Stein Optometric Center Offers Eye Services

Amid the competition of large retail stores, Stein Optometric Centers in Manhattan Beach and Burbank have thrived by providing the kind of personalized service customers prefer, according to Dr. Howard Stein, owner.

Stein has 50 years of experience in optometry, with locations in the Manhattan Village mall since 1981 and in Burbank since 1991, offering service every day with longer hours than the competition. Patients can see an optometrist til 8 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on the weekends. Stein told Manhattan Beach Patch that his practice is unique because most private optometrists are only open until 5 p.m. during the week.

Stein's hours accommodate patients who can’t make an eye appointment during the workday, particularly given the tough economy, instead of making them select a retail store for its more convenient hours.

“I think the average working person would rather go to a private practice if the office were open more hours,” said Stein.

With seven optometrists on staff, Stein Optometric Center is able to take same-day appointments and treat certain conditions during the same visit. Examinations include case history, visual acuities, auto refraction, glaucoma and cataract screening, visual fields peripheral screening and focusing ability.

An on-site optical lab in Manhattan Beach provides one-hour service on many single vision lenses. About 80 percent of lenses at Stein Optometric Center in Manhattan Beach are produced within an hour in the office, according to Stein, where customers have can choose from 3,000 to 5,000 eyeglass frames and 600 sunglass options. Patients can also leave the same day with their new contact lenses.

Stein stresses the importance of eye health, saying it is connected to one’s overall health.

Stein Optometric Centers use state-of-the art equipment, detecting eye conditions with an auto-refractor, a computerized visual field analyzer and a retinal camera. By taking a picture of the back of the eye, digital retinal photography identifies signs of diabetes, hypertension, macular degeneration, glaucoma and retinal holes or detachments. In order for these patients to receive specialized care, Stein and his optometrists work together with other health care professionals, such as ophthalmologists and general practice doctors, he said.

Stein said that children should receive their first comprehensive eye exam as early as at 6 months of age, with additional eye exams at age 3 and before starting kindergarten. If a child wears eyeglasses or contact lenses, he or she needs to be examined annually.

Stein said that school eye screening tests may not be enough to detect certain eye conditions, such as being farsighted, because the exams are not comprehensive. In order to excel in school, children must possess the basic skills of near vision and distance vision, he said.

“School screening tests do not provide the full picture of eye health or the change/need in prescription,” said Stein.

Stein’s favorite part about his practice is building relationships with patients and seeing different generations of the same families.

Stein Optometric Center provides a $2,000 scholarship for a student [Doctors Howard, David and Jonathan Stein Family Scholarship] and has a Stein Family Cornea and Contact Lens Center at the Southern California College of Optometry.  

Stein, who is a VSP Vision Care provider, says that his company stands out in this tough economy by providing professional care and convenience through stocking lenses, having an on-site lab, providing longer hours and being located in a mall.