gives a better starting point for the subjective checks that follow.

There is a short piece on the blog about why annual eye exams matter if you want the longer version.

Eyeglasses and the Optical

The prescription is only half of a good pair of glasses. The other half is the frame fitting and the lens choice, and that is done in the optical here rather than left to you to resolve online. We carry designer frames and prescription sunglasses, and the practical questions — progressive or single vision, how a lens will sit in the frame you like, whether a coating is worth it for the way you actually use your eyes — get answered with the frame on your face.

If you already have a prescription from elsewhere and only want glasses, bring it in. If it is more than a year or two old it is usually worth re-checking first, because a frame fitted to a stale prescription is an expensive way to be uncomfortable.

Contact Lenses

Contact lenses need their own examination. A glasses prescription is not a contact lens prescription: the lens sits on the eye rather than in front of it, so the fit, the curvature and how your eyes handle a lens all day matter as much as the power. That fitting is part of the contact lens appointment, along with teaching first-time wearers how to handle lenses without irritating the eye.

Follow-up matters here more than patients expect. Comfort at hour one and comfort at hour ten are different measurements, and the follow-up visit is where a lens that is nearly right gets made right.

LASIK Consultations and Care Before and After Surgery

We provide LASIK consultations and pre- and post-operative care. To be clear about what that means: the surgery itself is performed by a surgeon, not in this office. What happens here is the assessment of your vision and eye health, a review of your history, an honest discussion of whether you are a good candidate, and the care that follows the procedure. Hyperopia, astigmatism and myopia all come into that conversation, and suitability is decided at examination rather than in advance.

If the answer is that you are not a good candidate, you will be told that plainly. There are worse outcomes than keeping your glasses.

Vision Insurance

We work with a number of vision and health plans, including Aetna, EyeMed, One Health, Safeguard, US Health Care and VSP. Plans change their terms more often than practices change their addresses, so the reliable way to find out what yours covers this year is to call the office with your plan details before the appointment rather than to read a summary online.

Finding the Monrovia Office

The office is at 525 S. Myrtle Avenue, Suite 107, Monrovia, CA 91016. Myrtle Avenue is the main north-south street through the middle of Monrovia, which makes the office easy to reach from most of the city without going near a freeway. Details for booking are on the contact page.

Monrovia and the Rest of the San Gabriel Valley

Monrovia is the home office, but the practice draws from the surrounding valley as well, and there are pages for each of the nearby communities: Arcadia, Pasadena, Covina, Duarte and Sierra Madre. Patients from all of them come to the same place, which is this one.

Booking an Appointment in Monrovia

Call or use the contact page to book. If you are coming for an eye exam, bring your current glasses or lenses and your insurance details. If you are coming about a specific problem — something that has changed, something that hurts, something you have noticed in one eye and not the other — say so when you book, because that changes how long the appointment needs to be.

Monrovia, CA Optometry Questions

Do you see patients from Monrovia, CA?

Yes. Monrovia sits between the offices along the foothills and patients come in from across the San Gabriel Valley. Call the office and we will book you into whichever one is the easier drive.

How often should I have an eye exam?

Ask at your visit, because it depends on your eyes, your prescription and whether anything is being watched. The exam checks vision and eye health together rather than only the prescription.

Can I use my vision plan in Monrovia, CA?

Bring the plan details and we will check them before anything is ordered. The plans this practice works with are listed on the vision insurance page.

Do you fit contact lenses for first-time wearers?

Yes. A contact lens fitting looks at the eye as well as the prescription, and you are shown how to handle and care for the lenses before you leave with them.

Do you perform LASIK surgery?

No. The practice evaluates whether LASIK suits your eyes, refers you for the surgery itself, and handles the care before and after it.